John Mackey is a Hall of Fame tight end whose career earned a modest career value score of 58 in the Knox value model. Mackey's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.
J
John Mackey
All-Time Rank & Honors
career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title contextYes
Hall of Fame
A quality tight end with a top 30% among starters — a legitimate starter who contributed meaningfully across their career.
Career Value · VORP
VORP 87 · #1333 · High-ValueWorth 87 points of value above a freely-available replacement tight end — top 30% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 6 of 10 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +14.5 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
6 cleared
4 replaced
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
46
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
6
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+14.5
Avg surplus
peak +19
6 seasons × ~14.5 surplus ≈ VORP 87
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 | Receiving | Rushing | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D | Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | TD% | 1D | 1D% | Fmb | |||||
| 1963 | — | BAL | 14 | — | — | 35 | 726 | 7 | — | 20.7 | — | — | — | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| 1964 | — | BAL | 14 | — | — | 22 | 406 | 2 | — | 18.5 | — | — | — | 1 | -1 | 0 | -1.0 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| 1965 | — | BAL | 14 | — | — | 40 | 814 | 7 | — | 20.4 | — | — | — | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7.0 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| 1966 | — | BAL | 14 | — | — | 50 | 829 | 9 | — | 16.6 | — | — | — | 1 | -6 | 0 | -6.0 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| 1967 | — | BAL | 14 | — | — | 55 | 686 | 3 | — | 12.5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1968 | — | BAL | 14 | — | — | 45 | 644 | 5 | — | 14.3 | — | — | — | 10 | 103 | 0 | 10.3 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| 1969 | — | BAL | 14 | — | — | 34 | 443 | 2 | — | 13.0 | — | — | — | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| 1970 | — | BAL | 11 | — | — | 28 | 435 | 3 | — | 15.5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1971 | — | BAL | 5 | — | — | 11 | 143 | 0 | — | 13.0 | — | — | — | 3 | 18 | 0 | 6.0 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| 1972 | — | SD | 4 | — | — | 11 | 110 | 0 | — | 10.0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 118 | — | 0 | 331 | 5,236 | 38 | — | 15.8 | — | — | — | 19 | 127 | 0 | 6.7 | 0.0 | — | — | — | |
Rushing
Receiving
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | 22 | BAL | 14 | — | — | 35 | 726 | 7 | — | 20.7 | — | — | — |
| 1964 | 23 | BAL | 14 | — | — | 22 | 406 | 2 | — | 18.5 | — | — | — |
| 1965 | 24 | BAL | 14 | — | — | 40 | 814 | 7 | — | 20.4 | — | — | — |
| 1966 | 25 | BAL | 14 | — | — | 50 | 829 | 9 | — | 16.6 | — | — | — |
| 1967 | 26 | BAL | 14 | — | — | 55 | 686 | 3 | — | 12.5 | — | — | — |
| 1968 | 27 | BAL | 14 | — | — | 45 | 644 | 5 | — | 14.3 | — | — | — |
| 1969 | 28 | BAL | 14 | — | — | 34 | 443 | 2 | — | 13.0 | — | — | — |
| 1970 | 29 | BAL | 11 | — | — | 28 | 435 | 3 | — | 15.5 | — | — | — |
| 1971 | 30 | BAL | 5 | — | — | 11 | 143 | 0 | — | 13.0 | — | — | — |
| 1972 | 31 | SD | 4 | — | — | 11 | 110 | 0 | — | 10.0 | — | — | — |
| Career | 118 | 0 | 331 | 5,236 | 38 | — | 15.8 | — | — | — |
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 58 · Strong StarterA strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 58 of 100, era-normalized against rec yds/g peers across 10 scored seasons.
51
Sustained
career value
×.6
65
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×1
Longevity
career length
Blend 56.6 × longevity 1 = KV-H 58· confidence 91%
What builds the career mark of 51
On-field 32.5
Availability 18.5
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative rec yds/g)
1963bestavg 461972
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position21
Depth
of 100
Reached 23% of the all-time Receiving Yards leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
23% of the all-time Receiving Yards leader23
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: 95%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average tight ends aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (Syracuse), 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
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 1972team change
Joined SD (from BAL)
- 1972final season
Last recorded season with SD
- 1963signing
Entered the NFL with BAL
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 10-season peers. See all →
58
peak 65
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
C+1963
F1964
B1965
B1966
B1967
B1968
D1969
C+1970
F1971
F1972
Availability
Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 10 seasons.
84%
Era Translator
Rec 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 Rec Yds | Rec Yds/G | → 2025 Rec Yds | → 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | 726 | 51.9 | 311-415 | 18.3 |
| 1964 | 406 | 29 | 0-406 | 0 |
| 1965 | 814 | 58.1 | 529-285 | 31.1 |
| 1966 | 829 | 59.2 | 533-296 | 31.4 |
| 1967 | 686 | 49 | 461-225 | 27.1 |
| 1968 | 644 | 46 | 419-225 | 24.7 |
| 1969 | 443 | 31.6 | 0-443 | 0 |
| 1970 | 435 | 39.5 | 401-34 | 23.6 |
| 1971 | 143 | 28.6 | 36-107 | 2.1 |
| 1972 | 110 | 27.5 | 49-61 | 2.9 |
Data: wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), wikipedia:pfhof-inductee-list · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 7/10/2026
Career Value · VORP
87 career value over replacement — #1333 all-time of 4,642. 8.7/season above a replacement-level TE.
Fan Rating
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