Lee Woodall Madden Career 1995-2002 - Peak 70 OVR

Lee Woodall came out of West Chester, a Division II school in Pennsylvania, as a sixth-round pick in 1994, and made himself into one of the fastest weakside linebackers in the league. He won a Super Bowl ring as a rookie on the XXIX team and made two Pro Bowls, in 1995 and 1997, a remarkable rise for a small-school kid drafted almost as an afterthought.

Madden's grades never quite matched the Pro Bowl honors, the way they often lag for a linebacker whose value is speed and range rather than raw numbers. Woodall sat in the 70s and low 80s through his 49ers years and peaked at an 85 for the 2000 season, by which point he had moved on to Carolina. The game rated him a good starter throughout without ever elevating him to the level his selections suggested, a modest read on a player quicker sideline to sideline than the number implied.

He spent six seasons in San Francisco, then finished up with the Panthers and a final year in Denver. Woodall was proof that the scouting map has blind spots: a Division II linebacker who outplayed his draft slot by a mile and made two Pro Bowls doing it. Madden had him as a solid starter. The Pro Bowl voters saw a little more.