David Sloan is a career quality starter — a tight end whose body of work places Sloan in the top quarter of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Sloan's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.

TENO#48ACT

David Sloan

1× Pro BowlTop 15% all-time TEsElite PlaymakerTwo-Way ProfileTeam Carrier · #283

Height6'6"

Weight260 lb

BornJun 8, 1972

Age54

CollegeNew Mexico; Fresno City College See College Stats

Rookie yr1995

Draft1995 · Rd 3, Pick 70 · DET

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Elite PlaymakerExplore archetypes →

A top 20% all-time tight end who consistently made an impact across multiple seasons.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 112 · #962 · High-Value

Worth 112 points of value above a freely-available replacement tight end — top 22% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 6 of 8 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +18.7 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

6 cleared

2 replaced

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+18.7

Avg surplus

peak +33

6 seasons × ~18.7 surplus ≈ VORP 112

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	Receiving									Defense													Advanced (EPA)
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA	Pass AirYd	Rec AirYd
1995	—	DET	16	—	—	17	184	1	—	10.8	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	—	DET	4	—	—	7	51	0	—	7.3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	—	DET	14	—	—	29	264	0	—	9.1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	—	DET	10	—	—	11	146	1	—	13.3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	DET	16	—	76	47	591	4	61.8%	12.6	7.8	—	27	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	LAC	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	23.8	0	0
2000	—	DET	14	—	60	32	379	2	53.3%	11.8	6.3	—	19	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2000	—	GB	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	2	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
2000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	-3.9	0	0
2001	—	DET	14	—	69	37	409	7	53.6%	11.1	5.9	—	24	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2001	—	PIT	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3	3	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
2001	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	14.9	0	0
2002	—	NO	12	—	25	12	127	0	48.0%	10.6	5.1	—	6	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2002	—	SF	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
2002	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.9	0	0
Career		—	106	—	230	192	2,151	15	83.5%	11.2	9.4	—	76	7	7	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	—	36.7	0	0

Career EPA36.7·37 receiving·9.2/season

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D	VAL
1995	23	DET	16	—	—	17	184	1	—	10.8	—	—	—	9.4
1996	24	DET	4	—	—	7	51	0	—	7.3	—	—	—	2.4
1997	25	DET	14	—	—	29	264	0	—	9.1	—	—	—	8.5
1998	26	DET	10	—	—	11	146	1	—	13.3	—	—	—	5.9
1999	27	DET	16	—	76	47	591	4	61.8%	12.6	7.8	—	27	16
2000	28	DET	14	—	60	32	379	2	53.3%	11.8	6.3	—	19	10.1
2001	29	DET	14	—	69	37	409	7	53.6%	11.1	5.9	—	24	16.7
2002	30	NO	12	—	25	12	127	0	48.0%	10.6	5.1	—	6	3.7
Career			100		230	192	2,151	15	83.5%	11.2	9.4	—	76	72.7

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Sk	Dis	FR
1999	27	LAC	1	—	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
2000	28	GB	2	—	2	2	0.0	0.0	—
2001	29	PIT	2	—	3	3	0.0	0.0	—
2002	30	SF	1	—	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Career			6		7	7	—	—	—

Advanced (EPA)

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA
1999	27	—	—	—	—	—	23.8
2000	28	—	—	—	—	—	-3.9
2001	29	—	—	—	—	—	14.9
2002	30	—	—	—	—	—	1.9
Career					—	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 65 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 65 of 100, era-normalized against rec yds/g peers across 8 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 65 × longevity 1 = KV-H 65· confidence 94%

What builds the career mark of 61

On-field 44.2

Availability 16.8

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative rec yds/g)

1995bestavg 57elite 702002

Team Carrier Evidence

Ranked #283 of 600 by seasons where high individual production happened on low-win teams. Score aggregates only tracked StatVault categories.

Full board

Total Score

1 qualifying season

2001 DET·2 team wins#19

Receiving Touchdowns · 7 · score 35

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 12% of the all-time Receptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

12% of the all-time Receptions leader12

0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0

9.17 EPA/season over 4 seasons53

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: 90%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = 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 game

Receiving

Tgt5Rec1Yds24Ctch%20.0%Y/R24.0Y/Tgt4.81D1

Advanced (EPA)

Rec EPA-0.9

College Stats

New Mexico; Fresno City CollegeCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (New Mexico; Fresno City College), 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.

1995 Draft Class· this player went #70

#59Kendell WatkinsTE #60Kordell StewartQB #64Bryan SchwartzLB #65Darius HollandDT #66William HendersonFB #67Chris SandersWR #68Darryl PoundsCB #69Melvin TutenOT #71Chris HudsonDB #72Greg JeffersonDT #73Brian WilliamsLB #74Curtis MartinRB #77Lorenzo StylesOLB #79Zack CrockettRB #80Stoney CaseQB #81Tamarick VanoverWR

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

David inherited the Detroit Lions TE room from Rodney Holman (1993–1995), and handed it to Pete Metzelaars (1996–1997).

Rob Rubick 1982–1988David Lewis 1984–1986Rodney Holman 1993–1995David Sloan 1995–2001Pete Metzelaars 1996–1997Mikhael Ricks

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2002team change
Joined NO (from DET)
2002final season
Last recorded season with NO
1995draft
Drafted by DET — Round 3, Pick 70

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'6" / 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 8-season peers. See all →

peak 71

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

B1995

F1996

B1997

C+1998

B+1999

B2000

B2001

C2002

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 8 seasons.

78%

Era Translator

Rec Yds 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 Rec Yds	Rec Yds/G	→ 2025 Rec Yds	→ 2025 /G
1995	184	11.5	419+235	24.6
1996	51	12.8	445+394	26.2
1997	264	18.9	524+260	30.8
1998	146	14.6	430+284	25.3
1999	591	36.9	867+276	51
2000	379	27.1	631+252	37.1
2001	409	29.2	650+241	38.2
2002	127	10.6	176+49	10.4

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:advanced-epa (CC-BY 4.0), wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

112 career value over replacement — #962 all-time of 4,642. 14/season above a replacement-level TE.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #70 (Rd 3) · DET · 1995 · +21.4 vs expected KV-H

65actual

43.6 expected · Δ+21.4

Fan Rating

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Compare David Sloan vs Player Report data error

David Sloan

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Receiving

Defense

Advanced (EPA)

KV-H Anatomy

Team Carrier Evidence

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Receiving

Advanced (EPA)

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1995 Draft Class· this player went #70

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator