David LaFleur is a career quality starter β a tight end whose body of work places LaFleur in the top half of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and LaFleur's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.
David LaFleur
Height6'7"
Weight272 lb
BornJan 29, 1974
Age52
CollegeLSUSee College Stats
Rookie yr1997
Draft1997 Β· Rd 1, Pick 22 Β· DAL
A tight end with a above-average career β the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (excellent availability over their career) added to their value.
Career Value Β· VORP
VORP 38 Β· #2385 Β· Role PlayerWorth 38 points of value above a freely-available replacement tight end β top 52% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 3 of 4 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +12.7 on average.See board β
Seasons above replacement
3 cleared
1 replaced
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it β adds 0, never a debit
46
Replacement
the KC-H bar
β
3
Seasons over
cleared the bar
Γ
+12.7
Avg surplus
peak +18
3 seasons Γ ~12.7 surplus β VORP 38
Combined Season Grid
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at onceβno tab hopping.
2 grids split in one view
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Receiving | Advanced (EPA) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D | Pass EPA | Rush EPA | Rec EPA | Pass AirYd | Rec AirYd | |||||
| 1997 | β | DAL | 16 | β | β | 18 | 122 | 2 | β | 6.8 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1998 | β | DAL | 13 | β | β | 20 | 176 | 2 | β | 8.8 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1999 | β | DAL | 16 | β | 52 | 34 | 316 | 7 | 65.4% | 9.3 | 6.1 | β | 17 | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1999 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | 17.1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | β | DAL | 10 | β | 21 | 12 | 109 | 1 | 57.1% | 9.1 | 5.2 | β | 7 | β | β | β | β | β |
| 2000 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | -2.4 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | β | 55 | β | 73 | 84 | 723 | 12 | 115.1% | 8.6 | 9.9 | β | 24 | β | β | 14.6 | 0 | 0 | |
Career EPA14.6Β·15 receivingΒ·7.3/season
Receiving
Advanced (EPA)
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 53 Β· SolidA solid career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 53 of 100, era-normalized against rec yds/g peers across 4 scored seasons, with a short career trimming the score.
57
Sustained
career value
Γ.6
59
Peak
best 3 seasons
Γ.4
Γ0.93
Longevity
career length
Blend 57.8 Γ longevity 0.93 = KV-H 53Β· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 57
On-field 39
Availability 18
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative rec yds/g)
1997bestavg 562000
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position10
Depth
of 100
Reached 6% of the all-time Receiving Touchdowns leader β a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
6% of the all-time Receiving Touchdowns leader6
0 categories β₯25% of the all-time leader0
7.32 EPA/season over 2 seasons52
A 0β100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data β career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence β so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite β₯ 85 Β· Strong β₯ 65 Β· Solid β₯ 45 Β· Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 90%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average Β· KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average tight ends aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
Postseason Career
1 playoff gameReceiving
Tgt4Rec3Yds22Ctch%75.0%Y/R7.3Y/Tgt5.51D1
Advanced (EPA)
Rec EPA-1.4
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (LSU), 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 β every name is linked.
Top Teammates
Emmitt SmithRB4yDarren WoodsonS4yTroy AikmanQB4yDexter CoakleyLB4yChad HenningsDT4yLeon LettDE4yDeion SandersCB3yGreg EllisDE3yRandall GodfreyOLB3yMichael IrvinWR3yDaryl JohnstonRB3yGeorge TeagueFS3yMichael MyersDT3yToby GowinP3yKavika PittmanDE3yEric BjornsonTE3ySingor MobleyDB3yJason GarrettQB3yKenny WheatonDB3yNate HemsleyLB3yChris WarrenRB2yFred StricklandLB2yRaghib IsmailWR2yAlonzo SpellmanDE2y
1997 Draft ClassΒ· this player went #22
Franchise Succession
the room, before and afterDavid inherited the Dallas Cowboys TE room from Eric Bjornson (1995β1999), and handed it to Jason Witten (2003β2019).
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0β100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 2000final season
Last recorded season with DAL
- 1997draft
Drafted by DAL β Round 1, Pick 22
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'7" / 272 lb
Frame
Knox
StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works β
Historical Knox Β· KV-H
Era-normalized career quality β z-scored against 4-season peers. See all β
53
peak 59
Season Report CardsΒ· KV-H era-normalized per season
C+1997
C+1998
B1999
C2000
Availability
Career durability β games played vs. scheduled, across 4 seasons.
86%
Era Translator
Rec Yds translated to the 2025NFL β 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 | β 2025 Rec Yds | β 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 122 | 7.6 | 307+185 | 18.1 |
| 1998 | 176 | 13.5 | 409+233 | 24.1 |
| 1999 | 316 | 19.8 | 508+192 | 29.9 |
| 2000 | 109 | 10.9 | 254+145 | 14.9 |
Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:advanced-epa (CC-BY 4.0), wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), nfl.com:official-stats (facts-only reference), espn.com:stats-api (games-played, facts-only reference) Β· multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle Β· updated 6/18/2026
Career Value Β· VORP
38 career value over replacement β #2385 all-time of 4,642. 9.5/season above a replacement-level TE.
Draft OutcomeMiss β
Pick #22 (Rd 1) Β· DAL Β· 1997 Β· -3.5 vs expected KV-H
53actual
56.5 expected Β· Ξβ3.5
Fan Rating
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