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

LBNE#95NWT

Dean Wells

Top 14% all-time linebackersIron ManTwo-Way Profile

Height6'3"

Weight248 lb

BornJul 20, 1970

Age55

CollegeKentucky See College Stats

Rookie yr1993

Draft1993 · Rd 4, Pick 85 · SEA

Archetype Intelligence

Iron ManExplore archetypes →

A high-end linebacker defined as much by excellent availability over their career as by their on-field impact (top 20% all-time). Coaches and teammates could count on them being available.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 113 · #946 · High-Value

Worth 113 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 21% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 9 of 9 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +12.6 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

9 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+12.6

Avg surplus

peak +26

9 seasons × ~12.6 surplus ≈ VORP 113

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													Receiving									Advanced (EPA)
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA	Pass AirYd	Rec AirYd
1993	—	SEA	14	—	26	23	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994	—	SEA	15	—	23	20	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995	—	SEA	14	—	62	43	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	3	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	—	SEA	16	—	107	82	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	4	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	—	SEA	16	—	92	74	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	—	SEA	9	—	50	38	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	1	4	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	CAR	16	—	76	51	25	1	0	0.5	1.5	1	3	2	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	PHI	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	0	0	0	0.0%	—	0.0	—	0	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	-0.4	0	0
2000	—	CAR	15	—	54	43	11	7	0	0.0	7.0	1	2	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2001	—	CAR	8	—	35	23	12	3	0	0.0	3.0	0	0	1	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Career		—	124	—	525	397	48	11	0	2.5	13.5	3	18	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0.0%	—	0.0	—	0	—	—	-0.4	0	0

Career EPA-0.4··-0.4/season

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D	VAL
1999	29	PHI	1	—	1	0	0	0	0.0%	—	0.0	—	0	—
Career			1		1	0	0	0	0.0%	—	0.0	—	0	48.2

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1993	23	SEA	14	—	26	23	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1994	24	SEA	15	—	23	20	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1995	25	SEA	14	—	62	43	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	3	0	—	—	—
1996	26	SEA	16	—	107	82	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	4	0	—	—	—
1997	27	SEA	16	—	92	74	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	2	1	—	—	—
1998	28	SEA	9	—	50	38	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	1	4	1	—	—	—
1999	29	CAR	16	—	76	51	25	1	0	0.5	1.5	1	3	2	—	0	0
2000	30	CAR	15	—	54	43	11	7	0	0.0	7.0	1	2	0	—	0	0
2001	31	CAR	8	—	35	23	12	3	0	0.0	3.0	0	0	1	—	0	0
Career			123		525	397	48	11	0	—	—	3	18	5	0	0	0

Advanced (EPA)

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA	Pass AirYd	Rec AirYd
1999	29	—	—	—	—	—	-0.4	0	0
Career					—	—	—	0	0

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 64 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 64 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 9 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 63.6 × longevity 1 = KV-H 64· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 60

On-field 42.3

Availability 17.7

On-field production Staying available

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

1993bestavg 60elite 702001

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 1% of the all-time Interceptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

1% of the all-time Interceptions leader1

0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0

-0.43 EPA/season over 1 season50

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: 89%.

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+).

College Stats

KentuckyCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Kentucky), 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.

1993 Draft Class· this player went #85

#72James TrappCB #74Will ShieldsG #76Andre HastingsWR #78Terry KirbyRB #79Gilbert BrownNT #81Earl DotsonOT #82John LynchFS #83Mike CaldwellLB #87Ronald MooreRB #89Lorenzo NealFB #91Rudy HarrisRB #94Derrick LassicRB #95Raylee JohnsonDE #97Todd PerryG #98Jeff RobinsonLS #99Lewis BushOLB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Dean inherited the Seattle Seahawks LB room from David Wyman (1987–1992), and handed it to Darrin Smith (1998–1999).

David Wyman 1987–1992Dean Wells 1993–1998Darrin Smith 1998–1999Anthony Simmons 1998–2004Chad Brown 1999–2004Isaiah Kacyvenski

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2001final season
Last recorded season with CAR
1999team change
Joined CAR (from SEA)
1993draft
Drafted by SEA — Round 4, Pick 85

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'3" / 248 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 9-season peers. See all →

peak 69

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

C+1993

C+1994

B1995

B+1996

B1997

B1998

B1999

C+2000

C+2001

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 9 seasons.

85%

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
1993	26	1.9	33+7	1.9
1994	23	1.5	27+4	1.6
1995	62	4.4	69+7	4
1996	107	6.7	108+1	6.3
1997	92	5.8	95+3	5.6
1998	50	5.6	93+43	5.5
1999	76	4.8	80+4	4.7
2000	54	3.6	53-1	3.1
2001	35	4.4	62+27	3.6

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), 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

113 career value over replacement — #946 all-time of 4,642. 12.6/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #85 (Rd 4) · SEA · 1993 · +25.3 vs expected KV-H

64actual

38.7 expected · Δ+25.3

Fan Rating

Rate Dean Wells — All-Time

Tap a star to rate

Explore More

Similar Players

Todd F. Collins

OLB

92% match

Corey Widmer

MLB

89% match

Keenan Robinson

OLB

89% match

Orlando Ruff

89% match

Channing Crowder

ILB

88% match

Compare Dean Wells vs Player Report data error

Dean Wells

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Receiving

Defense

Advanced (EPA)

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1993 Draft Class· this player went #85

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography