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

RBDEN#0ACT

Gerald Willhite

Top 24% all-time RBsHigh-End StarterTwo-Way Profile

Height5'10"

Weight200 lb

BornMay 30, 1959

Age67

CollegeSan Jose State; American River See College Stats

Rookie yr1982

Draft1982 · Rd 1, Pick 21 · DEN

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 44 · #2216 · Above Average

Worth 44 points of value above a freely-available replacement running back — top 49% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 4 of 6 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +11 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

4 cleared

2 replaced

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+11

Avg surplus

peak +16

4 seasons × ~11 surplus ≈ VORP 44

Combined Season Grid

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

4 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Rushing								Receiving									Passing													Defense
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	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	TD%	Int%	Y/A	AdjY/A	TD:INT	Rate	Sk	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1982	—	DEN	9	—	70	347	2	5.0	2.9	—	—	—	—	26	227	0	—	8.7	—	—	—	0	2	0.0%	0	0	1	0.0	50.0	0.0	-22.5	0.0	0.0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1983	—	DEN	8	—	43	188	3	4.4	7.0	—	—	—	—	14	153	1	—	10.9	—	—	—	0	1	0.0%	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	—	39.6	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1984	—	DEN	16	—	77	371	2	4.8	2.6	—	—	—	—	27	298	0	—	11.0	—	—	—	1	2	50.0%	20	0	0	0.0	0.0	10.0	10.0	—	85.4	0	3	3	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1985	—	DEN	15	—	66	237	3	3.6	4.5	—	—	—	—	35	297	1	—	8.5	—	—	—	0	3	0.0%	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	—	39.6	0	3	2	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1986	—	DEN	16	—	85	365	5	4.3	5.9	—	—	—	—	64	529	3	—	8.3	—	—	—	1	4	25.0%	11	0	0	0.0	0.0	2.8	2.8	—	39.6	0	1	1	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1987	—	DEN	3	—	26	141	0	5.4	0.0	—	—	—	—	9	25	0	—	2.8	—	—	—	0	1	0.0%	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	—	39.6	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1988	—	DEN	11	—	13	39	2	3.0	15.4	—	—	—	—	32	238	0	—	7.4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
Career		—	78	—	380	1,688	17	4.4	4.5	—	—	—	0	207	1,767	5	—	8.5	—	—	—	2	13	15.4%	31	0	1	0.0	7.7	2.4	-1.1	0.0	7.5	0	8	7	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0	—	—

Passing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	Int	Int%	Y/A	AdjY/A	TD:INT	Rate	VAL
1982	23	DEN	9	—	0	2	0.0%	0	1	50.0	0.0	-22.5	0.0	0.0	7.7
1983	24	DEN	8	—	0	1	0.0%	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	—	39.6	7.4
1984	25	DEN	16	—	1	2	50.0%	20	0	0.0	10.0	10.0	—	85.4	10.7
1985	26	DEN	15	—	0	3	0.0%	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	—	39.6	10.1
1986	27	DEN	16	—	1	4	25.0%	11	0	0.0	2.8	2.8	—	39.6	17.3
1987	28	DEN	3	—	0	1	0.0%	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	—	39.6	—
Career			67		2	13	15.4%	31	1	7.7	2.4	—	—	7.5	60

Rushing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb
1982	23	DEN	9	—	70	347	2	5.0	2.9	—	—	—
1983	24	DEN	8	—	43	188	3	4.4	7.0	—	—	—
1984	25	DEN	16	—	77	371	2	4.8	2.6	—	—	—
1985	26	DEN	15	—	66	237	3	3.6	4.5	—	—	—
1986	27	DEN	16	—	85	365	5	4.3	5.9	—	—	—
1987	28	DEN	3	—	26	141	0	5.4	0.0	—	—	—
1988	29	DEN	11	—	13	39	2	3.0	15.4	—	—	—
Career			78		380	1,688	17	4.4	—	—	—	—

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D
1982	23	DEN	9	—	—	26	227	0	—	8.7	—	—	—
1983	24	DEN	8	—	—	14	153	1	—	10.9	—	—	—
1984	25	DEN	16	—	—	27	298	0	—	11.0	—	—	—
1985	26	DEN	15	—	—	35	297	1	—	8.5	—	—	—
1986	27	DEN	16	—	—	64	529	3	—	8.3	—	—	—
1987	28	DEN	3	—	—	9	25	0	—	2.8	—	—	—
1988	29	DEN	11	—	—	32	238	0	—	7.4	—	—	—
Career			78		0	207	1,767	5	—	8.5	—	—	—

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	FR	TD	Sfty
1984	25	DEN	—	—	3	3	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—
1985	26	DEN	—	—	3	2	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—
1986	27	DEN	—	—	1	1	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—
1988	29	DEN	—	—	1	1	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—
Career					8	7	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 59 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 59 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 59.4 × longevity 1 = KV-H 59· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 57

On-field 39.3

Availability 17.7

On-field production Staying available

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

1982bestavg 571988

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 13% of the all-time Receptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

13% of the all-time Receptions leader13

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: 92%.

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

3,455

1,688 rush · 1,767 recv

Total TDs

17 rush · 5 recv

Total Touches

587

380 carries · 207 rec

Yds / Touch

5.9

rushing + receiving

College Stats

San Jose State; American RiverCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (San Jose State; American River), 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.

Top Teammates

Sammy WinderRB7y John ElwayQB6y Gary KubiakQB6y Clarence KayTE5y Vance JohnsonWR4y Steve SewellRB4y Gene LangRB4y Clint SampsonWR4y Mike HoranP3y Mark JacksonWR3y Orson MobleyTE3y Rick ParrosRB3y Ricky NattielWR2y Tyrone BraxtonS1y Mark HerrmannQB1y Ralph GiacomarroP1y Chris BrewerRB1y Mark CooperG1y

1982 Draft Class· this player went #21

#12Walter AbercrombieRB #13Lindsay ScottWR #14Barry ReddenRB #16Luis SharpeOT #17Sean FarrellG #18Butch WoolfolkRB #19Perry TuttleWR #20Mike QuickWR #34Rohn StarkP #40Robert WeathersRB #44Oliver LuckQB #45Joe MorrisRB #47Lawrence SampletonTE #48Matt KoflerQB #52Mark DuperWR #56Cedric JonesWR

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Gerald inherited the Denver Broncos RB room from Rick Parros (1981–1984), and handed it to Sammy Winder (1982–1990).

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

1988final season
Last recorded season with DEN
1982draft
Drafted by DEN — Round 1, Pick 21

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

5'10" / 200 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 63

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

B1982

C+1983

B1984

C+1985

B1986

C1988

Availability

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

75%

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
1982	347	38.6	790+443	46.5
1983	188	23.5	527+339	31
1984	371	23.2	579+208	34
1985	237	15.8	417+180	24.5
1986	365	22.8	569+204	33.5
1988	39	3.5	193+154	11.4

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

Career Value · VORP

44 career value over replacement — #2216 all-time of 4,642. 7.3/season above a replacement-level RB.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #21 (Rd 1) · DEN · 1982 · +2.5 vs expected KV-H

59actual

56.5 expected · Δ+2.5

Fan Rating

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Gerald Willhite

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

From Scrimmage · Career

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1982 Draft Class· this player went #21

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography