Henry Melton Madden Career 2011-2016 - Peak 90 OVR

Henry Melton arrived at Texas as a running back, a member of the 2005 national champions, before converting to the defensive line, an unusual switch that pointed him toward the NFL. A fourth-round pick of the Bears in 2009, he grew into an explosive interior pass rusher, the rare defensive tackle who could win a game with quickness up the middle.

The Madden card climbed to a real peak. He rose from a 62 through the 60s and 70s to a 90 in Madden NFL 14, the number rewarding his 2012 Pro Bowl season, six sacks from the interior and a spot among the best pass-rushing tackles in football. That was the summit, and it came just before the fall, a torn ACL early in 2013 that took the burst and blunted the rest of his career.

He reunited with coordinator Rod Marinelli in Dallas in 2014, the card settling into the 80s as a diminished but useful player, then finished up in Tampa Bay. Melton is a story of a great position switch and a cruel injury, a converted back who reached a Pro Bowl and never quite got back to it. The climb to a 90 and the post-ACL drop are the honest arc of an interior rusher whose peak was as high as it was brief.