Dan Kreider Madden Career 2003-2010 - Peak 93 OVR

Dan Kreider never carried the ball much and never needed to. His job was to find a linebacker and remove him, usually so Jerome Bettis could rumble through the hole behind him. Undrafted out of New Hampshire in 2000, Kreider made the Steelers anyway and was named the team's Rookie of the Year, outplaying draft picks like Plaxico Burress in the process.

For most of the decade he was the lead blocker on one of the NFL's most physical rushing attacks, springing Bettis and later Willie Parker on downhill runs. He earned his ring in Super Bowl XL, throwing a key block that helped Pittsburgh beat Seattle. He finished his career with brief stops in St. Louis and Arizona.

His Madden path is one of the steepest in this group. Kreider showed up as a 46 in the 2001 edition, essentially a roster filler, then climbed steadily as his blocking became indispensable. He reached 89 by the 2005 edition, 92 in the 2006 game, and topped out at a career-high 93 in the 2007 edition, elite territory for a position most games ignore.