Johnny McWilliams is a career quality starter β a tight end whose body of work places McWilliams in the top half of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and McWilliams's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.
Johnny McWilliams
Height6'4"
Weight271 lb
BornDec 14, 1972
Age53
CollegeUSCSee College Stats
Rookie yr1996
Draft1996 Β· Rd 3, Pick 64 Β· ARI
A tight end with a above-average career β the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (excellent availability over their career) added to their value.
Career Value Β· VORP
VORP 36 Β· #2462 Β· Role PlayerWorth 36 points of value above a freely-available replacement tight end β top 54% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 4 of 5 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +9 on average.See board β
Seasons above replacement
4 cleared
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it β adds 0, never a debit
46
Replacement
the KC-H bar
β
4
Seasons over
cleared the bar
Γ
+9
Avg surplus
peak +17
4 seasons Γ ~9 surplus β VORP 36
Combined Season Grid
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at onceβno tab hopping.
2 grids split in one view
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Receiving | Advanced (EPA) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D | Pass EPA | Rush EPA | Rec EPA | Pass AirYd | Rec AirYd | |||||
| 1996 | β | ARI | 12 | β | β | 7 | 80 | 1 | β | 11.4 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1997 | β | ARI | 16 | β | β | 7 | 75 | 0 | β | 10.7 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1998 | β | ARI | 16 | β | β | 26 | 284 | 4 | β | 10.9 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1999 | β | ARI | 11 | β | 20 | 11 | 71 | 1 | 55.0% | 6.5 | 3.5 | β | 2 | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1999 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | -1.8 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | β | MIN | 9 | β | 28 | 21 | 176 | 3 | 75.0% | 8.4 | 6.3 | β | 8 | β | β | β | β | β |
| 2000 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | 8.6 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | β | 64 | β | 48 | 72 | 686 | 9 | 150.0% | 9.5 | 14.3 | β | 10 | β | β | 6.8 | 0 | 0 | |
Career EPA6.8Β·7 receivingΒ·3.4/season
Receiving
Advanced (EPA)
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 55 Β· Strong StarterA strong starter career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 55 of 100, era-normalized against rec yds/g peers across 5 scored seasons.
54
Sustained
career value
Γ.6
56
Peak
best 3 seasons
Γ.4
Γ1
Longevity
career length
Blend 54.8 Γ longevity 1 = KV-H 55Β· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 54
On-field 37.3
Availability 16.7
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative rec yds/g)
1996bestavg 532000
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position9
Depth
of 100
Reached 5% of the all-time Receptions leader β a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
5% of the all-time Receptions leader5
0 categories β₯25% of the all-time leader0
3.42 EPA/season over 2 seasons51
A 0β100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data β career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence β so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite β₯ 85 Β· Strong β₯ 65 Β· Solid β₯ 45 Β· Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 91%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average Β· 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+).
Postseason Career
2 playoff gamesReceiving
Tgt3Rec2Yds14Ctch%66.7%Y/R7.0Y/Tgt4.71D1
Advanced (EPA)
Rec EPA0.1
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (USC), 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 β every name is linked.
Top Teammates
Simeon RiceDE4yAeneas WilliamsFS4yRonald McKinnonMLB4yRob MooreWR4yFrank SandersWR4yEric SwannDT4yTommy BennettDB4yLarry CentersFB3yJake PlummerQB3yJamir MillerOLB3yMark SmithDT3yJerry DrakeDE3yJeff FeaglesP2yBrent AlexanderFS2yCorey ChavousS2yMichael BankstonDE2yPat CarterTE2yAdrian MurrellRB2yMark MaddoxLB2yScott PlayerP2yDave BrownQB2yChris GedneyTE2yKent GrahamQB2yCedric SmithFB2y
1996 Draft ClassΒ· this player went #64
Franchise Succession
the room, before and afterJohnny inherited the Arizona Cardinals TE room from Pat Carter (1996β1997), and handed it to Chris Gedney (1997β2000).
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0β100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 2000team change
Joined MIN (from ARI)
- 2000final season
Last recorded season with MIN
- 1996draft
Drafted by ARI β Round 3, Pick 64
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'4" / 271 lb
Frame
Knox
StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works β
Historical Knox Β· KV-H
Era-normalized career quality β z-scored against 5-season peers. See all β
55
peak 56
Season Report CardsΒ· KV-H era-normalized per season
C+1996
C+1997
B1998
C1999
C+2000
Availability
Career durability β games played vs. scheduled, across 5 seasons.
80%
Era Translator
Rec Yds translated to the 2025NFL β 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 | β 2025 Rec Yds | β 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 80 | 6.7 | 329+249 | 19.3 |
| 1997 | 75 | 4.7 | 251+176 | 14.7 |
| 1998 | 284 | 17.8 | 492+208 | 29 |
| 1999 | 71 | 6.5 | 230+159 | 13.5 |
| 2000 | 176 | 19.6 | 456+280 | 26.8 |
Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:advanced-epa (CC-BY 4.0), wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), nfl.com:official-stats (facts-only reference), espn.com:stats-api (games-played, facts-only reference) Β· multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle Β· updated 6/18/2026
Career Value Β· VORP
36 career value over replacement β #2462 all-time of 4,642. 7.2/season above a replacement-level TE.
Draft OutcomeValue β
Pick #64 (Rd 3) Β· ARI Β· 1996 Β· +8.1 vs expected KV-H
55actual
46.9 expected Β· Ξ+8.1
Fan Rating
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