Charles Grant DE - Saints Madden Career 2003-2010 - Peak 92 OVR

The pick that became Charles Grant arrived in New Orleans as part of the deal that shipped Ricky Williams to Miami, and the Saints spent it on the Georgia defensive end at 25th overall in 2002. Grant had left Athens sixth on the school's all-time sack list, and he backed it up quickly, notching seven sacks as a rookie before his 2004 breakout of 10.5 sacks and 113 tackles. For most of a decade he set the left edge on a Saints defense that was climbing toward respectability.

His Madden trajectory maps the rise cleanly. He debuted as a 70 in the 2002 edition, jumped to 87 by 2004, and hit his ceiling at 92 in the 2005 game, holding in the high 80s and 90 through his most productive New Orleans years before the number slid to 76 in 2009 as injuries took hold. He earned a Super Bowl XLIV ring with the 2009 Saints, though he watched the title run from injured reserve.

Grant served a four-game suspension in 2008 for a banned diuretic, and he was charged with involuntary manslaughter after a February 2008 Georgia nightclub shooting that killed a pregnant woman; the charge was dismissed in 2010 when he pleaded guilty to public affray.