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

RBATL#0ACT

Gene Lang

Top 30% all-time RBsHigh-End Starter🏆 Clutch · +32% playoffs

Height5'10"

Weight196 lb

BornMar 15, 1962

Age64

CollegeLSU See College Stats

Rookie yr1984

Draft1984 · Rd 11, Pick 298 · DEN

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Postseason all-time ranks

63rdPlayoff Rushing Touchdowns·4

Archetype Intelligence

High-End StarterExplore archetypes →

A quality running back with a top 30% among starters — a legitimate starter who contributed meaningfully across their career.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 33 · #2554 · Role Player

Worth 33 points of value above a freely-available replacement running back — top 56% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 6 of 6 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +5.5 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

6 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+5.5

Avg surplus

peak +9

6 seasons × ~5.5 surplus ≈ VORP 33

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
1984	—	DEN	16	—	8	42	2	5.3	25.0	—	—	—	—	4	24	1	—	6.0	—	—	—
1985	—	DEN	12	—	84	318	5	3.8	6.0	—	—	—	—	23	180	2	—	7.8	—	—	—
1986	—	DEN	15	—	29	94	1	3.2	3.4	—	—	—	—	13	105	2	—	8.1	—	—	—
1987	—	DEN	12	—	89	303	2	3.4	2.2	—	—	—	—	17	130	2	—	7.6	—	—	—
1988	—	ATL	16	—	53	191	0	3.6	0.0	—	—	—	—	37	398	1	—	10.8	—	—	—
1989	—	ATL	15	—	47	176	1	3.7	2.1	—	—	—	—	39	436	1	—	11.2	—	—	—
1990	—	ATL	3	—	9	24	0	2.7	0.0	—	—	—	—	1	7	0	—	7.0	—	—	—
Career		—	89	—	638	2,296	22	3.6	3.4	—	—	—	—	268	2,560	18	—	9.6	—	—	—

Passing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	TD%	Int%	Y/A	AdjY/A	TD:INT	Rate	Sk	VAL
Career					0	1	0.0%	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	—	—	39.6	—	59.1

Rushing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb
1984	22	DEN	16	—	8	42	2	5.3	25.0	—	—	—
1985	23	DEN	12	—	84	318	5	3.8	6.0	—	—	—
1986	24	DEN	15	—	29	94	1	3.2	3.4	—	—	—
1987	25	DEN	12	—	89	303	2	3.4	2.2	—	—	—
1988	26	ATL	16	—	53	191	0	3.6	0.0	—	—	—
1989	27	ATL	15	—	47	176	1	3.7	2.1	—	—	—
1990	28	ATL	3	—	9	24	0	2.7	0.0	—	—	—
Career			89		638	2,296	22	3.6	—	—	—	—

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D
1984	22	DEN	16	—	—	4	24	1	—	6.0	—	—	—
1985	23	DEN	12	—	—	23	180	2	—	7.8	—	—	—
1986	24	DEN	15	—	—	13	105	2	—	8.1	—	—	—
1987	25	DEN	12	—	—	17	130	2	—	7.6	—	—	—
1988	26	ATL	16	—	—	37	398	1	—	10.8	—	—	—
1989	27	ATL	15	—	—	39	436	1	—	11.2	—	—	—
1990	28	ATL	3	—	—	1	7	0	—	7.0	—	—	—
Career			89		—	268	2,560	18	—	9.6	—	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 56 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a well-rounded profile that scores 56 of 100, era-normalized against rush yds/g peers across 6 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 56.2 × longevity 1 = KV-H 56· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 55

On-field 36.8

Availability 18.2

On-field production Staying available

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

1984bestavg 561989

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 17% of the all-time Receptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

17% of the all-time Receptions leader17

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 RBs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Playoff vs Regular Season

🏆 Playoff Performer

Yards / Carry: 3.6 regular season → 4.8 playoffs (3 playoff seasons)

+32%

vs reg season

From Scrimmage · Career

Scrimmage Yds

4,856

2,296 rush · 2,560 recv

Total TDs

22 rush · 18 recv

Total Touches

906

638 carries · 268 rec

Yds / Touch

5.4

rushing + receiving

Postseason Career

Rushing

Att58Yds276TD4Y/A4.8TD%6.9

Receiving

Rec10Yds76Y/R7.6

College Stats

LSUCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (LSU), 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.

1984 Draft Class· this player went #298

#248Derrick HarmonRB #250Jim BoyleOT #270Randall MorrisRB #272Bobby MichoTE #279Keith GriffinRB #280Earnest BynerRB #281Blair KielQB #283Frank CephousRB #286Buford McGeeRB #293Michael HarperWR #299Craig WhiteWR #300Mike SaxonP #303Elton VealsRB #306Anthony JonesTE #318Don HolmesWR #330Donald JordanRB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Gene inherited the Denver Broncos RB room from Sammy Winder (1982–1990), and handed it to Steve Sewell (1985–1991).

Rick Parros 1981–1984Gerald Willhite 1982–1988Sammy Winder 1982–1990Gene Lang 1984–1987Steve Sewell 1985–1991Mel Bratton

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

1990final season
Last recorded season with ATL
1988team change
Joined ATL (from DEN)
1984draft
Drafted by DEN — Round 11, Pick 298

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

5'10" / 196 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 6-season peers. See all →

peak 58

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

C+1984

C+1985

C+1986

C+1987

C+1988

C+1989

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 7 seasons.

80%

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
1984	42	2.6	187+145	11
1985	318	26.5	627+309	36.9
1986	94	6.3	226+132	13.3
1987	303	25.3	673+370	39.6
1988	191	11.9	387+196	22.8
1989	176	11.7	389+213	22.9

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

33 career value over replacement — #2554 all-time of 4,642. 5.5/season above a replacement-level RB.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #298 (Rd 11) · DEN · 1984 · +48 vs expected KV-H

56actual

8 expected · Δ+48

Fan Rating

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Compare Gene Lang vs Player Report data error

Gene Lang

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

Postseason Career

Rushing

Receiving

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1984 Draft Class· this player went #298

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator