Ricky Ervins Madden Career 1993-1996 - Peak 73 OVR

Ricky Ervins was the MVP of the 1990 Rose Bowl at USC, a small, quick back who packed a lot of production into a 5-foot-7 frame, and Washington took him in the third round in 1991. He could not have scripted a better rookie year: he ran for 680 yards, led all rushers in Washington's Super Bowl XXVI win over Buffalo, and looked like a keeper.

The keeper part did not last. Ervins faded over the next few seasons in Washington and finished his career with a single year in San Francisco in 1995, a change-of-pace back on his way out of the league. Madden caught both ends of it: a 73 for his 1992 season in Washington, back when he was still a featured piece, and a 69 for his lone 49ers year in 1995, a veteran role player by then.

Ervins finished with 2,114 rushing yards and a Super Bowl ring earned as a rookie, which is more than most backs his size ever manage. His time in San Francisco was a brief coda, one Madden card of a player near the end. The Rose Bowl MVP and the Super Bowl rookie was the peak; the 49ers got the epilogue, and the game rated it honestly enough.