Also in other sports:mlbEllis Johnson (P · 1912–1917).

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

DEDEN#61ACT

Ellis Johnson

Top 12% all-time pass rushersIron Man📈 Late Developer · 2003 Team Carrier · #487

Height6'2"

Weight288 lb

Born

Team Carrier Evidence

Ranked #487 of 568 by seasons where high individual production happened on low-win teams. Score aggregates only tracked StatVault categories.

Full board

Total Score

1 qualifying season

2003 ATL·5 team wins#22

Sacks · 8 · score 8

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 26% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

26% of the all-time Sacks leader

Career Value · VORP

150 career value over replacement — #651 all-time of 4,695. 15/season above a replacement-level EDGE.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #15 (Rd 1) · IND · 1995 · +12.8 vs expected KV-H

70actual

57.2 expected · Δ+12.8

Fan Rating

Rate Ellis Johnson — All-Time

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Compare Ellis Johnson vs Player Report data error

1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33

A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leader at 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: 87%.

Encyclopedia Coverage5/8 data layers

StatVault aggregates multiple open-licensed and proprietary sources into a single profile. The depth indicator above shows which layers are available for this player.

Bio & DraftBirth date, height/weight, draft round/pick, college — sourced from nflverse players.csv (CC-BY 4.0). Covers all NFL eras.

Season Stats (1999–present)Week-by-week box scores aggregated to season totals: passing, rushing, receiving, defense. Source: nflverse player_stats. Counting stats are exact; rates are derived.

Advanced (EPA, 1999–present)Not available for this player

Snap Counts (2012–present)Not available for this player

Defensive StatsMaterial defensive production only: playmaking stats, 10+ tackles, or 50+ defensive snaps. Source: nflverse player_stats and snap_counts.

College StatsCollege attribution is present, but this profile artifact does not yet carry a parsed college stat table.

NFL Combine / Pro DayNot available for this player

Proprietary LayersKV-H (Knox Value-Historical) — era-normalized career rating 0–100 calibrated within position group (1999+ coverage). SIS (Snap Impact Score, 2012+) — per-snap production z-scored within position. VORP — value over replacement player. Durability IQ — games-played percentile adjusted for era.

Pre-1999 players have bio + draft data but counting stats are not available from any freely-licensed source. Players with ★ Career Only see verified career aggregates from nflverse draft_picks.

Where this data comes from

Modern-era stats (1999+) come from nflverse's open data releases. Pre-1999 seasons are backfilled additively from Wikipedia and NFL.com's own official season pages — never from rights-restricted sources.

nflverse — CC-BY 4.0 — attribution required
Wikipedia — Facts extracted under Feist v. Rural Telephone; courtesy CC-BY-SA attribution
NFL.com — Official league site; facts extracted under Feist, courtesy attribution

Methodology · Trust Center

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average edge rushers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Understanding These Stats

Defense

Tkl / Solo / Ast — Combined tackles (Solo + ½ Assist). Solo = unassisted. Ast = helped by a teammate.

TFL — Tackles for loss — stops made behind the line of scrimmage (run stuffs + QB contain).

QBHits — QB hits — any legal contact on the quarterback, including but beyond sacks (hurries that land).

Sk — Sacks — tackled the QB behind the line for a loss. Half-sacks shared between defenders.

Dis — Disruption plays = sacks + QB hits + TFL. The composite pass-rush / run-stop impact stat for one season. Elite pass rushers post 30+ disruption plays per season.

Int — Interceptions caught by this defender.

PD — Passes defended — deflections and breakups.

FF / FR — Forced fumbles (stripped or jarred loose). Fumble Recoveries.

TD — Defensive touchdowns — picks, fumble returns, safeties returned.

Sfty — Safeties — tackled the ball carrier in their own end zone.

Proprietary StatVault Metrics

KV-H (Knox Value-Historical) — Era-normalized career rating 0–100 within position group, calibrated so a 50 = average starter and 90+ = all-time great. Covers 1999–present. Built on a 5-year IQR/robust-std era window.

SIS (Snap Impact Score) — Per-snap production z-scored within position group and era (2012+). Measures how much a player produced per opportunity, not raw volume.

VORP (Value Over Replacement) — Sum of max(0, season KV-H − positional replacement level) across a career. Measures career value above the minimum-roster baseline at each position.

Durability IQ — 0–100 score reflecting how many games a player played relative to peers at the same position in the same era. Adjusts for injury-shortened seasons.

Postseason Career

3 playoff games

Defense

Tkl8Solo2Ast6TFL1QBHits2Sk1.0Dis4.0

College Stats

FloridaCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Florida), 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.

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Ellis inherited the Indianapolis Colts DL room from Jon Hand (1986–1994), and handed it to Chad Bratzke (1999–2003).

Donnell Thompson 1981–1991Jon Hand 1986–1994Ellis Johnson 1995–2001Chad Bratzke 1999–2003Dwight Freeney 2002–2012DeForest Buckner 2020–2026Kwity Paye 2021–2025

The room is reconstructed from arrival order among durable members (≥4 seasons with the club) at the player’s position group — a lineage by arrival, not a week-by-week depth chart. Distinct from the league-wide positional GOAT torch.

Movementderived from season history

2004team change
Joined DEN (from ATL)
2004final season
Last recorded season with DEN
2002team change
Joined ATL (from IND)
1995draft
Drafted by IND — Round 1, Pick 15

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 288 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 10-season peers. See all →

peak 75

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

B1995

C1996

B1997

B+1998

B+1999

B2000

B2001

B+2002

B+2003

C+2004

Availability

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

90%

19952004

Durability IQ

Composite score across availability, IR frequency, and injury severity. See all →

Iron

Era Translator

Sacks translated to the 2025 NFL — 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
1995	4.5	0.3	4-0.5	0.3
1996	0	0	0	0
1997	4.5	0.3	4-0.5	0.3
1998	8	0.5	7-1	0.4
1999	7.5	0.5	7-0.5	0.4
2000	5	0.4	6+1	0.3
2001	3.5	0.2	3-0.5	0.2
2002	7	0.5	8+1	0.5
2003	8	0.5	8	0.5
2004	3	0.3	4+1	0.2

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:player_stats_def, 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 8/31/2026

Career Geography

Journeyman · 3 crestsLeague board →

Wore 3 distinct franchise crests across 10 seasons (1995–2004) — a true nomad. The crest trail:

IND 1995–2001 ATL 2002–2003 DEN 2004

Ellis Johnson

Team Carrier Evidence

All-Time Standing

Where this data comes from

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1995 Draft Class· this player went #15

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography