Jayron Kearse Madden Career 2017-2024 - Peak 81 OVR

Jayron Kearse was a big, rangy safety at Clemson, the nephew of NFL pass-rusher Jevon Kearse, who slid all the way to the seventh round in 2016 despite the size and the bloodlines. For five years he was a journeyman, a special-teamer for the Vikings and Lions who bounced around the edges of rosters, just the player teams keep for coverage units and cut without much thought.

Dallas changed that, and the Madden card changed with it. He spent his early years in the 60s, a special-teamer's grade, then jumped to an 80 and an 81 peak once the Cowboys turned him into a starting hybrid, a safety big enough to play linebacker in their sub packages. The number finally reflected real defensive value in 2021, when he led the team in tackles and became a captain, the leap on his card matching the leap in his role after half a decade of waiting.

That versatility, a safety who could cover, blitz, and thump, was exactly what modern defenses wanted, and Kearse found the scheme that fit him at last. He went from an anonymous seventh-rounder to a defensive signal-caller and locker-room leader in the same building. His climb from the 60s to an 81 is the story of a late pick who needed the right role, and finally got it, to show he could start.