Guy McIntyre Madden Career 1992-1997 - Peak 92 OVR

Guy McIntyre won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the best blocker in the SEC at Georgia in 1983, then went to San Francisco in the third round in 1984 and spent a decade as one of the steadiest guards of the dynasty. His most famous moment came as a rookie, and he made it without his hand in the dirt.

Bill Walsh, short of options in short yardage, started lining McIntyre up in the backfield as a blocking back in a package the 49ers called Angus. In the January 1985 NFC Championship Game against Chicago he was a 270-pound lineman playing fullback, and it worked well enough that Mike Ditka copied the idea the next year with William Perry, the Refrigerator, and got most of the credit for it. McIntyre was there first.

The blocking, unlike the gimmick, made him a five-time Pro Bowler. Madden's grades came around to it in step: a 56 for the 1991 season, a jump to 82 for 1992 as he hit his Pro Bowl prime, and a career-best 92 in Madden NFL '95. That peak, like more than one on this roster, arrived in another uniform, since by 1994 he had moved on to Green Bay. He won three Super Bowls with the 49ers, after the 1984, 1988 and 1989 seasons, added a second-team All-Pro in 1992, and finished up with the Packers and Eagles. For a player whose signature play was pretending to be a fullback, the game eventually rated the day job just fine.