C.J. Gardner-Johnson ranks in the all-time elite tier for defensive backs — a career that places Gardner-Johnson in the top 3% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns Gardner-Johnson a career score of 78, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

SAFBUF#22ACT

C.J. Gardner-Johnson

Top 3% all-time defensive backsFranchise Cornerstone👑 #1 Defensive Back · 2022 📈 Late Developer · 2024

Height5'11"

Weight208 lb

BornDec 20, 1997

Age28

CollegeFlorida See College Stats

ConferenceSoutheastern

Rookie yr2019

Draft2019 · Rd 4, Pick 105 · NO

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Season honors and record seasons

Led NFL2022·Int6

Archetype Intelligence

Franchise CornerstoneExplore archetypes →

A top 5% all-time defensive back with reliable availability and elite per-snap production (top 5% in their position group). The rarest archetype in the game — dominance, efficiency, and health in one player.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 150 · #633 · High-Value

Worth 150 points of value above a freely-available replacement safety — top 15% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 6 of 6 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +25 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

6 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+25

Avg surplus

peak +48

6 seasons × ~25 surplus ≈ VORP 150

Combined Season Grid

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

3 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Defense													Snap Counts						Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%	Tgt	Cmp	Cmp%	RateAll	ADOT	Prss	Hrry	QBKD	Bltz	MissTkl	Miss%
2019	—	NO	15	—	46	35	11	6	4	0.0	10.0	1	8	1	1	0	0	—	0.0%	546	52.9%	205	44.4%	51	36	0.7	93.6	6.4	7	3	4	30	4	0.1
2020	—	NO	15	—	65	51	14	5	4	1.0	10.0	1	13	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	861	88.1%	147	34.6%	94	54	0.6	72.2	7.0	6	2	3	31	11	0.1
2021	—	NO	12	—	45	31	14	4	4	2.0	10.0	3	7	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	626	81.0%	76	23.8%	61	39	0.6	67.7	8.4	5	1	2	22	9	0.2
2022	—	PHI	12	—	61	55	6	5	2	1.0	8.0	6	8	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	729	91.1%	1	4.0%	52	38	0.7	78.4	11.0	3	1	1	10	11	0.1
2023	—	DET	3	—	16	15	1	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	3	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	187	89.3%	1	4.0%	8	5	0.6	56.8	15.0	2	2	0	5	2	0.1
2024	—	PHI	16	—	55	31	24	2	0	0.0	2.0	6	12	1	—	1	0	—	0.0%	908	91.9%	1	4.0%	37	23	0.6	89.0	8.4	2	1	1	1	6	0.1
2025	—	CHI	13	—	65	45	20	5	6	3.0	14.0	2	4	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	767	89.9%	10	5.1%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2025	—	2TM	13	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	66	44	0.7	89.8	7.2	6	0	3	35	10	0.1
Career		—	99	—	353	263	90	27	20	7.0	54.0	20	55	3	1	1	0	—	0.0%	4,624	83.5%	441	17.1%	369	239	—	—	—	31	10	14	134	53	—

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	VAL
2019	22	NO	15	—	46	35	11	6	4	0.0	10.0	1	8	1	1	0	7.6
2020	23	NO	15	—	65	51	14	5	4	1.0	10.0	1	13	0	—	0	9
2021	24	NO	12	—	45	31	14	4	4	2.0	10.0	3	7	0	—	0	7.7
2022	25	PHI	12	—	61	55	6	5	2	1.0	8.0	6	8	0	—	0	10.9
2023	26	DET	3	—	16	15	1	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	3	0	—	0	—
2024	27	PHI	16	—	55	31	24	2	0	0.0	2.0	6	12	1	—	1	13.9
2025	28	CHI	13	—	65	45	20	5	6	3.0	14.0	2	4	1	—	0	8.6
Career			86		353	263	90	27	20	—	—	20	55	3	1	1	57.7

Snap Counts

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2019	22	NO	16	—	—	0.0%	546	52.9%	205	44.4%
2020	23	NO	15	—	—	0.0%	861	88.1%	147	34.6%
2021	24	NO	12	—	—	0.0%	626	81.0%	76	23.8%
2022	25	PHI	12	—	—	0.0%	729	91.1%	1	4.0%
2023	26	DET	3	—	—	0.0%	187	89.3%	1	4.0%
2024	27	PHI	16	—	—	0.0%	908	91.9%	1	4.0%
2025	28	CHI	13	—	—	0.0%	767	89.9%	10	5.1%
Career			87		—	—	4,624	—	441	—

Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Cmp	Cmp%	RateAll	ADOT	Prss	Hrry	QBKD	Bltz	MissTkl	Miss%
2019	22	NO	16	—	51	36	0.7	93.6	6.4	7	3	4	30	4	0.1
2020	23	NO	15	—	94	54	0.6	72.2	7.0	6	2	3	31	11	0.1
2021	24	NO	12	—	61	39	0.6	67.7	8.4	5	1	2	22	9	0.2
2022	25	PHI	12	—	52	38	0.7	78.4	11.0	3	1	1	10	11	0.1
2023	26	DET	3	—	8	5	0.6	56.8	15.0	2	2	0	5	2	0.1
2024	27	PHI	16	—	37	23	0.6	89.0	8.4	2	1	1	1	6	0.1
2025	28	2TM	13	—	66	44	0.7	89.8	7.2	6	0	3	35	10	0.1
Career			87		369	239	—	—	—	31	10	14	134	53	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 78 · Great

A great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 78 of 100, era-normalized against int/g peers across 6 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 78.6 × longevity 1 = KV-H 78· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 73

On-field 56.1

Availability 16.9

On-field production Staying available

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

2019bestavg 73elite 702025

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 9% of the all-time Interceptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

9% of the all-time Interceptions leader9

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: 91%.

Per-Snap Impact

Defensive Backs · proprietary · 2012+

Elite

SIS

Disruption / 100 snaps:2.855See leaderboard →

Disruption/1002.855Snap share83.5%Def snaps4,624Elite · ConsistentCV 0.17

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within defensive backs, 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 defensive backs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Combine · 2019

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

4.48s

40-Yard

36"

Vertical

117"

Broad Jump

17 reps

Bench

7.03s

3-Cone

4.20s

Shuttle

Postseason Career

13 playoff games

Defense

Tkl55Solo34Ast21TFL1Dis1.0Int1PD5

College Stats

FloridaCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Florida), 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.

2019 Draft Class· this player went #105

#97Bobby EvansG #98Quincy WilliamsLB #99Mike EdwardsSAF #100Will GrierQB #101Yodny CajusteOT #102Alexander MattisonRB #103Hakeem ButlerTE #104Ryan FinleyQB #106Maxx CrosbyDE #107Anthony NelsonLB #108Julian LoveSAF #109Khari WillisS #110Mitch WishnowskyP #111Kendall SheffieldDB #113Justice HillRB #114Dru SamiaG

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

C.J. inherited the New Orleans Saints DB room from Janoris Jenkins (2019–2020), and handed it to Paulson Adebo (2021–2024).

Dave Waymer 1981–1989Toi Cook 1987–1993Jimmy Spencer 1992–1995Tyrone Hughes 1993–1996Anthony Newman 1995–1997Eric Allen

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2025team change
Joined CHI (from PHI)
2025final season
Last recorded season with CHI
2024team change
Joined PHI (from DET)
2023team change
Joined DET (from PHI)
2022team change
Joined PHI (from NO)
2019draft
Drafted by NO — Round 4, Pick 105

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

5'11" / 208 lb

Frame

210 lb at 4.48s

Size-speed

36" vert / 117" broad

Explosion

17 reps

Bench power

Injury History

4 career games missed (Out)

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Games Out	Designations
2024	PHI	0	W3Questionable· Foot
2023	DET	2	W16Out· PectoralW17Out· PectoralW18Questionable· Pectoral
2022	PHI	1	W13Out· kidney
2021	NO	1	W2Questionable· KneeW10Out· Foot
2019	NO	0	W16Questionable· Concussion

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 →

peak 87

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

C+2019

C+2020

B+2021

A+2022

A+2024

B2025

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 7 seasons.

74%

Era Translator

INT 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 INT	INT/G	→ 2025 INT	→ 2025 /G
2019	1	0.1	1	0.1
2020	1	0.1	1	0.1
2021	3	0.3	4+1	0.2
2022	6	0.5	7+1	0.4
2024	6	0.4	6	0.4
2025	2	0.2	3+1	0.2

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

150 career value over replacement — #633 all-time of 4,642. 25/season above a replacement-level S.

Career Profile

Led league 1×2 top-10

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #105 (Rd 4) · NO · 2019 · +41.2 vs expected KV-H

78actual

36.8 expected · Δ+41.2

💔+38.5 stolen VORP·1.54 szns lost

Fan Rating

Rate C.J. Gardner-Johnson — All-Time

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C.J. Gardner-Johnson

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

Snap Counts

Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Per-Snap Impact

Career Aging Trajectory

Combine · 2019

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

2019 Draft Class· this player went #105

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography