Brandon Linder Madden Career 2015-2022 - Peak 89 OVR

In July 2017, Jacksonville handed Brandon Linder a five-year, $51.7 million extension that briefly made him the highest-paid center in NFL history. It was a striking sum for a player the Jaguars had grabbed in the third round, 93rd overall, out of Miami in 2014, and it reflected what the tape showed. Linder started all 88 games he played, first at right guard and then at center beginning in 2016, where Pro Football Focus graded him among the best in the league.

The problem was availability. Shoulder, knee, ankle and MCL injuries chipped away at his seasons, and he retired in March 2022 at 29 with good football still in his hands.

His Madden line traces both the rise and the interruptions. He entered as a 72 in the 2014 edition, jumped to 87 the next year, then settled after the move to center before topping out at 89 in the 2018 game. The number held in the mid-to-high 80s through an 87 in 2020 before slipping to 84 in his final 2021 edition, the grades nodding at a lineman who was excellent when upright and too often not.