Cornelius Bennett ranks in the all-time elite tier for pass rushers — a career that places Bennett in the top 10% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns Bennett a career score of 72, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

OLBIND#97ACT

Cornelius Bennett

5× Pro Bowl1× All-ProTop 10% all-time pass rushersIron Man⭐ Shooting Star · 1999

Height6'3"

Weight240 lb

BornAug 25, 1965

Age60

CollegeAlabama See College Stats

Rookie yr1987

Draft1987 · Rd 1, Pick 2 · IND

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Regular-season all-time ranks

85thSacks·71.5

Pro Bowls

All-Pro

Archetype Intelligence

Iron ManExplore archetypes →

A high-end edge rusher defined as much by exceptional availability — almost never missed time as by their on-field impact (top 10% all-time). Coaches and teammates could count on them being available.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 218 · #322 · Elite

Worth 218 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 8% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 14 of 14 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +15.6 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

14 cleared

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 +25

14 seasons × ~15.6 surplus ≈ VORP 218

Combined Season Grid

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

1 grid split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Defense
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1987	—	BUF	8	—	55	37	—	—	—	8.5	8.5	—	3	4	—	—	—
1988	—	BUF	16	—	88	71	—	—	—	9.5	9.5	2	3	3	—	—	—
1989	—	BUF	12	—	48	32	—	—	—	5.5	5.5	2	5	0	—	—	—
1990	—	BUF	16	—	61	50	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	—	5	3	—	—	—
1991	—	BUF	16	—	102	0	—	—	—	9.0	9.0	—	6	3	—	—	—
1992	—	BUF	15	—	62	52	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	—	9	2	—	—	—
1993	—	BUF	16	—	90	72	—	—	—	5.0	5.0	1	16	2	—	—	—
1994	—	BUF	16	—	77	58	—	—	—	5.0	5.0	—	6	1	—	—	—
1995	—	BUF	14	—	103	80	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	1	10	1	—	—	—
1996	—	ATL	13	—	59	51	—	—	—	3.0	3.0	1	8	2	—	—	—
1997	—	ATL	16	—	89	66	—	—	—	7.0	7.0	—	3	2	—	—	—
1998	—	ATL	16	—	92	69	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	5	0	—	—	—
1999	—	IND	15	—	86	54	32	10	3	5.0	18.0	0	5	5	2	0	0
2000	—	IND	15	—	39	25	14	6	3	3.0	12.0	0	4	0	1	0	0
Career		—	204	—	1,051	717	46	16	6	71.5	93.5	7	88	28	3	0	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1987	22	BUF	8	—	55	37	—	—	—	8.5	8.5	—	3	4	—	—	—	8.3
1988	23	BUF	16	—	88	71	—	—	—	9.5	9.5	2	3	3	—	—	—	14.5
1989	24	BUF	12	—	48	32	—	—	—	5.5	5.5	2	5	0	—	—	—	9
1990	25	BUF	16	—	61	50	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	—	5	3	—	—	—	17.8
1991	26	BUF	16	—	102	0	—	—	—	9.0	9.0	—	6	3	—	—	—	16.9
1992	27	BUF	15	—	62	52	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	—	9	2	—	—	—	14.4
1993	28	BUF	16	—	90	72	—	—	—	5.0	5.0	1	16	2	—	—	—	14.1
1994	29	BUF	16	—	77	58	—	—	—	5.0	5.0	—	6	1	—	—	—	13.8
1995	30	BUF	14	—	103	80	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	1	10	1	—	—	—	9.3
1996	31	ATL	13	—	59	51	—	—	—	3.0	3.0	1	8	2	—	—	—	10.7
1997	32	ATL	16	—	89	66	—	—	—	7.0	7.0	—	3	2	—	—	—	13
1998	33	ATL	16	—	92	69	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	5	0	—	—	—	9.3
1999	34	IND	15	—	86	54	32	10	3	5.0	18.0	0	5	5	2	0	0	11.4
2000	35	IND	15	—	39	25	14	6	3	3.0	12.0	0	4	0	1	0	0	7.6
Career			204		1,051	717	46	16	6	—	—	7	88	28	3	0	0	170.1

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 72 · Great

A great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 72 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 14 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 66.6 × longevity 1 = KV-H 72· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 63

On-field 44.2

Availability 18.8

On-field production Staying available

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

1987bestavg 63elite 702000

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 36% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

36% of the all-time Sacks leader36

1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33

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: 88%.

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+).

Postseason Career

1 playoff game

Defense

Tkl5Solo3Ast2

College Stats

AlabamaCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Alabama), 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.

1987 Draft Class· this player went #2

#1Vinny TestaverdeQB #3Alonzo HighsmithRB #3Cris CarterWR #4Brent FullwoodRB #6Kelly StoufferQB #10Rod WoodsonFS #13Chris MillerQB #14D.J. DozierRB #19Paul PalmerRB #20Haywood JeffiresWR #21Roger VickRB #23Bruce ArmstrongOT #24Rod BernstineRB #25Terrence FlaglerRB #26Jim HarbaughQB #27Ricky NattielWR

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Cornelius opened the Buffalo Bills LB lineage the corpus knows, and handed it to Marvcus Patton (1990–1994).

Cornelius Bennett 1987–1995Marvcus Patton 1990–1994Mark Maddox 1992–1997Marlo Perry 1994–1999Sam Rogers 1994–2000Bryce Paup 1995–1997

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2000final season
Last recorded season with IND
1999team change
Joined IND (from ATL)
1996team change
Joined ATL (from BUF)
1987draft
Drafted by IND — Round 1, Pick 2
1987team change
Joined BUF (from IND)

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'3" / 240 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 14-season peers. See all →

peak 72

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

B1987

B1988

C+1989

C+1990

B+1991

B1992

B1993

B1994

C+1995

C+1996

B+1997

C+1998

B1999

C+2000

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
1987	8.5	1.1	9+0.5	0.5
1988	9.5	0.6	5-4.5	0.3
1989	5.5	0.5	5-0.5	0.3
1990	4	0.3	3-1	0.2
1991	9	0.6	7-2	0.4
1992	4	0.3	4	0.2
1993	5	0.3	5	0.3
1994	5	0.3	5	0.3
1995	2	0.1	2	0.1
1996	3	0.2	4+1	0.2
1997	7	0.4	7	0.4
1998	1	0.1	1	0.1
1999	5	0.3	5	0.3
2000	3	0.2	3	0.2

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, 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

218 career value over replacement — #322 all-time of 4,642. 15.6/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #2 (Rd 1) · IND · 1987 · +10.2 vs expected KV-H

72actual

61.8 expected · Δ+10.2

💔+20.3 stolen VORP·1.26 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Cornelius Bennett

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1987 Draft Class· this player went #2

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography