Earl Holmes ranks in the all-time elite tier for linebackers — a career that places Holmes in the top 5% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns Holmes a career score of 71, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

MLBDET#50RES

Earl Holmes

Top 5% all-time linebackersIron Legend

Height6'2"

Weight242 lb

BornApr 28, 1973

Age53

CollegeFlorida A&M See College Stats

Rookie yr1996

Draft1996 · Rd 4, Pick 126 · PIT

Archetype Intelligence

Iron LegendExplore archetypes →

An all-time caliber linebacker (top 5% all-time) who combined elite production with exceptional availability — almost never missed time. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 156 · #595 · High-Value

Worth 156 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 14% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 7 of 7 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +22.3 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

7 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+22.3

Avg surplus

peak +27

7 seasons × ~22.3 surplus ≈ VORP 156

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	—	PIT	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	—	PIT	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	—	PIT	14	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.5	1.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	PIT	16	—	85	59	26	10	0	0.0	10.0	0	3	0	1	0	0
2000	—	PIT	16	—	97	56	41	9	0	1.0	10.0	0	9	2	1	0	0
2001	—	PIT	16	—	99	66	33	16	2	2.0	20.0	0	2	2	1	0	0
2002	—	CLE	16	—	106	74	32	9	0	0.0	9.0	0	5	1	1	0	0
2003	—	DET	16	—	89	60	29	0	0	2.0	2.0	0	0	0	—	0	0
2004	—	DET	16	—	100	67	33	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	2	0	—	0	0
2005	—	DET	11	—	65	41	24	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	1	2	—	0	0
Career		—	140	—	641	423	218	44	2	11.5	57.5	0	22	7	4	0	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1996	23	PIT	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	24	PIT	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	12.5
1998	25	PIT	14	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.5	1.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	7.3
1999	26	PIT	16	—	85	59	26	10	0	0.0	10.0	0	3	0	1	0	0	7.5
2000	27	PIT	16	—	97	56	41	9	0	1.0	10.0	0	9	2	1	0	0	9.9
2001	28	PIT	16	—	99	66	33	16	2	2.0	20.0	0	2	2	1	0	0	9.9
2002	29	CLE	16	—	106	74	32	9	0	0.0	9.0	0	5	1	1	0	0	8.7
2003	30	DET	16	—	89	60	29	0	0	2.0	2.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	7.5
2004	31	DET	16	—	100	67	33	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	2	0	—	0	0	7.5
2005	32	DET	11	—	65	41	24	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	1	2	—	0	0	5.6
Career			140		641	423	218	44	2	—	—	0	22	7	4	0	0	76.4

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 71 · Great

A great career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 71 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 7 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 70.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 71· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 70

On-field 50.5

Availability 19.5

On-field production Staying available

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

1999bestavg 69elite 702005

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 6% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

6% of the all-time Sacks leader6

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: 90%.

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

Tkl4Solo2Ast2FF1

College Stats

Florida A&MCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Florida A&M), 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 #126

#112Aaron GrahamC #115Brian MilneRB #116Paul GrasmanisDT #117Richard HuntleyRB #118Stanley PritchettRB #119Chris SullivanDE #120Sean MoranDE #122Darrius JohnsonDB #127Juran BoldenCB #130Danny KanellQB #132Jahine ArnoldWR #133Marcus ColemanDB #134Jerris McPhailRB #135Joe HornWR #136Mercury HayesWR #138Leomont EvansDB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Earl inherited the Pittsburgh Steelers LB room from Carlos Emmons (1996–1999), and handed it to Joey Porter (1999–2006).

Hardy Nickerson 1987–1992Levon Kirkland 1992–2000Jason Gildon 1994–2003Carlos Emmons 1996–1999Earl Holmes 1996–2001Joey Porter

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2005final season
Last recorded season with DET
2003team change
Joined DET (from CLE)
2002team change
Joined CLE (from PIT)
1996draft
Drafted by PIT — Round 4, Pick 126

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 242 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 7-season peers. See all →

peak 72

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

B1999

B+2000

B+2001

B+2002

B2003

B+2004

B2005

Availability

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

95%

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	85	5.3	90+5	5.3
2000	97	6.1	101+4	5.9
2001	99	6.2	100+1	5.9
2002	106	6.6	113+7	6.6
2003	89	5.6	88-1	5.2
2004	100	6.3	104+4	6.1
2005	65	5.9	95+30	5.6

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 (games-played, facts-only reference) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

156 career value over replacement — #595 all-time of 4,642. 22.3/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #126 (Rd 4) · PIT · 1996 · +37.5 vs expected KV-H

71actual

33.5 expected · Δ+37.5

Fan Rating

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Earl Holmes

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 #126

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography