Derrick Thomas is a Hall of Fame pass rusher whose career earned a modest career value score of 51 in the Knox value model. Thomas's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.
Derrick Thomas
★ HALL OF FAME9× Pro Bowl2× All-ProTop 46% all-time pass rushersSolid Contributor📊 Overvalued by voters
Height6'3"
Weight255 lb
BornJan 1, 1967
Age59
CollegeAlabamaSee College Stats
Rookie yr1989
Draft1989 · Rd 1, Pick 4 · KC
All-Time Rank & Honors
career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context9x
Pro Bowls
2x
All-Pro
Yes
Hall of Fame
A edge rusher with a middle-tier career — a rotational or backup contributor who filled their role reliably.
Combined Season Grid
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping. Switch to Combined to fold the selected families into unified totals—yards from scrimmage, total TDs, touches.
1 grid split in one view
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Defense | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | |||||
| 1999 | — | KC | 16 | — | 54 | 46 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 7.0 | 21.0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | — | 16 | — | 54 | 46 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 7.0 | 21.0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
Defense
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 51 · SolidA solid career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 51 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 1 scored season, with a short career trimming the score.
71
Sustained
career value
×.6
71
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×0.72
Longevity
career length
Blend 71 × longevity 0.72 = KV-H 51· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 71
On-field 51
Availability 20
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative sacks/g)
1999bestavg 71elite 701999
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position4
Depth
of 100
Reached 4% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
4% of the all-time Sacks leader4
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%.
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.
Top Teammates
Tony GonzalezTE1yWarren MoonQB1yMarvcus PattonMLB1yJames HastyDB1yCris DishmanCB1yDonnie EdwardsOLB1yLeslie O'NealDE1yChester McGlocktonDT1yAndre RisonWR1yTony RichardsonFB1yJoe HornWR1yGreg ManuskyLB1yReggie TongueDB1yDerrick AlexanderWR1yJerome WoodsFS1yEric HicksDE1yEric WarfieldCB1yKimble AndersRB1yRon GeorgeLB1yDonnell BennettFB1yElvis GrbacQB1yCarlton GrayCB1yKevin LockettWR1yTom BarndtDT1y
1989 Draft Class· this player went #4
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 facts6'3" / 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 1-season peers. See all →
51
peak 71
Availability
Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 1 season.
100%
Canton Monitor · HOF
Enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. See all →
✓
Enshrined
What carries the case
Pro Bowls 32%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 7 | 0.4 | 6-1 | 0.4 |
Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 7/31/2026
Draft OutcomeMiss ↓
Pick #4 (Rd 1) · KC · 1989 · -10.4 vs expected KV-H
51actual
61.4 expected · Δ−10.4
Fan Rating
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