Ted Popson Madden Career 1995-1999 - Peak 84 OVR

Ted Popson took a long road to the NFL, an eleventh-round pick out of Portland State who did not become a regular contributor until his late twenties. He spent three seasons with San Francisco, from 1994 to 1996, a depth tight end who won a Super Bowl ring on the 1994 team and did the blocking and short-area receiving the position demands.

Madden's grades for him swing wildly, as they do for a lot of role players the game has little to go on. His best card was an 84 for the 1994 season, and one of his worst was a 28, the numbers bouncing around without much relation to a steady, modest player. The real Popson was a serviceable backup tight end, somewhere in the middle of those extremes, never as good as the 84 or as bad as the 28.

He moved on to Kansas City for two seasons and finished with 103 catches for 980 yards and eight touchdowns across a career that lasted longer than an eleventh-round tight end has any right to expect. Popson was a role player who caught a few passes, blocked when asked, and won a ring, and Madden's noisy grades are the record of a game that never quite knew what to make of a depth tight end.