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

TEARI#0ACT

Butch Rolle

Top 36% all-time TEsReliable StarterTwo-Way Profile

Height6'3"

Weight242 lb

BornAug 19, 1964

Age61

CollegeMichigan State See College Stats

Rookie yr1986

Draft1986 · Rd 7, Pick 180 · BUF

Archetype Intelligence

Reliable StarterExplore archetypes →

A tight end with a above-average career — the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (exceptional availability — almost never missed time) added to their value.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 42 · #2271 · Above Average

Worth 42 points of value above a freely-available replacement tight end — top 50% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 8 of 8 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +5.3 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

8 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+5.3

Avg surplus

peak +8

8 seasons × ~5.3 surplus ≈ VORP 42

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	Receiving									Defense
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1986	—	BUF	16	—	—	4	56	0	—	14.0	—	—	—	4	3	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1987	—	BUF	12	—	—	2	6	2	—	3.0	—	—	—	1	1	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1988	—	BUF	16	—	—	2	3	2	—	1.5	—	—	—	12	11	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1989	—	BUF	16	—	—	1	1	1	—	1.0	—	—	—	7	5	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1990	—	BUF	16	—	—	3	6	3	—	2.0	—	—	—	10	9	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1991	—	BUF	16	—	—	3	10	2	—	3.3	—	—	—	4	0	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1992	—	ARI	16	—	—	13	64	0	—	4.9	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1993	—	ARI	16	—	—	10	67	1	—	6.7	—	—	—	3	3	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
Career		—	124	—	0	38	213	11	—	5.6	—	—	—	41	32	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0	—	—

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D	VAL
1986	22	BUF	16	—	—	4	56	0	—	14.0	—	—	—	4.6
1987	23	BUF	12	—	—	2	6	2	—	3.0	—	—	—	4.8
1988	24	BUF	16	—	—	2	3	2	—	1.5	—	—	—	7.8
1989	25	BUF	16	—	—	1	1	1	—	1.0	—	—	—	6.5
1990	26	BUF	16	—	—	3	6	3	—	2.0	—	—	—	8.9
1991	27	BUF	16	—	—	3	10	2	—	3.3	—	—	—	6.9
1992	28	ARI	16	—	—	13	64	0	—	4.9	—	—	—	6
1993	29	ARI	16	—	—	10	67	1	—	6.7	—	—	—	6.8
Career			124		0	38	213	11	—	5.6	—	—	—	52.3

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	FR	TD	Sfty
1986	22	BUF	—	—	4	3	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—
1987	23	BUF	—	—	1	1	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—
1988	24	BUF	—	—	12	11	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—
1989	25	BUF	—	—	7	5	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—
1990	26	BUF	—	—	10	9	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—
1991	27	BUF	—	—	4	0	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—
1993	29	ARI	—	—	3	3	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—
Career					41	32	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 52 · Solid

A solid career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 52 of 100, era-normalized against rec yds/g peers across 8 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 51.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 52· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 51

On-field 31.5

Availability 19.5

On-field production Staying available

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

1986bestavg 511993

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 6% of the all-time Receiving Touchdowns leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

6% of the all-time Receiving Touchdowns leader6

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: 90%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

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

College Stats

Michigan StateCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Michigan State), 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 #180

#154Floyd DixonWR #157Solomon MillerWR #159Keith WilliamsRB #161Mark JacksonWR #173Gill FenertyRB #175Rodney CarterRB #177Pat FranklinRB #179Carl HiltonTE #184Jon FrancisRB #186Rick BadanjekRB #201Ray BrownG #207Cap BosoTE #213Kurt GouveiaLB #220Greg BatyTE #223Tommy BarnhardtP #233Clyde SimmonsDE

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Butch inherited the Buffalo Bills TE room from Pete Metzelaars (1985–1994), and handed it to Keith McKeller (1987–1993).

Mark Brammer 1980–1984Buster Barnett 1981–1984Pete Metzelaars 1985–1994Butch Rolle 1986–1991Keith McKeller 1987–1993Tony Cline

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

1993final season
Last recorded season with ARI
1992team change
Joined ARI (from BUF)
1986draft
Drafted by BUF — Round 7, Pick 180

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'3" / 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 8-season peers. See all →

peak 53

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

C+1986

C1987

C+1988

C+1989

C+1990

C+1991

C+1992

C+1993

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 8 seasons.

98%

Era Translator

Rec 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 Rec Yds	Rec Yds/G	→ 2025 Rec Yds	→ 2025 /G
1986	56	3.5	235+179	13.8
1987	6	0.5	193+187	11.3
1988	3	0.2	189+186	11.1
1989	1	0.1	185+184	10.9
1990	6	0.4	203+197	11.9
1991	10	0.6	199+189	11.7
1992	64	4	263+199	15.5
1993	67	4.2	244+177	14.3

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

Career Value · VORP

42 career value over replacement — #2271 all-time of 4,642. 5.3/season above a replacement-level TE.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #180 (Rd 7) · BUF · 1986 · +25.1 vs expected KV-H

52actual

26.9 expected · Δ+25.1

Fan Rating

Rate Butch Rolle — All-Time

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Compare Butch Rolle vs Player Report data error

Butch Rolle

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Receiving

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1986 Draft Class· this player went #180

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator