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

DEDEN#76ACT

Kenard Lang

Top 13% all-time pass rushersIron ManTeam Carrier · #406

Height6'3"

Weight257 lb

BornJan 31, 1975

Age51

CollegeMiami See College Stats

Rookie yr1997

Draft1997 · Rd 1, Pick 17 · WAS

Archetype Intelligence

Iron ManExplore archetypes →

A high-end edge rusher defined as much by exceptional availability — almost never missed time as by their on-field impact (top 20% all-time). Coaches and teammates could count on them being available.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 146 · #664 · High-Value

Worth 146 points of value above a freely-available replacement edge rusher — top 15% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 9 of 10 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +16.2 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

9 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+16.2

Avg surplus

peak +29

9 seasons × ~16.2 surplus ≈ VORP 146

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
1997	—	WAS	11	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.5	1.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	—	WAS	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	7.0	7.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	WAS	15	—	32	29	3	12	4	6.0	22.0	0	6	3	1	0	0
2000	—	WAS	13	—	15	15	0	5	2	3.0	10.0	0	5	1	1	0	0
2001	—	WAS	17	—	59	44	15	10	4	4.0	18.0	1	4	3	2	0	0
2002	—	CLE	15	—	36	23	13	8	4	5.5	17.5	1	4	2	—	0	0
2003	—	CLE	15	—	47	34	13	0	0	8.5	8.5	1	2	1	1	0	0
2004	—	CLE	16	—	50	37	13	0	0	7.0	7.0	0	4	2	—	0	0
2005	—	CLE	16	—	30	17	13	0	0	1.0	1.0	0	2	0	—	0	0
2006	—	DEN	15	—	28	20	8	0	11	7.0	18.0	0	1	1	—	0	0
Career		—	149	—	297	219	78	35	25	50.5	110.5	3	28	13	5	0	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1997	22	WAS	11	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.5	1.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.3
1998	23	WAS	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	7.0	7.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	14.3
1999	24	WAS	15	—	32	29	3	12	4	6.0	22.0	0	6	3	1	0	0	12.9
2000	25	WAS	13	—	15	15	0	5	2	3.0	10.0	0	5	1	1	0	0	7.1
2001	26	WAS	17	—	59	44	15	10	4	4.0	18.0	1	4	3	2	0	0	12.5
2002	27	CLE	15	—	36	23	13	8	4	5.5	17.5	1	4	2	—	0	0	11.8
2003	28	CLE	15	—	47	34	13	0	0	8.5	8.5	1	2	1	1	0	0	12.8
2004	29	CLE	16	—	50	37	13	0	0	7.0	7.0	0	4	2	—	0	0	13.2
2005	30	CLE	16	—	30	17	13	0	0	1.0	1.0	0	2	0	—	0	0	7.7
2006	31	DEN	15	—	28	20	8	0	11	7.0	18.0	0	1	1	—	0	0	12.6
Career			149		297	219	78	35	25	—	—	3	28	13	5	0	0	109.2

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 70 · Great

A great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 70 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 10 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 70 × longevity 1 = KV-H 70· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 66

On-field 47.3

Availability 18.7

On-field production Staying available

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

1997bestavg 66elite 702006

Team Carrier Evidence

Ranked #406 of 600 by seasons where high individual production happened on low-win teams. Score aggregates only tracked StatVault categories.

Full board

Total Score

1 qualifying season

2003 CLE·5 team wins#17

Sacks · 9 · score 18

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 26% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

26% of the all-time Sacks leader26

1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33

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 edge rushers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Postseason Career

3 playoff games

Defense

Tkl4Solo2Ast2TFL1QBHits1Sk1.0Dis3.0PD2

College Stats

MiamiImported college table

College Defense

Season	School	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1997	WSH	25	—	—	—	—	1.5	1.5	—	—	—	2	—	—
1998	WSH	46	—	—	—	—	7.0	7.0	—	—	—	0	—	—
1999	WSH	33	—	—	—	—	6.0	6.0	—	—	—	1	—	—
2000	WSH	16	—	—	—	—	3.0	3.0	—	—	—	1	—	—
2001	WSH	50	—	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	—	—	—	2	—	—
2002	CLE	32	—	—	—	—	5.5	5.5	—	—	—	0	—	—
2003	CLE	46	—	—	—	—	8.0	8.0	—	—	—	1	—	—
2004	CLE	49	—	—	—	—	7.0	7.0	—	—	—	0	—	—
2005	CLE	28	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	—	0	—	—
2006	DEN	28	—	—	—	—	6.0	6.0	—	—	—	0	—	—
Career		353	0	—	—	—	50.0	50.0	0	0	0	7	—	—

Reference Graph

Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.

1997 Draft Class· this player went #17

#9Tom KnightDB #10Chris NaeoleG #11Michael BookerDB #12Warrick DunnRB #13Tony GonzalezTE #14Reinard WilsonLB #15Yatil GreenWR #16Reidel AnthonyWR #18Kenny HolmesDE #19Tarik GlennOT #20Dwayne RuddLB #21Renaldo WynnDE #22David LaFleurTE #23Antowain SmithRB #24Chad ScottCB #27Rae CarruthWR

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Kenard inherited the Washington Commanders DL room from Rich Owens (1995–1997), and handed it to Dana Stubblefield (1998–2000).

Marc Boutte 1994–1999Rich Owens 1995–1997Kenard Lang 1997–2001Dana Stubblefield 1998–2000Dan Wilkinson 1998–2002Marco Coleman

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2006team change
Joined DEN (from CLE)
2006final season
Last recorded season with DEN
2002team change
Joined CLE (from WAS)
1997draft
Drafted by WAS — Round 1, Pick 17

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'3" / 257 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 10-season peers. See all →

peak 76

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

C+1997

B+1998

B1999

C+2000

B2001

B2002

A2003

B+2004

C+2005

B+2006

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 10 seasons.

93%

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
1997	1.5	0.1	2+0.5	0.1
1998	7	0.4	7	0.4
1999	6	0.4	6	0.4
2000	3	0.2	3	0.2
2001	4	0.2	4	0.2
2002	5.5	0.4	6+0.5	0.4
2003	8.5	0.6	9+0.5	0.6
2004	7	0.4	7	0.4
2005	1	0.1	1	0.1
2006	7	0.5	8+1	0.5

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, wikipedia:college-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), 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

146 career value over replacement — #664 all-time of 4,642. 14.6/season above a replacement-level EDGE.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #17 (Rd 1) · WAS · 1997 · +13.5 vs expected KV-H

70actual

56.5 expected · Δ+13.5

Fan Rating

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Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

Team Carrier Evidence

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

College Defense

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1997 Draft Class· this player went #17

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography