FBBUF#35ACT

Jonathan Linton

Top 46% all-time RBsSolid Contributor⭐ Shooting Star · 1999

Height6'1"

Weight234 lb

BornNov 7, 1974

Age51

CollegeNorth Carolina See College Stats

Rookie yr1998

Draft1998 · Rd 5, Pick 131 · BUF

Archetype Intelligence

Solid ContributorExplore archetypes →

A running back with a middle-tier career — a rotational or backup contributor who filled their role reliably.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 27 · #2793 · Role Player

Worth 27 points of value above a freely-available replacement running back — top 61% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 2 of 3 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +13.5 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

2 cleared

1 replaced

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+13.5

Avg surplus

peak +20

2 seasons × ~13.5 surplus ≈ VORP 27

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									Defense													Advanced (EPA)
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	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA	Pass AirYd	Rec AirYd
1998	—	BUF	14	—	45	195	1	4.3	2.2	—	—	—	—	1	10	0	—	10.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	BUF	16	—	205	695	5	3.4	2.4	44	21.5	3	38	28	223	0	73.7%	8.0	5.9	—	7	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	MIA	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	-39.0	0.9	0	0
2000	—	BUF	5	—	31	101	0	3.3	0.0	5	16.1	1	3	2	7	1	66.7%	3.5	2.3	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	-3.9	2.4	0	0
Career		—	36	—	281	991	6	3.5	2.1	49	17.4	4	41	31	240	1	75.6%	7.7	5.9	—	8	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	-42.9	3.3	0	0

Career EPA-39.6·-43 rushing · 3 receiving·-19.8/season

Rushing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb	VAL
1998	24	BUF	14	—	45	195	1	4.3	2.2	—	—	—	7.2
1999	25	BUF	16	—	205	695	5	3.4	2.4	44	21.5	3	12.6
2000	26	BUF	5	—	31	101	0	3.3	0.0	5	16.1	1	2.9
Career			35		281	991	6	3.5	—	49	—	4	22.7

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D
1998	24	BUF	14	—	—	1	10	0	—	10.0	—	—	—
1999	25	BUF	16	—	38	28	223	0	73.7%	8.0	5.9	—	7
2000	26	BUF	5	—	3	2	7	1	66.7%	3.5	2.3	—	1
Career			35		41	31	240	1	75.6%	7.7	5.9	—	8

Advanced (EPA)

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA
1999	25	—	—	—	—	-39.0	0.9
2000	26	—	—	—	—	-3.9	2.4
Career					—	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 48 · Solid

A solid career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 48 of 100, era-normalized against rush yds/g peers across 3 scored seasons, with a short career trimming the score.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×0.86

Longevity

career length

Blend 56.2 × longevity 0.86 = KV-H 48· confidence 88%

What builds the career mark of 59

On-field 42.3

Availability 16.7

On-field production Staying available

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

1998bestavg 52elite 702000

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 5% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

5% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader5

0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0

-19.82 EPA/season over 2 seasons43

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: 90%.

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+).

Postseason Career

1 playoff game

Rushing

Att5Yds25Y/A5.01D21D%40.0

Advanced (EPA)

Rush EPA0.9

College Stats

North CarolinaCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (North Carolina), 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.

1998 Draft Class· this player went #131

#119Lance SchultersS #120Greg FavorsLB #121Roosevelt BlackmonDB #124Martin ChaseDT #125Terry HardyTE #126Cedric HardenDE #127Jeremy BrighamTE #130Darren HambrickOLB #132Wilmont PerryRB #135Antony JordanLB #137Jason SimmonsDB #138Oliver RossOT #139Benji OlsonG #142Ike ReeseLB #146Blake SpenceTE #148John WadeC

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Jonathan inherited the Buffalo Bills RB room from Antowain Smith (1997–2000), and handed it to Sam Gash (1998–2003).

Joe Cribbs 1980–1985Robb Riddick 1981–1988Booker Moore 1982–1985Greg Bell 1984–1987Ronnie Harmon 1986–1989Jamie Mueller

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2000final season
Last recorded season with BUF
1998draft
Drafted by BUF — Round 5, Pick 131

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'1" / 234 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 3-season peers. See all →

peak 52

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

C+1998

B+1999

F2000

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 3 seasons.

73%

19982000

2000 · cause not documented · 31%

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
1998	195	13.9	508+313	29.9
1999	695	43.4	954+259	56.1
2000	101	20.2	526+425	30.9

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats, nflverse:player_stats_def, 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) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

27 career value over replacement — #2793 all-time of 4,642. 9/season above a replacement-level RB.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #131 (Rd 5) · BUF · 1998 · +14.5 vs expected KV-H

48actual

33.5 expected · Δ+14.5

Fan Rating

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Compare Jonathan Linton vs Player Report data error

Jonathan Linton

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Rushing

Receiving

Advanced (EPA)

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Rushing

Advanced (EPA)

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1998 Draft Class· this player went #131

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography