Barrett Ruud Madden Career 2006-2011 - Peak 91 OVR

Barrett Ruud arrived in the NFL as Nebraska's all-time leading tackler, a school record 432 stops that made him the 36th overall pick of the 2005 draft. The middle linebacker took over the heart of the Tampa Bay defense and produced. He posted 137 tackles in 2008 and 142 in 2009, reading plays and arriving in traffic with a consistency that anchored the Buccaneers front seven.

Football runs deep in his family. His father, Tom Ruud, was a Nebraska linebacker and NFL player, and his great-grandfather Clarence Swanson is in the College Football Hall of Fame. Ruud spent his best six seasons in Tampa Bay before a year in Tennessee and a nomadic 2012. His Madden number tracked his ascent through the Bucs lineup: a 77 in the 2005 edition as a backup, climbing steadily to a peak of 91 in the 2010 game after his two biggest tackle seasons, then dropping off as his role shrank.