Junior Bryant Madden Career 1996-2002 - Peak 79 OVR

Junior Bryant was an undrafted defensive lineman out of Notre Dame who spent his whole career in San Francisco, a rotational piece on the fronts that Bryant Young and Dana Stubblefield headlined. He won a Super Bowl ring on the 1994 team and settled in as a dependable rotation lineman, the sort who plays 80 games and starts when needed without ever drawing much attention.

Madden's grades match the role almost exactly. Bryant was a 69 in his early cards, climbed into the high 70s as he earned more snaps, and peaked at an 84 for the 2000 season, respectable numbers for a rotation lineman and never higher, because he was a complementary player and the game knew it. There is one glitch, a 38 for the 1996 season that no scout would recognize, just the data hiccup that turns up on a role player the game has little information about.

His career ended the hard way. A neck injury suffered in a game at St. Louis in 2000 effectively finished him, a quiet exit for a player who had given the defense eight solid years. Bryant finished with 13.5 sacks and a ring, a rotational lineman on great defenses, rated by the game as precisely the useful, unspectacular contributor he was.