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

OLBKC#59RES

Donnie Edwards

1× Pro BowlTop 27% all-time pass rushersReliable Starter⚙️ Sustained Machine · 2005

Height6'2"

Weight224 lb

BornApr 6, 1973

Age53

CollegeUCLA See College Stats

Rookie yr1996

Draft1996 · Rd 4, Pick 98 · KC

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Reliable StarterExplore archetypes →

A edge rusher 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 103 · #1073 · High-Value

Worth 103 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 24% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 12 of 13 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +8.6 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

12 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+8.6

Avg surplus

peak +21

12 seasons × ~8.6 surplus ≈ VORP 103

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
1996	—	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	—	KC	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.5	2.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	—	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	6.0	6.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	KC	16	—	111	86	25	8	3	3.0	14.0	5	8	1	2	2	0
2000	—	KC	15	—	104	86	18	14	1	1.0	16.0	2	3	0	1	1	0
2001	—	KC	16	—	112	80	32	12	2	2.0	16.0	0	4	1	3	0	0
2002	—	LAC	16	—	107	78	29	7	0	0.0	7.0	5	11	0	1	2	0
2003	—	LAC	16	—	137	99	38	0	0	1.5	1.5	2	9	1	—	0	0
2004	—	LAC	16	—	113	67	46	0	0	1.0	1.0	5	14	2	—	1	0
2005	—	LAC	16	—	115	75	40	0	0	3.0	3.0	2	11	2	—	0	0
2006	—	LAC	16	—	109	67	42	0	5	3.0	8.0	3	8	2	1	0	0
2007	—	KC	16	—	85	66	19	0	4	2.0	6.0	1	3	1	1	0	0
2008	—	KC	7	—	28	19	9	1	0	0.0	1.0	0	0	0	—	0	0
Career		—	196	—	1,021	723	298	42	15	25.0	82.0	25	71	10	9	6	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1996	23	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.7
1997	24	KC	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.5	2.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	9.7
1998	25	KC	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	6.0	6.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	16.7
1999	26	KC	16	—	111	86	25	8	3	3.0	14.0	5	8	1	2	2	0	14.1
2000	27	KC	15	—	104	86	18	14	1	1.0	16.0	2	3	0	1	1	0	11.6
2001	28	KC	16	—	112	80	32	12	2	2.0	16.0	0	4	1	3	0	0	9.5
2002	29	LAC	16	—	107	78	29	7	0	0.0	7.0	5	11	0	1	2	0	12.6
2003	30	LAC	16	—	137	99	38	0	0	1.5	1.5	2	9	1	—	0	0	11.9
2004	31	LAC	16	—	113	67	46	0	0	1.0	1.0	5	14	2	—	1	0	14.1
2005	32	LAC	16	—	115	75	40	0	0	3.0	3.0	2	11	2	—	0	0	12.7
2006	33	LAC	16	—	109	67	42	0	5	3.0	8.0	3	8	2	1	0	0	12.7
2007	34	KC	16	—	85	66	19	0	4	2.0	6.0	1	3	1	1	0	0	9.2
2008	35	KC	7	—	28	19	9	1	0	0.0	1.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	2.3
Career			196		1,021	723	298	42	15	—	—	25	71	10	9	6	0	141.8

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 60 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 60 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 13 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 57.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 60· confidence 99%

What builds the career mark of 55

On-field 35.7

Availability 19.3

On-field production Staying available

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

1996bestavg 542008

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 13% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

13% of the all-time Sacks leader13

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 linebackers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Postseason Career

2 playoff games

Defense

Tkl21Solo14Ast7QBHits1Dis1.0Int1PD1

College Stats

UCLACollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (UCLA), 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.

1996 Draft Class· this player went #98

#86Tedy BruschiILB #87Matt StevensFS #89Terrell OwensWR #90Mike FlanaganC #92Jon WitmanFB #93Tyrone WilliamsDB #94Stepfret WilliamsWR #97Hunter GoodwinTE #99Phillip DanielsDE #100Jeff LewisQB #101Heath IrwinG #102Stephen DavisRB #103Ricky WhittleRB #108Jevon LangfordDE #109Jon RunyanOT #110Reggie BarlowWR

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Donnie inherited the Kansas City Chiefs LB room from Greg Manusky (1994–1999), and handed it to Marvcus Patton (1999–2002).

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

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2008final season
Last recorded season with KC
2007team change
Joined KC (from LAC)
2002team change
Joined LAC (from KC)
1996draft
Drafted by KC — Round 4, Pick 98

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 224 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 13-season peers. See all →

peak 62

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

C1996

C+1997

B1998

C+1999

C+2000

C+2001

C2002

C+2003

C+2004

C+2005

C+2006

C+2007

D2008

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
1996	0	0	0	0
1997	2.5	0.2	2-0.5	0.1
1998	6	0.4	6	0.4
1999	3	0.2	3	0.2
2000	1	0.1	1	0.1
2001	2	0.1	2	0.1
2002	0	0	0	0
2003	1.5	0.1	1-0.5	0.1
2004	1	0.1	1	0.1
2005	3	0.2	3	0.2
2006	3	0.2	3	0.2
2007	2	0.1	2	0.1
2008	0	0	0	0

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

103 career value over replacement — #1073 all-time of 4,642. 7.9/season above a replacement-level LB.

Career Profile

1 top-10 seasonstop-10 marks

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #98 (Rd 4) · KC · 1996 · +21.3 vs expected KV-H

60actual

38.7 expected · Δ+21.3

Fan Rating

Rate Donnie Edwards — All-Time

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Donnie Edwards

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1996 Draft Class· this player went #98

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator