Byron Darby is a career quality starter — a pass rusher whose body of work places Darby in the top half of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Darby's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.
Byron Darby
Height6'4"
Weight260 lb
BornJun 4, 1960
Age66
CollegeUSCSee College Stats
Rookie yr1983
Draft1983 · Rd 5, Pick 120 · PHI
A edge rusher 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 40 · #2319 · Above AverageWorth 40 points of value above a freely-available replacement interior lineman — top 51% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 6 of 6 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +6.7 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
6 cleared
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
47
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
6
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+6.7
Avg surplus
peak +13
6 seasons × ~6.7 surplus ≈ VORP 40
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 | Receiving | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D | |||||
| 1983 | — | PHI | 16 | — | 14 | 14 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1984 | — | PHI | 16 | — | 20 | 17 | — | — | — | 5.0 | 5.0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1985 | — | PHI | 10 | — | 18 | 14 | — | — | — | 1.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1986 | — | PHI | 16 | — | 16 | 13 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 16 | 0 | — | 8.0 | — | — | — |
| 1987 | — | IND | 12 | — | 32 | 19 | — | — | — | 3.0 | 3.0 | — | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1988 | — | IND | 16 | — | 25 | 13 | — | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 86 | — | 125 | 90 | — | — | — | 13.5 | 13.5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 2 | 16 | 0 | — | 8.0 | — | — | — | |
Receiving
Defense
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 55 · Strong StarterA strong starter career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 55 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 6 scored seasons.
54
Sustained
career value
×.6
56
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×1
Longevity
career length
Blend 54.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 55· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 54
On-field 35.4
Availability 18.6
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative sacks/g)
1983bestavg 541988
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position6
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: 94%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average defensive linemen aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
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.
Top Teammates
Michael HaddixFB4yMike QuickWR4yKenny JacksonWR3yHubie OliverRB3yRohn StarkP2yReggie WhiteDE2yMike HoranP2yMike PriorDB2yRandall CunninghamQB2yBill BrooksWR2yPat BeachTE2yEric DickersonRB2yMark BoyerTE2yGeorge WonsleyRB2yGregg GarrityWR2yJack TrudeauQB2yVyto KabTE2yMelvin HooverWR2yMark BelliniWR2yTony WoodruffWR2yClyde SimmonsDE1yKeith ByarsFB1yChris ChandlerQB1yHarold CarmichaelWR1y
1983 Draft Class· this player went #120
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 1988final season
Last recorded season with IND
- 1987team change
Joined IND (from PHI)
- 1983draft
Drafted by PHI — Round 5, Pick 120
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'4" / 260 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 6-season peers. See all →
55
peak 56
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
C+1983
B1984
C1985
C+1986
C+1987
C+1988
Availability
Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 6 seasons.
91%
Era Translator
Sacks 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 Sacks | Sacks/G | → 2025 Sacks | → 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 1 | 0.1 | 2+1 | 0.1 |
| 1984 | 5 | 0.3 | 3-2 | 0.2 |
| 1985 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 2+0.5 | 0.1 |
| 1986 | 1 | 0.1 | 1 | 0.1 |
| 1987 | 3 | 0.3 | 2-1 | 0.1 |
| 1988 | 2 | 0.1 | 1-1 | 0.1 |
Data: nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:players, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), nfl.com:official-stats (facts-only reference), nfl.com:official-stats (games-played, facts-only reference) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026
Career Value · VORP
40 career value over replacement — #2319 all-time of 4,642. 6.7/season above a replacement-level DL.
Draft OutcomeSteal ↑
Pick #120 (Rd 5) · PHI · 1983 · +20.6 vs expected KV-H
55actual
34.4 expected · Δ+20.6
Fan Rating
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