Also in other sports:mlbJames Lofton (SS · 2001).

James Lofton ranks in the all-time elite tier for receivers — a career that places Lofton in the top 3% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns Lofton a career score of 79, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

On the boards· Appears on 2 boards

Streaks3 straight · 1,000 receiving yards · 1983–85

WRPHI#0ACT

James Lofton

Top 3% all-time WRsIron Legend⛰️ Mountain Arc · 1984

Height6'3"

Weight187 lb

BornJul 5, 1956

Age

Career Value · VORP

344 career value over replacement — #79 all-time of 4,695. 21.5/season above a replacement-level WR.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #6 (Rd 1) · GB · 1978 · +15.7 vs expected KV-H

79actual

63.3 expected · Δ+15.7

💔+27.5 stolen VORP·1.28 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Compare James Lofton vs Player Report data error

All-Time Standing

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

Strong

of 100

Reached 61% of the all-time Receiving Yards leader — a strong all-time profile at the position.

61% of the all-time Receiving Yards leader61

3 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader100

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: 92%.

Encyclopedia Coverage4/8 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 StatsNot available for this player

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.

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

Career Milestones13

Major career thresholds crossed, derived from regular-season totals (1999+).

19791K career receiving yards
1979100 career receptions
19803K career receiving yards
19825K career receiving yards
1982250 career receptions
198225 career receiving TDs

Understanding These Stats

Receiving

Tgt — Targets — how many times the receiver was thrown to, regardless of completion.

Rec — Receptions — catches made.

Yds — Receiving yards.

TD — Receiving touchdowns.

Ctch% — Catch rate — receptions ÷ targets × 100. Measures how reliably a receiver turns opportunities into gains. 70%+ is elite.

Y/R — Yards per reception — receiving yards ÷ receptions. Measures big-play ability; 15+ is elite for WRs.

Y/Tgt — Yards per target — receiving yards ÷ targets. The single most complete receiving efficiency metric: accounts for both drops and incomplete targets. Elite receivers post 8+ yards per target.

AirYd/T — Air yards per target — average depth of route at time of target. High values indicate a deep threat role; low values indicate a slot/check-down role.

1D — First downs gained on receiving plays.

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.

College Stats

StanfordCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Stanford), 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

Gerry EllisRB7y Kenneth DavisRB5y Phil EppsWR5y Bruce SmithDE4y

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

James inherited the Green Bay Packers WR room from Aundra Thompson (1977–1981), and handed it to John Jefferson (1981–1984).

Ken Payne 1974–1977Aundra Thompson 1977–1981James Lofton 1978–1986John Jefferson 1981–1984Phil Epps 1982–1988Walter Stanley

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

1993team change
Joined LAR (from BUF)
1993final season
Last recorded season with LAR
1989team change
Joined BUF (from OAK)
1987team change
Joined OAK (from GB)
1978draft
Drafted by GB — Round 1, Pick 6

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'3" / 187 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 16-season peers. See all →

Era Translator

Rec Yds 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 Rec Yds	Rec Yds/G	→ 2025 Rec Yds	→ 2025 /G
1978	818	51.1	577-241	33.9
1979	968	60.5	795-173	46.8
1980	1,226	76.6	1,039-187	61.1
1981	1,294	80.9	1,188-106	69.9
1982	696	77.3	1,258+562	74
1983	1,300	81.3	1,351+51	79.5
1984	1,361	85.1	1,392+31	81.9
1985	1,153	72.1	1,167+14	68.6
1986	840	56	911+71	53.6
1987	880	73.3	1,169+289	68.8
1988	549	34.3	581+32	34.2
1989	166	13.8	271+105	15.9
1990	712	44.5	750+38	44.1
1991	1,072	71.5	1,168+96	68.7
1992	786	49.1	792+6	46.6
1993	183	45.8	733+550	43.1

Data: nflverse:players, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), wikipedia:pfhof-inductee-list · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 8/31/2026