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

DTMIN#96ACT

Jerry Ball

3× Pro Bowl1× All-ProTop 24% all-time pass rushersHigh-End Starter

Height6'1"

Weight330 lb

BornDec 15, 1964

Age61

CollegeSMU See College Stats

Rookie yr1987

Draft1987 · Rd 3, Pick 63 · DET

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Pro Bowls

All-Pro

Archetype Intelligence

High-End StarterExplore archetypes →

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

Career Value · VORP

VORP 94 · #1214 · High-Value

Worth 94 points of value above a freely-available replacement interior lineman — top 27% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 12 of 13 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +7.8 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

+7.8

Avg surplus

peak +21

12 seasons × ~7.8 surplus ≈ VORP 94

Combined Season Grid

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

1 grid split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Defense
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1987	—	DET	12	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1988	—	DET	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1989	—	DET	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	9.0	9.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1990	—	DET	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1991	—	DET	13	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1992	—	DET	12	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.5	2.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1993	—	CLE	7	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.0	3.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994	—	RAI	14	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.0	3.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995	—	OAK	14	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.0	3.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	—	OAK	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.0	3.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	—	MIN	6	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	—	MIN	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	MIN	11	—	17	9	8	3	2	2.0	7.0	0	2	0	—	0	0
Career		—	168	—	17	9	8	3	2	32.5	37.5	0	2	0	0	0	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1987	23	DET	12	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.9
1988	24	DET	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	5.8
1989	25	DET	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	9.0	9.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	11.3
1990	26	DET	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	6.3
1991	27	DET	13	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	5.9
1992	28	DET	12	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.5	2.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	6.4
1993	29	CLE	7	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.0	3.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	5.4
1994	30	RAI	14	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.0	3.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	8
1995	31	OAK	14	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.0	3.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	7.5
1996	32	OAK	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.0	3.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	8.5
1997	33	MIN	6	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.2
1998	34	MIN	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.7
1999	35	MIN	11	—	17	9	8	3	2	2.0	7.0	0	2	0	—	0	0	5
Career			168		17	9	8	3	2	—	—	0	2	0	0	0	0	76.9

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 62 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 62 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 13 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 57.6 × longevity 1 = KV-H 62· confidence 97%

What builds the career mark of 54

On-field 36.9

Availability 17.1

On-field production Staying available

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

1987bestavg 531999

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 16% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

16% of the all-time Sacks leader16

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: 85%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average defensive linemen aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Postseason Career

6 playoff games

Defense

Tkl1Solo1TFL1Dis1.0PD1

College Stats

SMUCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (SMU), 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.

1987 Draft Class· this player went #63

#40Lonzell HillWR #45David WymanMLB #47Donald EvansDE #51Don SmithRB #54Ron MorrisWR #56Scott SchwedesWR #57Mark CarrierWR #62Rob AwaltTE #64Cody CarlsonQB #66Charles LockettWR #71Frankie NealWR #78Jamie MuellerRB #79Bob PerrymanRB #80Tim ManoaRB #82Jeff JaegerK #83Stephen BakerWR

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Jerry opened the Detroit Lions DL lineage the corpus knows, and handed it to Dan Owens (1990–1999).

Jerry Ball 1987–1992Dan Owens 1990–1999Kelvin Pritchett 1991–2004Tracy Scroggins 1992–2001Robert Porcher 1992–2003Shane Bonham 1994–1997

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

1999final season
Last recorded season with MIN
1997team change
Joined MIN (from OAK)
1995team change
Joined OAK (from RAI)
1994team change
Joined RAI (from CLE)
1993team change
Joined CLE (from DET)
1987draft
Drafted by DET — Round 3, Pick 63

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'1" / 330 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 13-season peers. See all →

peak 63

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

C1987

C+1988

B1989

C+1990

C+1991

C+1992

C+1993

C+1994

C+1995

C+1996

F1997

C1998

C+1999

Era Translator

Sacks 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 Sacks	Sacks/G	→ 2025 Sacks	→ 2025 /G
1987	1	0.1	1	0
1988	2	0.1	1-1	0.1
1989	9	0.6	6-3	0.3
1990	2	0.1	2	0.1
1991	2	0.2	2	0.1
1992	2.5	0.2	3+0.5	0.2
1993	3	0.4	6+3	0.4
1994	3	0.2	3	0.2
1995	3	0.2	3	0.2
1996	3	0.2	3	0.2
1997	0	0	0	0
1998	0	0	0	0
1999	2	0.2	3+1	0.2

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

Career Value · VORP

94 career value over replacement — #1214 all-time of 4,642. 7.2/season above a replacement-level DL.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #63 (Rd 3) · DET · 1987 · +15.1 vs expected KV-H

62actual

46.9 expected · Δ+15.1

Fan Rating

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Jerry Ball

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1987 Draft Class· this player went #63

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography