Dan Morgan Madden Career 2002-2008 - Peak 92 OVR

At Miami, Dan Morgan did something no college player had done: he swept the Butkus, Nagurski, and Bednarik awards in the same 2000 season, a unanimous All-American who hit like a truck. Carolina took him 11th overall in 2001, and for a few seasons he was exactly what the Panthers hoped. In Super Bowl XXXVIII against New England he piled up 18 tackles, still a Super Bowl record, though Carolina lost 32-29 on a late field goal.

The 2004 season was his best whole year: 109 tackles, two interceptions, five sacks, and a starting nod for the NFC in the Pro Bowl. The problem was never the play. It was staying upright. Repeated concussions and a torn Achilles kept dragging him off the field, and he retired in 2008 with 390 career tackles and a sense of what might have been. He later returned to Carolina in the front office and became the team's general manager.

His Madden line reads like his health chart. An 85 in the 2003 edition, then a 91 and back-to-back 92s in the 2004 through 2006 games, before the rating slipped to 88 as the injuries won.