Clark Haggans Madden Career 2002-2012 - Peak 90 OVR

A fifth-round pick out of Colorado State, where he still holds the school sack record at 33, Haggans spent his early years on special teams and in a rotation before Dick LeBeau's defense turned him loose. In 2005 he racked up nine sacks as the Buck linebacker, then recorded a sack and finished second on the Steelers in tackles in their Super Bowl XL win over Seattle.

He played 13 seasons, eight in Pittsburgh and five in Arizona, where he reached a second Super Bowl with the Cardinals in XLIII before a brief final stop in San Francisco. His Madden arc reads like a slow burn: a 55 in the 2001 edition when he was buried on the depth chart, into the 80s by the mid-2000s, and topping out at 90 in the 2006 game released after the championship run. Haggans died in June 2023 at age 46. For a player drafted with little fanfare, he built a long career on timing, hand use, and a relentless motor off the corner.