John Tait Madden Career 2000-2009 - Peak 91 OVR

One of the odder highlights on Tait's tape involves him carrying the football. In a 2002 game against Cleveland, quarterback Trent Green flipped a backward lateral that Tait scooped up and rumbled 36 yards, a scramble that helped set up a game-winning field goal. Not bad for a left tackle whose job was usually invisible.

Tait came out of BYU as the top offensive tackle in the 1999 class, an All-American and National Offensive Lineman of the Year, and the Chiefs took him 14th overall. He anchored Kansas City's line for five seasons before Chicago made him one of the highest-paid linemen in football on a six-year, $34 million deal in 2004. He started 139 games across the two stops and protected quarterbacks with quiet reliability until he walked away after the 2008 season, still in his early thirties.

The Madden progression climbs with his reputation. He enters at 82 in the 2000 edition, builds steadily through his Chicago years, and hits a 91 in the 2007 game, his highest mark, before dropping to 85 in the 2008 edition as his career wound down.