Roy Barker Madden Career 1995-2000 - Peak 95 OVR

Roy Barker was a fourth-round defensive end out of North Carolina who did his best work in San Francisco. Drafted by the Vikings in 1992, he came to the 49ers in 1996 and immediately posted 12.5 sacks, then added a dozen more in 1998 and led the NFL in forced fumbles in between, a genuinely productive pass rusher for three seasons.

Madden could not seem to see it. The game rated Barker a 49 for the 1996 season, the year he had 12.5 sacks, one of the roster's starker disconnects between grade and production, then a 62 for 1997 before finally catching up with an 80 for his 1998 season. His most disruptive year drew one of his lowest numbers, a reminder that the ratings were often set on name recognition rather than the previous year's box score, and Barker did not have much of a name.

He finished with 44.5 career sacks across stops with the Vikings, 49ers and Browns, a solid rotational rusher who never made a Pro Bowl but got to quarterbacks for a living. San Francisco got the best of him, three productive seasons in the trenches. Madden mostly rated those seasons too low, right up until the point where his production was already behind him.