Dermontti Dawson Madden Career 1992-2000 - Peak 97 OVR

Dermontti Dawson changed what a center could be. Where the position had been about bulk and anchor, Dawson pulled like a guard and reached linebackers 20 yards downfield, using a rare quickness that Bill Belichick praised for keeping the pocket clean. He had the unenviable job of replacing Hall of Famer Mike Webster in Pittsburgh and somehow made people forget.

A second-round pick out of Kentucky in 1988, 44th overall, Dawson spent his entire 13-year career with the Steelers. He made seven straight Pro Bowls from 1992 to 1998 and was named first-team All-Pro six years running, starting 170 consecutive games before hamstring injuries slowed him at the end. Nicknamed Dirt, he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012.

Madden captured only the back half of his prime. He was a 60 in the 1996 edition, but by the 2000 game he had climbed to a 93, a fitting mark for a player widely regarded as the finest athletic center of his era, before slipping to 86 in the 2001 edition as his career wound down.