Mark Stepnoski Madden Career 1992-2002 - Peak 89 OVR

Mark Stepnoski was undersized for a center, athletic for a lineman, and one of the best at his position in the 1990s. A third-round pick out of Pittsburgh in 1989, he anchored the middle of the Great Wall of Dallas, using quickness and technique to handle bigger nose tackles, and made five straight Pro Bowls doing it.

Madden's grade was solid but never quite matched the honors, the way center ratings often lag. Stepnoski peaked at an 89 in Madden NFL 99 for the 1998 season, with a pass-blocking rating that touched 99 the year before, and sat in the 70s and 80s across his career. The number marked a very good starter; the five Pro Bowls and the All-Decade nod marked something a little better.

Stepnoski won two Super Bowls with Dallas, left for the Oilers in a free-agent move, then returned to finish his career where it started. He was named to the NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team, a rare honor for an undersized center, and later became a prominent advocate for marijuana legalization, serving as president of the Texas chapter of NORML. Madden rated him a good starter; the decade's voters rated him one of the best, and they were closer to right.