Eric Barton Madden Career 2000-2011 - Peak 89 OVR

Eric Barton played 12 seasons and finished with 680 tackles, but a single flag followed him longest. In the January 2005 divisional playoff, the Jets linebacker was called for roughing the passer on a fourth-down incompletion against Pittsburgh, handing the Steelers a fresh set of downs. Pittsburgh tied the game and won it in overtime.

Before that, Barton was a fifth-round Maryland pick, 146th overall in 1999, who started for the Raiders team that reached Super Bowl XXXVII, where he made 13 tackles. He signed with the Jets in 2004 and earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week that season after a nine-tackle, one-sack, one-interception day against Seattle, then closed his career in Cleveland from 2009 to 2010. He posted four 100-tackle seasons. Adopted as a child, he met his birth family in 2010 and learned that fellow NFL linebacker Aaron Curry was his biological brother.

Madden rated the growth in steps. He sat in the low 60s during his Oakland role years, leaped to 87 in the 2003 edition after the Super Bowl run, and topped out at 89 in the 2005 edition tied to his big first year with the Jets.