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

LBTEN#93ACT

Erik Walden

Top 32% all-time linebackersHigh-End Starter⚙️ Sustained Machine · 2011

Height6'2"

Weight250 lb

BornAug 21, 1985

Age40

CollegeMiddle Tennessee State See College Stats

Rookie yr2008

Draft2008 · Rd 6, Pick 167 · DAL

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Postseason all-time ranks

69thPlayoff Sacks·4

Archetype Intelligence

High-End StarterExplore archetypes →

A quality linebacker with a above-average career — a legitimate starter who contributed meaningfully across their career.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 32 · #2586 · Role Player

Worth 32 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 57% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 7 of 8 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +4.6 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

+4.6

Avg surplus

peak +10

7 seasons × ~4.6 surplus ≈ VORP 32

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													Snap Counts						Passing
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	TD%	Int%	Y/A	AdjY/A	TD:INT	Rate	Sk
2008	—	—	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2009	—	MIA	2	—	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2010	—	GB	5	—	18	15	3	3	3	3.0	9.0	0	1	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2011	—	GB	16	—	55	36	19	6	15	3.0	24.0	0	2	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2012	—	GB	13	—	45	26	19	3	14	3.0	20.0	2	4	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2013	—	IND	15	—	45	26	19	5	9	3.0	17.0	0	3	1	2	0	0	—	0.0%	844	85.2%	5	11.0%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2013	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
2014	—	IND	15	—	35	23	12	9	19	6.0	34.0	0	0	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	657	67.9%	—	0.0%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2015	—	IND	14	—	39	25	14	9	12	3.0	24.0	0	0	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	786	73.2%	—	0.0%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2016	—	IND	16	—	42	31	11	10	17	11.0	38.0	0	0	3	—	0	0	—	0.0%	760	70.1%	60	15.3%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2017	—	TEN	15	—	34	23	11	5	7	4.0	16.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	—	0.0%	581	54.0%	75	15.8%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Career		—	126	—	313	205	108	50	96	36.0	182.0	2	10	6	4	1	0	—	0.0%	3,628	70.1%	140	14.0%	0	0	—	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
2008	23	—	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	5
2009	24	MIA	2	—	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
2010	25	GB	5	—	18	15	3	3	3	3.0	9.0	0	1	0	—	0	0	3.3
2011	26	GB	16	—	55	36	19	6	15	3.0	24.0	0	2	0	1	1	0	9.1
2012	27	GB	13	—	45	26	19	3	14	3.0	20.0	2	4	0	—	0	0	9.6
2013	28	IND	15	13*	45	26	19	5	9	3.0	17.0	0	3	1	2	0	0	7.8
2014	29	IND	15	10*	35	23	12	9	19	6.0	34.0	0	0	1	—	0	0	9.9
2015	30	IND	14	11*	39	25	14	9	12	3.0	24.0	0	0	1	—	0	0	8.3
2016	31	IND	16	11*	42	31	11	10	17	11.0	38.0	0	0	3	—	0	0	12.9
2017	32	TEN	15	9*	34	23	11	5	7	4.0	16.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	7.3
Career			126	54*	313	205	108	50	96	—	—	2	10	6	4	1	0	73.2

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

Snap Counts

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2013	28	IND	15	13*	—	0.0%	844	85.2%	5	11.0%
2014	29	IND	15	10*	—	0.0%	657	67.9%	—	0.0%
2015	30	IND	15	11*	—	0.0%	786	73.2%	—	0.0%
2016	31	IND	16	11*	—	0.0%	760	70.1%	60	15.3%
2017	32	TEN	16	9*	—	0.0%	581	54.0%	75	15.8%
Career			77	54*	—	—	3,628	—	140	—

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

Passing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	TD%	Int%	Y/A	AdjY/A	TD:INT	Rate	Sk
2013	28	—	—	13*	0	0	—	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
Career				13*	0	0	—	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 52 · Solid

A solid career by KV-H: a well-rounded profile that scores 52 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 52.2 × longevity 1 = KV-H 52· confidence 95%

What builds the career mark of 51

On-field 32.9

Availability 18.1

On-field production Staying available

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

2010bestavg 492017

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 18% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

18% of the all-time Sacks leader18

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: 93%.

Per-Snap Impact

Linebackers · proprietary · 2012+

Above average

SIS

Disruption / 100 snaps:3.804See leaderboard →

Disruption/1003.804Snap share70.1%Def snaps3,628ReliableCV 0.33

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within linebackers, shrinkage-regularized so small samples don't spike, over the NFL snap-count era (2012+).

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

13 playoff games

Defense

Tkl41Solo25Ast16TFL9QBHits10Sk4.0Dis23.0PD2FF1

College Stats

Middle Tennessee StateCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Middle Tennessee 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.

2008 Draft Class· this player went #167

#155Thomas WilliamsLB #156Dennis DixonQB #158Kellen DavisTE #160Josh JohnsonQB #161Marcus HowardLB #163Owen SchmittFB #164Carl NicksG #165Jonathan GoffLB #169Trevor ScottDE #170Barry RichardsonOT #173Dominique BarberDB #174Josh MorganWR #175Geno HayesOLB #176Jalen ParmeleRB #177Corey LynchDB #179Xavier OmonRB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Erik inherited the Indianapolis Colts LB room from Bjoern Werner (2013–2015), and handed it to D'Qwell Jackson (2014–2016).

Quentin Coryatt 1992–1997Elijah Alexander 1996–1998Bertrand Berry 1997–1999Cornelius Bennett 1999–2000Mike Peterson 1999–2002Marcus Washington

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2017team change
Joined TEN (from IND)
2017final season
Last recorded season with TEN
2013team change
Joined IND (from GB)
2010team change
Joined GB (from MIA)
2009team change
Joined MIA (from DAL)
2008draft
Drafted by DAL — Round 6, Pick 167

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 250 lb

Frame

Injury History

2 career games missed (Out)

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Games Out	Designations
2015	IND	0	W12Questionable· FootW14Doubtful· Foot
2014	IND	1	W1Questionable· AbdomenW9Out· Quadricep
2013	IND	0	W2Questionable· HamstringW6Questionable· Elbow
2010	GB	0	W16Questionable· QuadricepW21Questionable· Ankle
2009	MIA	1	W10Doubtful· HamstringW11Out· Hamstring

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 54

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

F2010

C+2011

C+2012

C+2013

C2014

C2015

C+2016

C+2017

Availability

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

80%

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
2010	18	3.6	51+33	3
2011	55	3.4	47-8	2.8
2012	45	3.5	45	2.6
2013	45	3	32-13	1.9
2014	35	2.3	18-17	1.1
2015	39	2.8	28-11	1.7
2016	42	2.6	31-11	1.8
2017	34	2.3	25-9	1.5

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:snap_counts, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:injuries, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), 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

32 career value over replacement — #2586 all-time of 4,642. 4/season above a replacement-level LB.

Career Profile

1 top-10 seasonstop-10 marks

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #167 (Rd 6) · DAL · 2008 · +24.8 vs expected KV-H

52actual

27.2 expected · Δ+24.8

Fan Rating

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Erik Walden

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

Snap Counts

Passing

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Per-Snap Impact

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

2008 Draft Class· this player went #167

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography