Barry Word ranks in the all-time elite tier for running backs — a career that places Word in the top 10% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns Word a career score of 73, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

RBARI#0CUT

Barry Word

Top 7% all-time RBsIron Man📉 Fades · -19% playoffs

Height6'2"

Weight242 lb

BornJan 17, 1963

Age63

CollegeVirginia See College Stats

Rookie yr1987

Draft1986 · Rd 3, Pick 62 · NOR

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Postseason all-time ranks

72ndPlayoff Rushing Yards·394 yds

Archetype Intelligence

Iron ManExplore archetypes →

A high-end running back defined as much by excellent availability over their career as by their on-field impact (top 10% all-time). Coaches and teammates could count on them being available.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 99 · #1130 · High-Value

Worth 99 points of value above a freely-available replacement running back — top 25% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 5 of 5 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +19.8 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

5 cleared

Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+19.8

Avg surplus

peak +35

5 seasons × ~19.8 surplus ≈ VORP 99

Combined Season Grid

The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.

2 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Rushing								Receiving
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D
1987	—	NOR	12	—	36	133	2	3.7	5.6	—	—	—	—	6	54	0	—	9.0	—	—	—
1988	—	NOR	—	—	0	0	0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	—	0.0	—	—	—
1990	—	KAN	16	—	204	1,015	4	5.0	2.0	—	—	—	—	4	28	0	—	7.0	—	—	—
1991	—	KAN	16	—	160	684	4	4.3	2.5	—	—	—	—	2	13	0	—	6.5	—	—	—
1992	—	KAN	12	—	163	607	4	3.7	2.5	—	—	—	—	9	80	0	—	8.9	—	—	—
1993	—	MIN	13	—	142	458	2	3.2	1.4	—	—	—	—	9	105	0	—	11.7	—	—	—
1994	—	ARI	—	—	0	0	0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	—	0.0	—	—	—
Career		—	69	—	1,410	5,794	32	4.1	2.3	—	—	—	—	60	560	0	—	9.3	—	—	—

Rushing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb	VAL
1987	24	NOR	12	—	36	133	2	3.7	5.6	—	—	—	6.4
1988	25	NOR	—	—	0	0	0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—
1990	27	KAN	16	—	204	1,015	4	5.0	2.0	—	—	—	13.4
1991	28	KAN	16	—	160	684	4	4.3	2.5	—	—	—	10.9
1992	29	KAN	12	—	163	607	4	3.7	2.5	—	—	—	10.4
1993	30	MIN	13	—	142	458	2	3.2	1.4	—	—	—	8.6
1994	31	ARI	—	—	0	0	0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—
Career			69		1,410	5,794	32	4.1	—	—	—	—	49.7

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D
1987	24	NOR	12	—	—	6	54	—	9.0	—	—	—
1988	25	NOR	—	—	—	0	0	—	0.0	—	—	—
1990	27	KAN	16	—	—	4	28	—	7.0	—	—	—
1991	28	KAN	16	—	—	2	13	—	6.5	—	—	—
1992	29	KAN	12	—	—	9	80	—	8.9	—	—	—
1993	30	MIN	13	—	—	9	105	—	11.7	—	—	—
1994	31	ARI	—	—	—	0	0	—	0.0	—	—	—
Career			69		—	60	560	—	9.3	—	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 73 · Great

A great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 73 of 100, era-normalized against rush yds/g peers across 5 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 73.4 × longevity 1 = KV-H 73· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 71

On-field 53.2

Availability 17.8

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative rush yds/g)

1987bestavg 70elite 701993

All-Time Standing

how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position

Depth

of 100

Reached 32% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

32% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader32

1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33

A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data — career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence — so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite ≥ 85 · Strong ≥ 65 · Solid ≥ 45 · Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 90%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average RBs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Playoff vs Regular Season

📉 Regular Season Player

Yards / Carry: 4.1 regular season → 3.3 playoffs (4 playoff seasons)

-19%

vs reg season

From Scrimmage · Career

Scrimmage Yds

6,354

5,794 rush · 560 recv

Total TDs

32 rush · 0 recv

Total Touches

1,470

1,410 carries · 60 rec

Yds / Touch

4.3

rushing + receiving

Postseason Career

Rushing

Att118Yds394TD2Y/A3.3TD%1.7

Receiving

Rec2Yds16Y/R8.0

College Stats

VirginiaCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Virginia), but no parsed college box-score table is present in this profile artifact. The section stays here so every profile has a consistent college-stats landing point without fabricating unavailable rows.

Reference Graph

Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.

1986 Draft Class· this player went #62

#41Kenneth DavisRB #43Webster SlaughterWR #45Walter MurrayWR #47Jack TrudeauQB #56Tom RathmanRB #57Rueben MayesRB #59Gene ChiltonC #61Allen PinkettRB #67Bubby BristerQB #71Hugh MillenQB #76John TaylorWR #82David WilliamsWR #86Bill BrooksWR #88Kelvin EdwardsWR #91Eric KattusTE #93Joe PhillipsNT

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Barry inherited the Kansas City Chiefs RB room from Todd McNair (1989–1996), and handed it to Bill Jones (1990–1992).

Jim Hadnot 1980–1983Joe Delaney 1981–1982Billy Jackson 1981–1984Herman Heard 1984–1989Larry Moriarty 1986–1988Paul Palmer

Similar Players

Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).

Movementderived from season history

1994team change
Joined ARI (from MIN)
1994final season
Last recorded season with ARI
1993team change
Joined MIN (from KAN)
1990team change
Joined KAN (from NOR)
1986draft
Drafted by NOR — Round 3, Pick 62

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 242 lb

Frame

Knox

StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works →

Historical Knox · KV-H

Era-normalized career quality — z-scored against 5-season peers. See all →

peak 77

Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season

C+1987

A1990

B+1991

B+1992

B1993

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 5 seasons.

87%

Era Translator

Rush Yds translated to the 2025NFL — each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.

Season	Actual Rush Yds	Rush Yds/G	→ 2025 Rush Yds	→ 2025 /G
1987	133	11.1	359+226	21.1
1990	1,015	63.4	1,624+609	95.5
1991	684	42.8	1,127+443	66.3
1992	607	50.6	1,270+663	74.7
1993	458	35.2	956+498	56.2

Data: nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:players, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), espn.com:stats-api (games-played, facts-only reference) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

99 career value over replacement — #1130 all-time of 4,642. 19.8/season above a replacement-level RB.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #62 (Rd 3) · NOR · 1986 · +26.1 vs expected KV-H

73actual

46.9 expected · Δ+26.1

Fan Rating

Rate Barry Word — All-Time

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Compare Barry Word vs Player Report data error

Barry Word

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Rushing

Receiving

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

From Scrimmage · Career

Postseason Career

Rushing

Receiving

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1986 Draft Class· this player went #62

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography