Not to be confused withBobby Bell (LB · 1984–1987).

Bobby Bell is a career quality starter — a pass rusher whose body of work places Bell in the top half of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Bell's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.

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#7Durabilityof 9508

OLBKC#0ACT

Bobby Bell

Top 36% all-time pass rushersReliable Starter🌅 Early Bloomer · 1964

Height6'4"

Weight228 lb

BornJun 17, 1940

Age

Career Value · VORP

46 career value over replacement — #2191 all-time of 4,695. 3.8/season above a replacement-level LB.

Fan Rating

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Compare Bobby Bell vs Player Report data error

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

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

32% of the all-time Interceptions leader32

1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33

A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leader at 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: 83%.

Encyclopedia Coverage5/8 data layers

StatVault aggregates multiple open-licensed and proprietary sources into a single profile. The depth indicator above shows which layers are available for this player.

Bio & DraftBirth date, height/weight, draft round/pick, college — sourced from nflverse players.csv (CC-BY 4.0). Covers all NFL eras.

Season Stats (1999–present)Week-by-week box scores aggregated to season totals: passing, rushing, receiving, defense. Source: nflverse player_stats. Counting stats are exact; rates are derived.

Advanced (EPA, 1999–present)Not available for this player

Snap Counts (2012–present)Not available for this player

Defensive StatsMaterial defensive production only: playmaking stats, 10+ tackles, or 50+ defensive snaps. Source: nflverse player_stats and snap_counts.

College StatsCollege attribution is present, but this profile artifact does not yet carry a parsed college stat table.

NFL Combine / Pro DayNot available for this player

Proprietary LayersKV-H (Knox Value-Historical) — era-normalized career rating 0–100 calibrated within position group (1999+ coverage). SIS (Snap Impact Score, 2012+) — per-snap production z-scored within position. VORP — value over replacement player. Durability IQ — games-played percentile adjusted for era.

Where this data comes from

Modern-era stats (1999+) come from nflverse's open data releases. Pre-1999 seasons are backfilled additively from Wikipedia and NFL.com's own official season pages — never from rights-restricted sources.

nflverse — CC-BY 4.0 — attribution required
Wikipedia — Facts extracted under Feist v. Rural Telephone; courtesy CC-BY-SA attribution
NFL.com — Official league site; facts extracted under Feist, courtesy attribution

Methodology · Trust Center

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Understanding These Stats

Defense

Tkl / Solo / Ast — Combined tackles (Solo + ½ Assist). Solo = unassisted. Ast = helped by a teammate.

TFL — Tackles for loss — stops made behind the line of scrimmage (run stuffs + QB contain).

QBHits — QB hits — any legal contact on the quarterback, including but beyond sacks (hurries that land).

Sk — Sacks — tackled the QB behind the line for a loss. Half-sacks shared between defenders.

Dis — Disruption plays = sacks + QB hits + TFL. The composite pass-rush / run-stop impact stat for one season. Elite pass rushers post 30+ disruption plays per season.

Int — Interceptions caught by this defender.

PD — Passes defended — deflections and breakups.

FF / FR — Forced fumbles (stripped or jarred loose). Fumble Recoveries.

TD — Defensive touchdowns — picks, fumble returns, safeties returned.

Sfty — Safeties — tackled the ball carrier in their own end zone.

Proprietary StatVault Metrics

College Stats

MinnesotaCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Minnesota), 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.

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Bobby opened the Kansas City Chiefs LB lineage the corpus knows, and handed it to Willie Lanier (1968–1976).

Bobby Bell 1963–1974Willie Lanier 1968–1976Derrick Thomas 1989–1999Donnie Edwards 1996–2008Derrick Johnson 2005–2017Tamba Hali 2006–2017

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

1974final season
Last recorded season with KC
1963signing
Entered the NFL with KC

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'4" / 228 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 12-season peers. See all →

peak 58

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

C1963

B1964

C+1965

C+1966

C1967

C1968

C+1969

C1970

C1971

C+1972

C1973

C1974

Availability

Era Translator

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

Season	Actual Sacks	Sacks/G	→ 2025 Sacks	→ 2025 /G
1963	4.5	0.3	0-4.5	0
1964	7.5	0.5	3-4.5	0.2
1965	7	0.5	3-4	0.2
1966	2.5	0.2	0-2.5	0
1967	3.5	0.3	0-3.5	0
1968	2.5	0.2	0-2.5	0
1969	5	0.4	2-3	0.1
1970	2	0.1	0-2	0
1971	1.5	0.1	0-1.5	0
1972	3.5	0.3	2-1.5	0.1
1973	0.5	0	0-0.5	0
1974	0	0	0	0

Data: nflverse:players, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), wikipedia:pfhof-inductee-list · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 8/31/2026

On the boards· Appears on 1 board

Bobby Bell

All-Time Standing

Where this data comes from

Career Aging Trajectory

College Stats

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography