Freddie Jones Madden Career 1998-2005 - Peak 90 OVR

Freddie Jones came out of North Carolina and went to San Diego in the second round of the 1997 draft, 45th overall, and quickly turned into the Chargers' most dependable set of hands during a lean stretch of franchise history. He had soft hands and a big frame, and quarterbacks learned they could throw him open on third down. On November 4, 2001, he hauled in the first touchdown pass of a rookie named Drew Brees, a footnote that grew into a piece of trivia worth keeping.

He finished five years in San Diego and three more in Arizona, retiring in 2005 with 404 receptions for 4,232 yards and 22 touchdowns, strong volume for a tight end of that era. Madden clocked the arc precisely. He sat at 87 in the 2000 edition, climbed to a career-best 90 in Madden 2001, then settled into the low 80s as the touches thinned out, dipping to 81 by the 2005 game as his Arizona chapter wound down.