Fred Strickland Madden Career 1992-2000 - Peak 71 OVR

Fred Strickland was a second-round inside linebacker out of Purdue in 1988 who put together a long, quietly productive career as a starter for four teams. He was a downhill run-defender, just the thumper who racks up tackles in the middle of a defense without ever drawing much attention, and he did it for more than a decade.

Madden rated him a modest, steady starter throughout, peaking at an 84 late in his career, with his overall unlisted in some of the old-scale editions. The grade fit a positional linebacker whose value was in reliability rather than splash.

Strickland started for the Rams, then moved through Minnesota, Green Bay and Dallas, where he played from 1996 to 1998 as a veteran on a fading contender, before finishing up in Washington. He finished with close to 600 career tackles across a dozen seasons, a durable, dependable presence in the middle of several defenses. He was never a star, just a professional linebacker who kept starting, and Madden's grades, modest and consistent, are a fair record of exactly that kind of career.