Freeman McNeil ranks in the all-time elite tier for running backs — a career that places McNeil in the top 3% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns McNeil a career score of 82, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

RBNYJ#0RES

Freeman McNeil

3× Pro Bowl1× All-ProTop 2% all-time RBsIron Legend📊 Undervalued by voters

Height5'11"

Weight216 lb

BornApr 22, 1959

Age67

CollegeUCLA See College Stats

Rookie yr1981

Draft1981 · Rd 1, Pick 3 · NYJ

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Regular-season all-time ranks

55thRushing Yards·8,074 yds

Pro Bowls

All-Pro

Season honors and record seasons

Led NFL1982·Rush Yds786 yds

Archetype Intelligence

Iron LegendExplore archetypes →

An all-time caliber running back (top 5% all-time) who combined elite production with excellent availability over their career. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 271 · #180 · Elite

Worth 271 points of value above a freely-available replacement running back — top 5% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 12 of 12 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +22.6 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

+22.6

Avg surplus

peak +40

12 seasons × ~22.6 surplus ≈ VORP 271

Combined Season Grid

The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.

2 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Rushing								Receiving
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D
1981	—	NYJ	11	—	137	623	2	4.5	1.5	—	—	—	—	18	171	1	—	9.5	—	—	—
1982	—	NYJ	9	—	151	786	6	5.2	4.0	—	—	—	—	16	187	1	—	11.7	—	—	—
1983	—	NYJ	9	—	160	654	1	4.1	0.6	—	—	—	—	21	172	3	—	8.2	—	—	—
1984	—	NYJ	12	—	229	1,070	5	4.7	2.2	—	—	—	—	25	294	1	—	11.8	—	—	—
1985	—	NYJ	14	—	294	1,331	3	4.5	1.0	—	—	—	—	38	427	2	—	11.2	—	—	—
1986	—	NYJ	12	—	214	856	5	4.0	2.3	—	—	—	—	49	410	1	—	8.4	—	—	—
1987	—	NYJ	9	—	121	530	0	4.4	0.0	—	—	—	—	24	262	1	—	10.9	—	—	—
1988	—	NYJ	16	—	219	944	6	4.3	2.7	—	—	—	—	34	288	1	—	8.5	—	—	—
1989	—	NYJ	11	—	80	352	2	4.4	2.5	—	—	—	—	31	310	1	—	10.0	—	—	—
1990	—	NYJ	16	—	99	458	6	4.6	6.1	—	—	—	—	16	230	0	—	14.4	—	—	—
1991	—	NYJ	13	—	51	300	2	5.9	3.9	—	—	—	—	7	56	0	—	8.0	—	—	—
1992	—	NYJ	12	—	43	170	0	4.0	0.0	—	—	—	—	16	154	0	—	9.6	—	—	—
Career		—	144	—	1,798	8,074	38	4.5	2.1	—	—	—	—	295	2,961	12	—	10.0	—	—	—

Passing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	TD%	Int%	Y/A	AdjY/A	TD:INT	Rate	Sk	VAL
Career					1	1	100.0%	5	1	0	100.0	0.0	5.0	—	—	127.1	—	141.1

Rushing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb
1981	22	NYJ	11	—	137	623	2	4.5	1.5	—	—	—
1982	23	NYJ	9	—	151	786	6	5.2	4.0	—	—	—
1983	24	NYJ	9	—	160	654	1	4.1	0.6	—	—	—
1984	25	NYJ	12	—	229	1,070	5	4.7	2.2	—	—	—
1985	26	NYJ	14	—	294	1,331	3	4.5	1.0	—	—	—
1986	27	NYJ	12	—	214	856	5	4.0	2.3	—	—	—
1987	28	NYJ	9	—	121	530	0	4.4	0.0	—	—	—
1988	29	NYJ	16	—	219	944	6	4.3	2.7	—	—	—
1989	30	NYJ	11	—	80	352	2	4.4	2.5	—	—	—
1990	31	NYJ	16	—	99	458	6	4.6	6.1	—	—	—
1991	32	NYJ	13	—	51	300	2	5.9	3.9	—	—	—
1992	33	NYJ	12	—	43	170	0	4.0	0.0	—	—	—
Career			144		1,798	8,074	38	4.5	—	—	—	—

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D
1981	22	NYJ	11	—	—	18	171	1	—	9.5	—	—	—
1982	23	NYJ	9	—	—	16	187	1	—	11.7	—	—	—
1983	24	NYJ	9	—	—	21	172	3	—	8.2	—	—	—
1984	25	NYJ	12	—	—	25	294	1	—	11.8	—	—	—
1985	26	NYJ	14	—	—	38	427	2	—	11.2	—	—	—
1986	27	NYJ	12	—	—	49	410	1	—	8.4	—	—	—
1987	28	NYJ	9	—	—	24	262	1	—	10.9	—	—	—
1988	29	NYJ	16	—	—	34	288	1	—	8.5	—	—	—
1989	30	NYJ	11	—	—	31	310	1	—	10.0	—	—	—
1990	31	NYJ	16	—	—	16	230	0	—	14.4	—	—	—
1991	32	NYJ	13	—	—	7	56	0	—	8.0	—	—	—
1992	33	NYJ	12	—	—	16	154	0	—	9.6	—	—	—
Career			144		—	295	2,961	12	—	10.0	—	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 82 · Great

A great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 82 of 100, era-normalized against rush yds/g peers across 12 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 79 × longevity 1 = KV-H 82· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 73

On-field 56.8

Availability 16.2

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative rush yds/g)

1981bestavg 73elite 701992

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 44% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

44% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader44

1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33

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%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average RBs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

From Scrimmage · Career

Scrimmage Yds

11,035

8,074 rush · 2,961 recv

Total TDs

38 rush · 12 recv

Total Touches

2,093

1,798 carries · 295 rec

Yds / Touch

5.3

rushing + receiving

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.

1981 Draft Class· this player went #3

#1George RogersRB #10David VerserWR #12Randy McMillanRB #13David OverstreetRB #14Willie ScottTE #16Mark NicholsWR #19Brian HollowayOT #24James BrooksRB #28Booker MooreRB #31David HughesRB #32Dave YoungTE #33Neil LomaxQB #34James WilderRB #35Gary LewisTE #37Cris CollinsworthWR #39Mardye McDoleWR

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Freeman opened the New York Jets RB lineage the corpus knows, and handed it to Johnny Hector (1983–1992).

Freeman McNeil 1981–1992Johnny Hector 1983–1992Tony Paige 1984–1986Rocky Klever 1984–1987Nuu Faaola 1986–1988Roger Vick 1987–1989

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

1992final season
Last recorded season with NYJ
1981draft
Drafted by NYJ — Round 1, Pick 3

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

5'11" / 216 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 12-season peers. See all →

peak 88

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

B1981

A1982

B+1983

A1984

A+1985

B+1986

B+1987

A1988

B1989

B1990

B1991

C+1992

Availability

Era Translator

Rush Yds 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 Rush Yds	Rush Yds/G	→ 2025 Rush Yds	→ 2025 /G
1981	623	56.6	1,021+398	60
1982	786	87.3	1,680+894	98.8
1983	654	72.7	1,400+746	82.3
1984	1,070	89.2	1,836+766	108
1985	1,331	95.1	1,976+645	116.2
1986	856	71.3	1,575+719	92.6
1987	530	58.9	1,417+887	83.3
1988	944	59	1,477+533	86.9
1989	352	32	846+494	49.8
1990	458	28.6	813+355	47.8
1991	300	23.1	682+382	40.1
1992	170	14.2	489+319	28.8

Data: nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:players, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), nfl.com:official-stats (games-played, facts-only reference) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

271 career value over replacement — #180 all-time of 4,642. 22.6/season above a replacement-level RB.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #3 (Rd 1) · NYJ · 1981 · +20.2 vs expected KV-H

82actual

61.8 expected · Δ+20.2

💔+66.3 stolen VORP·2.64 szns lost

Fan Rating

Rate Freeman McNeil — All-Time

Tap a star to rate

Explore More

Similar Players

Garrison Hearst

94% match

Tyrone Tracy Jr.

93% match

Ahmad Bradshaw

92% match

Breece Hall

92% match

Hugh McElhenny

92% match

Compare Freeman McNeil vs Player Report data error

Freeman McNeil

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

From Scrimmage · Career

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1981 Draft Class· this player went #3

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography