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

ILBHOU#56ACT

Brian Cushing

1× Pro BowlTop 12% all-time linebackersElite Playmaker🌅 Early Bloomer · 2009

Height6'3"

Weight250 lb

BornJan 24, 1987

Age39

CollegeUSC See College Stats

Rookie yr2009

Draft2009 · Rd 1, Pick 15 · HOU

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Elite PlaymakerExplore archetypes →

A top 20% all-time linebacker who consistently made an impact across multiple seasons. Lower snap-level production reinforces the playmaking ability.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 109 · #1000 · High-Value

Worth 109 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 23% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 7 of 9 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +15.6 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

7 cleared

2 replaced

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+15.6

Avg surplus

peak +27

7 seasons × ~15.6 surplus ≈ VORP 109

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	Defense													Snap Counts
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2009	—	HOU	16	—	112	65	47	13	13	5.0	31.0	4	10	2	—	0	1	—	—	—	—	—	—
2010	—	HOU	12	—	60	37	23	8	11	1.5	20.5	0	4	1	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2011	—	HOU	16	—	100	62	38	8	13	4.0	25.0	2	5	2	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2012	—	HOU	5	—	27	20	7	0	2	0.0	2.0	1	2	1	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2013	—	HOU	7	—	42	30	12	6	4	1.5	11.5	1	3	1	—	1	0	—	0.0%	330	81.0%	31	15.9%
2014	—	HOU	14	—	63	32	31	1	9	1.0	11.0	0	2	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	724	73.1%	29	13.7%
2015	—	HOU	16	—	103	56	47	4	2	0.0	6.0	0	3	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	985	94.3%	72	14.9%
2016	—	HOU	13	—	62	35	27	2	2	0.0	4.0	0	1	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	611	74.1%	—	0.0%
2017	—	HOU	5	—	15	7	8	1	2	1.5	4.5	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	163	48.8%	26	17.8%
Career		—	104	—	584	344	240	43	58	14.5	115.5	8	30	9	—	1	1	—	0.0%	2,813	74.3%	158	15.6%

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
2009	22	HOU	16	—	112	65	47	13	13	5.0	31.0	4	10	2	—	0	1	15.9
2010	23	HOU	12	—	60	37	23	8	11	1.5	20.5	0	4	1	—	0	0	7.8
2011	24	HOU	16	—	100	62	38	8	13	4.0	25.0	2	5	2	—	0	0	13.5
2012	25	HOU	5	—	27	20	7	0	2	0.0	2.0	1	2	1	—	0	0	3.7
2013	26	HOU	7	6*	42	30	12	6	4	1.5	11.5	1	3	1	—	1	0	6.3
2014	27	HOU	14	10*	63	32	31	1	9	1.0	11.0	0	2	1	—	0	0	6.9
2015	28	HOU	16	15*	103	56	47	4	2	0.0	6.0	0	3	1	—	0	0	7.7
2016	29	HOU	13	10*	62	35	27	2	2	0.0	4.0	0	1	0	—	0	0	5.4
2017	30	HOU	5	0*	15	7	8	1	2	1.5	4.5	0	0	0	—	0	0	2.4
Career			104	41*	584	344	240	43	58	—	—	8	30	9	—	1	1	69.6

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

Snap Counts

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2013	26	HOU	7	6*	—	0.0%	330	81.0%	31	15.9%
2014	27	HOU	14	10*	—	0.0%	724	73.1%	29	13.7%
2015	28	HOU	16	15*	—	0.0%	985	94.3%	72	14.9%
2016	29	HOU	13	10*	—	0.0%	611	74.1%	—	0.0%
2017	30	HOU	5	0*	—	0.0%	163	48.8%	26	17.8%
Career			55	41*	—	—	2,813	—	158	—

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 65 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 65 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 9 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 65 × longevity 1 = KV-H 65· confidence 90%

What builds the career mark of 61

On-field 44.7

Availability 16.3

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative tackles/g)

2009bestavg 55elite 702017

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 7% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

7% of the all-time Sacks leader7

0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0

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: 92%.

Per-Snap Impact

Linebackers · proprietary · 2012+

Rotational

SIS

Disruption / 100 snaps:1.777See leaderboard →

Disruption/1001.777Snap share74.3%Def snaps2,813VolatileCV 0.66

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within linebackers, shrinkage-regularized so small samples don't spike, over the NFL snap-count era (2012+).

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average linebackers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Combine · 2009

Percentiles compare each raw measurement against position peers, the full combine pool, and the same draft class where enough samples exist.

LB · 2009 class

4.64s

40-Yard

Above avg · 64th pct

Pos 64thAll 52thClass Pos 58thClass All 46th

35"

Vertical

Above avg · 61th pct

Pos 61thAll 64thClass Pos 56thClass All 62th

120"

Broad Jump

Above avg · 63th pct

Pos 63thAll 64thClass Pos 56thClass All 68th

30 reps

Bench

Elite · 96th pct

Pos 96thAll 92thClass Pos 97thClass All 91th

6.84s

3-Cone

Elite · 92th pct

Pos 92thAll 87thClass Pos 97thClass All 84th

4.22s

Shuttle

Above avg · 70th pct

Pos 70thAll 69thClass Pos 84thClass All 75th

Postseason Career

5 playoff games

Defense

Tkl36Solo18Ast18TFL3QBHits1Sk1.0Dis5.0Int1PD2

College Stats

USCCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (USC), 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.

2009 Draft Class· this player went #15

#7Darrius Heyward-BeyWR #8Eugene MonroeOT #9B.J. RajiNT #10Michael CrabtreeWR #11Aaron MaybinLB #12Knowshon MorenoRB #13Brian OrakpoOLB #14Malcolm JenkinsS #16Larry EnglishDE #17Josh FreemanQB #18Robert AyersDE #19Jeremy MaclinWR #20Brandon PettigrewTE #21Alex MackC #22Percy HarvinWR #23Michael OherOT

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Brian inherited the Houston Texans LB room from Connor Barwin (2009–2012), and handed it to Brooks Reed (2011–2014).

Jamie Sharper 2002–2004Jay Foreman 2002–2004Kailee Wong 2002–2006Antwan Peek 2003–2006Shantee Orr 2003–2006Morlon Greenwood

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2017final season
Last recorded season with HOU
2009draft
Drafted by HOU — Round 1, Pick 15

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'3" / 250 lb

Frame

243 lb at 4.64s

Size-speed

35" vert / 120" broad

Explosion

30 reps

Bench power

Injury History

3 career games missed (Out)

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Games Out	Designations
2017	HOU	1	W2Out· Concussion
2016	HOU	2	W2Out· KneeW3Out· KneeW4Questionable· KneeW13Questionable· BackW14Questionable· Back / AnkleW17Questionable· Ankle
2014	HOU	0	W8Questionable· KneeW9Questionable· Knee
2009	HOU	0	W6Questionable· FootW7Questionable· FootW16Questionable· Foot / RibsW17Questionable· Foot / Ribs

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 9-season peers. See all →

peak 71

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

B+2009

B2010

B+2011

D2012

C2013

C+2014

B2015

C+2016

F2017

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 9 seasons.

72%

Era Translator

Tackles 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 Tackles	Tackles/G	→ 2025 Tackles	→ 2025 /G
2009	112	7	114+2	6.7
2010	60	5	77+17	4.5
2011	100	6.3	99-1	5.8
2012	27	5.4	81+54	4.7
2013	42	6	87+45	5.1
2014	63	4.5	57-6	3.4
2015	103	6.4	94-9	5.5
2016	62	4.8	69+7	4.1
2017	15	3	38+23	2.2

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:snap_counts, nflverse:combine, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:injuries · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

109 career value over replacement — #1000 all-time of 4,642. 12.1/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #15 (Rd 1) · HOU · 2009 · +7.5 vs expected KV-H

65actual

57.5 expected · Δ+7.5

Fan Rating

Rate Brian Cushing — All-Time

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Brian Cushing

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

Snap Counts

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Per-Snap Impact

Career Aging Trajectory

Combine · 2009

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

2009 Draft Class· this player went #15

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography