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

WRTEN#85ACT

Derek Russell

Top 30% all-time WRsReliable Starter

Height6'0"

Weight195 lb

BornJun 22, 1969

Age57

CollegeArkansas See College Stats

Rookie yr1991

Draft1991 · Rd 4, Pick 89 · DEN

Archetype Intelligence

Reliable StarterExplore archetypes →

A wide receiver with a top 30% among starters — the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (excellent availability over their career) added to their value.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 39 · #2351 · Role Player

Worth 39 points of value above a freely-available replacement receiver — top 52% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 5 of 7 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +7.8 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

5 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

+7.8

Avg surplus

peak +17

5 seasons × ~7.8 surplus ≈ VORP 39

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									Rushing								Defense
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1991	—	DEN	13	—	—	21	317	1	—	15.1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1992	—	DEN	12	—	—	12	140	0	—	11.7	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1993	—	DEN	13	—	—	44	719	3	—	16.3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994	—	DEN	12	—	—	25	342	1	—	13.7	—	—	—	1	6	0	6.0	0.0	—	—	—	1	1	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1995	—	TEN	11	—	—	24	321	0	—	13.4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1996	—	TEN	16	—	—	34	421	2	—	12.4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	—	TEN	11	—	—	12	141	1	—	11.8	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Career		—	88	—	0	172	2,401	8	—	14.0	—	—	—	1	6	0	6.0	0.0	—	—	—	3	3	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0	—	—

Rushing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb	VAL
1994	25	DEN	12	—	1	6	0	6.0	0.0	—	—	—	5
Career			12		1	6	0	6.0	—	—	—	—	39.7

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D
1991	22	DEN	13	—	—	21	317	1	—	15.1	—	—	—
1992	23	DEN	12	—	—	12	140	0	—	11.7	—	—	—
1993	24	DEN	13	—	—	44	719	3	—	16.3	—	—	—
1994	25	DEN	12	—	—	25	342	1	—	13.7	—	—	—
1995	26	TEN	11	—	—	24	321	0	—	13.4	—	—	—
1996	27	TEN	16	—	—	34	421	2	—	12.4	—	—	—
1997	28	TEN	11	—	—	12	141	1	—	11.8	—	—	—
Career			88		0	172	2,401	8	—	14.0	—	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 55 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a well-rounded profile that scores 55 of 100, era-normalized against rec yds/g peers across 7 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 55 × longevity 1 = KV-H 55· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 53

On-field 37.1

Availability 15.9

On-field production Staying available

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

1991bestavg 531997

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 11% of the all-time Receptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

11% of the all-time Receptions leader11

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: 92%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average wide receivers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

College Stats

ArkansasCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Arkansas), 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.

1991 Draft Class· this player went #89

#73Ernie MillsWR #74David DanielsWR #76Ricky ErvinsRB #77Tim BarnettWR #78Chris GardockiP #79Kevin DonnalleyG #83Ed McCaffreyWR #84Scott ZolakQB #90Yancey ThigpenWR #92Randy BaldwinRB #97Curvin RichardsRB #98John KasayK #99Donald HollasQB #102Marcus RobertsonFS #103Adrian CooperTE #104William ThomasOLB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Derek inherited the Denver Broncos WR room from Mike Young (1989–1992), and handed it to Glyn Milburn (1993–1995).

Clint Sampson 1983–1986Vance Johnson 1985–1995Mark Jackson 1986–1992Ricky Nattiel 1987–1992Mike Young 1989–1992Derek Russell

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

1997final season
Last recorded season with TEN
1995team change
Joined TEN (from DEN)
1991draft
Drafted by DEN — Round 4, Pick 89

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'0" / 195 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 7-season peers. See all →

peak 58

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

C+1991

C1992

B1993

C+1994

C+1995

C+1996

C1997

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 7 seasons.

79%

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
1991	317	24.4	418+101	24.6
1992	140	11.7	216+76	12.7
1993	719	55.3	869+150	51.1
1994	342	28.5	449+107	26.4
1995	321	29.2	481+160	28.3
1996	421	26.3	443+22	26.1
1997	141	12.8	237+96	13.9

Data: nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:players, 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

39 career value over replacement — #2351 all-time of 4,642. 5.6/season above a replacement-level WR.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #89 (Rd 4) · DEN · 1991 · +16.3 vs expected KV-H

55actual

38.7 expected · Δ+16.3

Fan Rating

Rate Derek Russell — All-Time

Tap a star to rate

Explore More

Similar Players

Freddie Mitchell

96% match

MarTay Jenkins

92% match

Stedman Bailey

91% match

Greg Lewis

90% match

Thomas Lewis

90% match

Compare Derek Russell vs Player Report data error

Derek Russell

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Rushing

Receiving

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1991 Draft Class· this player went #89

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator