With the Dallas Cowboys set to kick off the 2025 NFL regular season on Thursday night against the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles, we thought it might be entertaining to take one last look at the team's player ratings in EA Sports' recently released "Madden NFL 26," just to see where everyone stands before games that matter get going. Hey, what can I say? We like to be thorough around here.
Most are pretty much right where they should be, but there was one name that genuinely stood out above the rest, that being third-year defensive tackle Mazi Smith. And as you've probably guessed by now, it's not for positive reasons.
It's no secret that Smith has failed to live up to his draft status since the Cowboys took the Michigan alum in the first round in 2023 with the 26th overall pick. In his first two seasons with America's Team, Smith has recorded just 54 total tackles, seven tackles for a loss, six QB hits, and 2.0 sacks in 34 regular-season games, earning overall defensive PFF grades of 47.2 in 2023 and 34.8 in 2024.
Cowboys DT Mazi Smith's Madden rating should be worse than it is
And yet, his overall Madden rating heading into the 2025 season is 73. Now, is that an elite number? No, of course not. But it could certainly be worse and undoubtedly should be. We're honestly not trying to be overly harsh, but the fact remains that his performance as a pro thus far just hasn't been what most thought it would be.
While more than 20 Cowboys have a better overall rating, Smith has the same 73 score as Kenneth Murray Jr., Markquese Bell, Terence Steele, and Tyler Guyton, and a better mark than the likes of Marist Liufau (72), Marshawn Kneeland (72), Jack Sanborn (72), Damone Clark (72), Solomon Thomas (71), James Houston (69), Perrion Winfrey (67), and many others.
Okay, so maybe a couple of those make sense, but for the most part, things don't really add up. That said, though, when looking at the simple breakdown of Smith's score, we think we figured out why he landed where he did, as he did receive scores in the 90s in two of the six main categories, which break down as follows:
- Speed: 74
- Strength: 91
- Agility: 76
- Change of Direction: 66
- Injury: 92
- Awareness: 66
So, what we're seeing is that because Smith is strong and doesn't get injured (he's yet to miss a game for the Cowboys), his rating is higher than it should be.
It'll be interesting to see how his numbers change as the season rolls along, as he undoubtedly won't see the same number of snaps he saw a season ago with Kenny Clark now on the roster. For those wondering, Clark enters his first season with a star on his helmet with an overall rating of 83.