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

LBLA#52ACT

Dexter Coakley

3× Pro BowlTop 15% all-time linebackersIron Man⛰️ Mountain Arc · 2002Two-Way Profile

Height5'10"

Weight230 lb

BornOct 20, 1972

Age53

CollegeAppalachian State See College Stats

Rookie yr1997

Draft1997 · Rd 3, Pick 65 · DAL

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Iron ManExplore archetypes →

A high-end linebacker defined as much by exceptional availability — almost never missed time as by their on-field impact (top 20% all-time). Coaches and teammates could count on them being available.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 101 · #1103 · High-Value

Worth 101 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 25% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 6 of 8 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +16.8 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

+16.8

Avg surplus

peak +23

6 seasons × ~16.8 surplus ≈ VORP 101

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													Rushing								Advanced (EPA)
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA	Pass AirYd	Rec AirYd
1997	—	DAL	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.5	2.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	—	DAL	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	DAL	16	—	66	53	13	6	1	1.0	8.0	4	6	1	—	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2000	—	DAL	16	—	78	67	11	7	0	0.0	7.0	0	3	0	1	0	0	1	26	0	26.0	0.0	1	100.0	0	—	—	—	—	—
2000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.0	—	0	0
2001	—	DAL	15	—	76	54	22	2	0	0.0	2.0	2	5	1	1	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2002	—	DAL	16	—	96	73	23	3	1	1.0	5.0	1	8	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2003	—	DAL	16	—	84	59	25	0	0	1.5	1.5	1	4	1	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2004	—	DAL	15	—	61	44	17	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	6	0	1	0	0	1	33	0	33.0	0.0	1	100.0	0	—	—	—	—	—
2004	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.5	—	0	0
2005	—	LA	12	—	33	24	9	0	0	2.0	2.0	1	2	1	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2006	—	LA	8	—	26	23	3	0	1	0.0	1.0	2	4	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Career		—	146	—	520	397	123	18	3	10.0	31.0	11	38	4	4	4	0	2	59	0	29.5	0.0	2	100.0	0	—	7.5	—	0	0

Career EPA7.5·8 rushing·3.8/season

Rushing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	VAL
2000	28	DAL	1	—	1	26	26.0	0.0	1	100.0	—
2004	32	DAL	1	—	1	33	33.0	0.0	1	100.0	—
Career			2		2	59	29.5	—	2	—	69.8

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1997	25	DAL	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.5	2.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	26	DAL	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	27	DAL	16	—	66	53	13	6	1	1.0	8.0	4	6	1	—	1	0
2000	28	DAL	16	—	78	67	11	7	0	0.0	7.0	0	3	0	1	0	0
2001	29	DAL	15	—	76	54	22	2	0	0.0	2.0	2	5	1	1	2	0
2002	30	DAL	16	—	96	73	23	3	1	1.0	5.0	1	8	0	1	1	0
2003	31	DAL	16	—	84	59	25	0	0	1.5	1.5	1	4	1	—	0	0
2004	32	DAL	15	—	61	44	17	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	6	0	1	0	0
2005	33	LA	12	—	33	24	9	0	0	2.0	2.0	1	2	1	—	0	0
2006	34	LA	8	—	26	23	3	0	1	0.0	1.0	2	4	0	—	0	0
Career			146		520	397	123	18	3	—	—	11	38	4	4	4	0

Advanced (EPA)

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA
2000	28	—	—	—	—	4.0	—
2004	32	—	—	—	—	3.5	—
Career					—	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 63 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 63 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 8 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 63.4 × longevity 1 = KV-H 63· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 61

On-field 42.5

Availability 18.5

On-field production Staying available

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

1999bestavg 59elite 702006

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 5% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

5% of the all-time Sacks leader5

0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0

3.75 EPA/season over 2 seasons51

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+).

Postseason Career

2 playoff games

Defense

Tkl11Solo8Ast3

College Stats

Appalachian StateCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Appalachian State), 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.

1997 Draft Class· this player went #65

#57James DarlingLB #58Kim HerringDB #59Brandon MitchellDE #60Darren SharperFS #61Sedrick ShawRB #62Troy DavisRB #63Frank MiddletonG #64Jay GrahamRB #66Ronde BarberFS #67Dan NeilG #68Ryan PhillipsOLB #70O.J. SantiagoTE #71Duce StaleyRB #72Adam TreuC #73Jason TaylorOLB #74Michael HamiltonLB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Dexter inherited the Dallas Cowboys LB room from Randall Godfrey (1996–1999), and handed it to Dat Nguyen (1999–2005).

Jack Del Rio 1989–1991Ken Norton 1989–1993Vinson Smith 1991–1997Robert Jones 1992–1995Darrin Smith 1993–1996Fred Strickland

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2006final season
Last recorded season with LA
2005team change
Joined LA (from DAL)
1997draft
Drafted by DAL — Round 3, Pick 65

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

5'10" / 230 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 67

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

B1999

B2000

B2001

B+2002

B2003

C+2004

C2005

C2006

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 10 seasons.

91%

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
1999	66	4.1	68+2	4
2000	78	4.9	78	4.6
2001	76	5.1	76	4.5
2002	96	6	98+2	5.8
2003	84	5.3	81-3	4.8
2004	61	4.1	54-7	3.2
2005	33	2.8	24-9	1.4
2006	26	3.3	36+10	2.1

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

101 career value over replacement — #1103 all-time of 4,642. 12.6/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #65 (Rd 3) · DAL · 1997 · +16.1 vs expected KV-H

63actual

46.9 expected · Δ+16.1

Fan Rating

Rate Dexter Coakley — All-Time

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Dexter Coakley

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Rushing

Defense

Advanced (EPA)

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1997 Draft Class· this player went #65

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator