Donta Jones is a career quality starter — a linebacker whose body of work places Jones in the top half of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Jones's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.
Donta Jones
Top 35% all-time linebackersReliable Starter
Height6'2"
Weight235 lb
BornAug 27, 1972
Age53
CollegeNebraskaSee College Stats
Rookie yr1995
Draft1995 · Rd 4, Pick 125 · PIT
A linebacker with a above-average career — the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (exceptional availability — almost never missed time) added to their value.
Career Value · VORP
VORP 12 · #3497 · Role PlayerWorth 12 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 76% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 3 of 5 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +4 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
3 cleared
2 replaced
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
47
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
3
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+4
Avg surplus
peak +5
3 seasons × ~4 surplus ≈ VORP 12
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 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | |||||
| 1995 | — | — | 16 | — | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 1996 | — | — | 15 | — | 13 | 9 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| 1997 | — | — | 16 | — | 15 | 6 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 1998 | — | — | 16 | — | 28 | 17 | — | — | — | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 1999 | — | CAR | 11 | — | 19 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Career | — | 74 | — | 78 | 49 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Defense
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 50 · SolidA solid career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 50 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 5 scored seasons.
49
Sustained
career value
×.6
51
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×1
Longevity
career length
Blend 49.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 50· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 49
On-field 30.3
Availability 18.7
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative tackles/g)
1995bestavg 491999
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position2
Depth
of 100
Reached 2% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
2% of the all-time Sacks leader2
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: 91%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average linebackers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (Nebraska), 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
John KasayK1yMuhsin MuhammadWR1yWesley WallsTE1yEric DavisFS1yBrent AlexanderFS1yMicheal BarrowLB1yEric MetcalfWR1yDoug EvansDB1ySteve BeuerleinQB1yMike MinterFS1ySean GilbertDT1yMike RuckerDE1yBrian KinchenTE1yDean WellsLB1ySteve TovarLB1yAaron CraverFB1yEsera TuaoloNT1yKen WalterP1yKris MangumTE1ySteve LoftonDB1yLawrence DawseyWR1yWilliam FloydFB1yAntonio EdwardsDE1ySteve BonoQB1y
1995 Draft Class· this player went #125
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 1999team change
Joined CAR (from PIT)
- 1999final season
Last recorded season with CAR
- 1995draft
Drafted by PIT — Round 4, Pick 125
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'2" / 235 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 5-season peers. See all →
50
peak 51
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
C1995
C+1996
C+1997
C+1998
C1999
Availability
Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 5 seasons.
93%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 3 | 0.2 | 9+6 | 0.5 |
| 1996 | 13 | 0.9 | 26+13 | 1.5 |
| 1997 | 15 | 0.9 | 23+8 | 1.4 |
| 1998 | 28 | 1.8 | 30+2 | 1.8 |
| 1999 | 19 | 1.7 | 25+6 | 1.5 |
Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), nfl.com:official-stats (facts-only reference), espn.com:stats-api (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
12 career value over replacement — #3497 all-time of 4,642. 2.4/season above a replacement-level LB.
Draft OutcomeValue ↑
Pick #125 (Rd 4) · PIT · 1995 · +16.5 vs expected KV-H
50actual
33.5 expected · Δ+16.5
Fan Rating
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