Derrick Thomas is a Hall of Fame pass rusher whose career earned one of the highest career value scores of 96 in the Knox value model. Thomas's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.

OLBKC#58ACT

Derrick Thomas

★ HALL OF FAME9× Pro Bowl2× All-ProTop 1% all-time pass rushersIron Legend

Height6'3"

Weight255 lb

BornJan 1, 1967

Age59

CollegeAlabama See College Stats

Rookie yr1989

Draft1989 · Rd 1, Pick 4 · KC

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Regular-season all-time ranks

18thSacks·126.5

Pro Bowls

All-Pro

Yes

Hall of Fame

Season honors and record seasons

Led NFL1990·Sacks20 13thsingle season·Sacks1990

Archetype Intelligence

Iron LegendExplore archetypes →

An all-time caliber edge rusher (top 1% all-time) who combined elite production with excellent availability over their career. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 406 · #42 · All-Time

Worth 406 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 2% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 11 of 11 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +36.9 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

11 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+36.9

Avg surplus

peak +51

11 seasons × ~36.9 surplus ≈ VORP 406

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
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1989	—	KC	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	10.0	10.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1990	—	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	20.0	20.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1991	—	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	13.5	13.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1992	—	KC	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	14.5	14.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1993	—	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	8.0	8.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994	—	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	11.0	11.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995	—	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	8.0	8.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	—	KC	14	—	—	—	—	—	—	13.0	13.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	—	KC	10	—	—	—	—	—	—	9.5	9.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	—	KC	10	—	—	—	—	—	—	12.0	12.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	KC	16	—	54	46	8	10	4	7.0	21.0	1	5	3	1	0	0
Career		—	157	—	54	46	8	10	4	126.5	140.5	1	5	3	1	0	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1989	22	KC	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	10.0	10.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	19.8
1990	23	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	20.0	20.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	24.7
1991	24	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	13.5	13.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	21.5
1992	25	KC	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	14.5	14.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	23
1993	26	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	8.0	8.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	21.5
1994	27	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	11.0	11.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	21.5
1995	28	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	8.0	8.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	21
1996	29	KC	14	—	—	—	—	—	—	13.0	13.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	20.1
1997	30	KC	10	—	—	—	—	—	—	9.5	9.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	14.3
1998	31	KC	10	—	—	—	—	—	—	12.0	12.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	14.3
1999	32	KC	16	—	54	46	8	10	4	7.0	21.0	1	5	3	1	0	0	12.4
Career			157		54	46	8	10	4	—	—	1	5	3	1	0	0	214.1

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 96 · All-Time Great

A all-time great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 96 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 11 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 88.6 × longevity 1 = KV-H 96· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 83

On-field 64.8

Availability 18.2

On-field production Staying available

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

1989bestavg 84elite 701999

All-Time Standing

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

Solid

of 100

Reached 64% of the all-time Sacks leader — a solid all-time profile at the position.

64% of the all-time Sacks leader64

1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33

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

AlabamaCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Alabama), 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.

1989 Draft Class· this player went #4

#1Steve WalshQB #1Troy AikmanQB #3Barry SandersRB #5Deion SandersCB #7Tim WorleyRB #9Sammie SmithRB #10Eric HillLB #12Trace ArmstrongDE #13Eric MetcalfWR #14Jeff LagemanDE #16Hart Lee DykesWR #19Wayne MartinDT #20Steve AtwaterFS #22Andre RisonWR #26Cleveland GaryRB #27Shawn CollinsWR

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Derrick opened the Kansas City Chiefs LB lineage the corpus knows, and handed it to Lonnie Marts (1991–1993).

Derrick Thomas 1989–1999Lonnie Marts 1991–1993Tracy Simien 1991–1997Greg Manusky 1994–1999Donnie Edwards 1996–2008Marvcus Patton 1999–2002

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

1999final season
Last recorded season with KC
1989draft
Drafted by KC — Round 1, Pick 4

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'3" / 255 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 11-season peers. See all →

peak 97

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

B+1989

A+1990

A1991

A+1992

B+1993

A1994

B+1995

A+1996

A+1997

A+1998

B+1999

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 11 seasons.

Era Translator

Sacks 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 Sacks	Sacks/G	→ 2025 Sacks	→ 2025 /G
1989	10	0.6	6-4	0.4
1990	20	1.3	15-5	0.9
1991	13.5	0.9	10-3.5	0.6
1992	14.5	0.9	12-2.5	0.7
1993	8	0.5	8	0.5
1994	11	0.7	11	0.6
1995	8	0.5	8	0.5
1996	13	0.9	14+1	0.8
1997	9.5	1	15+5.5	0.9
1998	12	1.2	18+6	1.1
1999	7	0.4	7	0.4

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

Career Value · VORP

406 career value over replacement — #42 all-time of 4,642. 36.9/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #4 (Rd 1) · KC · 1989 · +34.2 vs expected KV-H

96actual

61.8 expected · Δ+34.2

💔+45.3 stolen VORP·1.21 szns lost

Fan Rating

Rate Derrick Thomas — All-Time

Tap a star to rate

Explore More

Similar Players

R-Kal Truluck

90% match

Roderick Green

90% match

Kevin Greene

OLB

89% match

Bertrand Berry

OLB

87% match

Travis LaBoy

OLB

87% match

Compare Derrick Thomas vs Player Report data error

Derrick Thomas

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1989 Draft Class· this player went #4

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography