Craig Sauer is a career quality starter — a linebacker whose body of work places Sauer in the top half of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Sauer's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.
Craig Sauer
Top 39% all-time linebackersHigh-End Starter
Height6'1"
Weight241 lb
BornDec 31, 1972
Age53
CollegeMinnesotaSee College Stats
Rookie yr1996
Draft1996 · Rd 6, Pick 188 · ATL
A quality linebacker with a above-average career — a legitimate starter who contributed meaningfully across their career.
Career Value · VORP
VORP 15 · #3342 · Role PlayerWorth 15 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 73% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 3 of 4 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +5 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
3 cleared
1 replaced
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
47
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
3
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+5
Avg surplus
peak +8
3 seasons × ~5 surplus ≈ VORP 15
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 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | |||||
| 1996 | — | — | 16 | — | 11 | 6 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| 1997 | — | — | 16 | — | 11 | 8 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | — |
| 1998 | — | — | 16 | — | 36 | 29 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 1999 | — | ATL | 8 | — | 19 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | — | MIN | 2 | — | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Career | — | 58 | — | 78 | 58 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
Defense
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 48 · SolidA solid career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 48 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 4 scored seasons, with a short career trimming the score.
51
Sustained
career value
×.6
52
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×0.93
Longevity
career length
Blend 51.4 × longevity 0.93 = KV-H 48· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 51
On-field 32.3
Availability 18.7
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative tackles/g)
1996bestavg 501999
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position1
Depth
of 100
Reached 1% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
1% of the all-time Sacks leader1
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: 88%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average linebackers 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 (Minnesota), 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
Keith ThibodeauxDB2yGary AndersonK1yEugene RobinsonFS1yCris CarterWR1yKeith BrookingMLB1yRandy MossWR1yJessie TuggleMLB1yJohn RandleDT1yTerance MathisWR1yCris DishmanCB1yDan StryzinskiP1yRobert GriffithFS1yChris ChandlerQB1yRay BuchananFS1yMarty CarterS1yFred RobbinsDT1yChris CallowayWR1yPatrick KerneyDE1yShane DronettDT1yLester ArchambeauDE1yChris HovanDT1yTravis HallDT1yJackie HarrisTE1yBob ChristianFB1y
1996 Draft Class· this player went #188
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 2000team change
Joined MIN (from ATL)
- 2000final season
Last recorded season with MIN
- 1996draft
Drafted by ATL — Round 6, Pick 188
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'1" / 241 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 4-season peers. See all →
48
peak 52
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
C+1996
C+1997
C+1998
C1999
Availability
Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 5 seasons.
73%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 11 | 0.7 | 23+12 | 1.4 |
| 1997 | 11 | 0.7 | 19+8 | 1.1 |
| 1998 | 36 | 2.3 | 39+3 | 2.3 |
| 1999 | 19 | 2.4 | 37+18 | 2.2 |
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 (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
15 career value over replacement — #3342 all-time of 4,642. 3.8/season above a replacement-level LB.
Draft OutcomeSteal ↑
Pick #188 (Rd 6) · ATL · 1996 · +22.1 vs expected KV-H
48actual
25.9 expected · Δ+22.1
Fan Rating
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