EA Sports doesn’t view New York Jets’ Quinnen Williams as a top-three defensive tackle in Madden 24
The crew at EA Sports has only just begun rolling out its initial player ratings for the 2023-24 edition of “Madden NFL” – and they’ve already gotten on the nerves of New York Jets fans.
The NFL’s official Twitter account posted an image that features the top 10 rated defensive tackles in the video game. Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams – who just signed a four-year, $96 million contract to become the NFL’s second-highest-paid DT in terms of average annual value – is tied for just the fourth-best rating among defensive tackles (93).
The boys up front 😤🎮#Madden24 | @EAMaddenNFL pic.twitter.com/eyjwmu9F57
— NFL (@NFL) July 18, 2023
Aaron Donald justifiably leads the way with another 99 rating. Chris Jones slides into the second spot with a 96 rating. Those two ratings are not surprising, but the shock comes at number three, where the New York Giants’ Dexter Lawrence edges out Williams with a 94 rating. Cameron Heyward also tied Williams with an equal 93 rating.
Lawrence had a stellar 2022 season for the Giants that culminated in second-team All-Pro honors. However, in many areas, his resume pales in comparison to that of Williams, who was a first-team All-Pro.
While both New York stars finished with 28 quarterback hits, Williams had 12.0 sacks to Lawrence’s 7.5 sacks – despite Lawrence playing 513 pass-rush snaps (9th-most among DT) compared to Williams’ 420 pass-rush snaps (21st). In Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value (AV) metric, Williams led defensive tackles with 17 AV while Lawrence tied for fourth with 13 AV.
Lawrence took the edge in total tackles, collecting 68 to Williams’ 55. However, Lawrence played 864 defensive snaps (7th-most among DT) compared to Williams’ 690 (29th). On a per-snap basis, they racked up tackles at about the same rate: Lawrence collected a tackle on 7.87% of his defensive snaps while Williams collected a tackle on 7.97% of his snaps.
For Williams, the 93 rating is a seven-point improvement over the 86 rating he owned at the launch of Madden 23.
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