LaDainian Tomlinson is a Hall of Fame running back whose career earned a historically elite career value score of 87 in the Knox value model. Tomlinson led his position in a major category 5 times — the definition of era-defining dominance.

On the boards· Appears on 5 boards

Streaks8 straight · 1,000 rushing yards · 2001–08

RBNYJ#21ACT

LaDainian Tomlinson

★ HALL OF FAME5× Pro Bowl3× All-ProTop 1% all-time RBsIron Legend🏅 Only Club · 3×👑 #1 Running Back · 2006–2007

Career Value · VORP

276 career value over replacement — #177 all-time of 4,695. 25.1/season above a replacement-level RB.

Career Profile

Led league 5×18 top-10 Compiler37% in top 3 yrs 2-phase playertwo-way

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #5 (Rd 1) · SDG · 2001 · +23.7 vs expected KV-H

87actual

63.3 expected · Δ+23.7

Fan Rating

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Compare LaDainian Tomlinson vs Player Report data error

Height5'10"

Weight215 lb

BornJun 23, 1979

Age47

CollegeTCU See College Stats

Rookie yr2001

Draft2001 · Rd 1, Pick 5 · SDG

All-Time Standing

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

Elite

of 100

Reached 88% of the all-time Rushing Touchdowns leader — a elite all-time profile at the position.

88% of the all-time Rushing Touchdowns leader88

3 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader100

A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leader at 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: 94%.

Encyclopedia Coverage5/8 data layers

StatVault aggregates multiple open-licensed and proprietary sources into a single profile. The depth indicator above shows which layers are available for this player.

Bio & DraftBirth date, height/weight, draft round/pick, college — sourced from nflverse players.csv (CC-BY 4.0). Covers all NFL eras.

Season Stats (1999–present)Week-by-week box scores aggregated to season totals: passing, rushing, receiving, defense. Source: nflverse player_stats. Counting stats are exact; rates are derived.

Advanced (EPA, 1999–present)Not available for this player

Snap Counts (2012–present)Not available for this player

Defensive StatsNot available for this player

College StatsCollege attribution is present, but this profile artifact does not yet carry a parsed college stat table.

NFL Combine / Pro Day40-yard dash, vertical, broad jump, 3-cone, shuttle, bench press. Source: nflverse combine.csv.

Proprietary LayersKV-H (Knox Value-Historical) — era-normalized career rating 0–100 calibrated within position group (1999+ coverage). SIS (Snap Impact Score, 2012+) — per-snap production z-scored within position. VORP — value over replacement player. Durability IQ — games-played percentile adjusted for era.

Where this data comes from

Modern-era stats (1999+) come from nflverse's open data releases. Pre-1999 seasons are backfilled additively from Wikipedia and NFL.com's own official season pages — never from rights-restricted sources.

nflverse — CC-BY 4.0 — attribution required
Wikipedia — Facts extracted under Feist v. Rural Telephone; courtesy CC-BY-SA attribution
NFL.com — Official league site; facts extracted under Feist, courtesy attribution

Methodology · Trust Center

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

= this player (normalized to own peak). = average RBs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Combine · 2001

Percentiles compare each raw measurement against position peers, the full combine pool, and the same draft class where enough samples exist.

RB · 2001 class

4.46s

40-Yard

Strong · 78th pct

Pos 78thAll 86thClass Pos 75thClass All 90th

40.5"

Vertical

Elite · 97th pct

Pos 97thAll 96thClass Pos 96thClass All 92th

124"

Broad Jump

Playoff vs Regular Season

📉 Regular Season Player

Yards / Carry: 4.3 regular season → 3.6 playoffs (6 playoff seasons)

-17%

vs reg season

From Scrimmage · Career

Scrimmage Yds

18,453

13,686 rush · 4,767 recv

Total TDs

162

145 rush · 17 recv

Total Touches

3,800

3,176 carries · 624 rec

Yds / Touch

4.9

rushing + receiving

Career Milestones16

Major career thresholds crossed, derived from regular-season totals (1999+).

20011K career rushing yards
2002100 career receptions
20033K career rushing yards
200325 career rushing TDs
20031K career receiving yards
20045K career rushing yards

Understanding These Stats

Passing

Cmp / Att — Completions and pass attempts.

Cmp% — Completion percentage — completions ÷ attempts × 100.

Yds — Passing yards — total air + yards after catch on completions.

TD / TD% — Passing touchdowns. TD% = TDs per 100 attempts, measuring scoring efficiency.

Int / Int% — Interceptions thrown. Int% = INTs per 100 attempts — the primary ball-security metric.

Y/A — Yards per attempt — passing yards ÷ attempts. The core passing efficiency rate.

AdjY/A — Adjusted yards per attempt: (Pass Yds + 20×TD − 45×INT) ÷ Att. Penalizes turnovers and rewards touchdowns — widely considered the most predictive single-season QB metric.

TD:INT — TD-to-interception ratio — passing touchdowns ÷ interceptions thrown. Elite QBs sustain career ratios above 3.0; HOF greats often exceed 4.0. Not shown when no interceptions.

Rate — NFL passer rating — the official formula combining Cmp%, Y/A, TD%, and INT% on a 0–158.3 scale. Good QB performance ≈ 90+; elite ≈ 110+.

Sk — Times sacked — how many times the QB was brought down behind the line of scrimmage.

Postseason Career

10 playoff games

Rushing

Att131Yds468TD6Y/A3.6TD%4.61D271D%20.6

Receiving

Tgt28

College Stats

TCUCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (TCU), 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

Jamal WilliamsNT9y Quentin JammerCB8y Antonio GatesTE7y Jacques CesaireDE7y

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

LaDainian inherited the Los Angeles Chargers RB room from Ronnie Harmon (1990–1995), and handed it to Melvin Gordon (2015–2019).

Don Woods 1974–1980Rickey Young 1975–1977Chuck Muncie 1980–1984James Brooks 1981–1983Lionel James 1984–1988Rod Bernstine

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2011final season
Last recorded season with NYJ
2010team change
Joined NYJ (from SD)
2001draft
Drafted by SDG — Round 1, Pick 5
2001team change
Joined SD (from SDG)

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

5'10" / 215 lb

Frame

221 lb at 4.46s

Size-speed

40.5" vert / 124" broad

Explosion

18 reps

Bench power

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 11-season peers. See all →

peak 88

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

B+2001

A2002

A2003

B+2004

B+2005

A2006

B+2007

B+2008

B2009

B+2010

C+2011

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 11 seasons.

Era Translator

Rush Yds translated to the 2025 NFL — 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
2001	1,236	77.3	1,283+47	75.5
2002	1,683	105.2	1,608-75	94.6
2003	1,645	102.8	1,563-82	91.9
2004	1,335	89	1,333-2	78.4
2005	1,464	91.5	1,369-95	80.5
2006	1,815	113.4	1,623-192	95.5
2007	1,474	92.1	1,365-109	80.3
2008	1,110	69.4	1,043-67	61.4
2009	730	52.1	821+91	48.3
2010	914	60.9	1,001+87	58.9
2011	280	20	407+127	24

Data: nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:players, nflverse:combine, nflverse:player_stats, nflverse:injuries · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 8/31/2026

Pre-1999 players have bio + draft data but counting stats are not available from any freely-licensed source. Players with ★ Career Only see verified career aggregates from nflverse draft_picks.

Pos 83thAll 83thClass Pos 88thClass All 88th

18 reps

Bench

Below avg · 32th pct

Pos 32thAll 33thClass Pos 46thClass All 36th

6.84s

3-Cone

Strong · 88th pct

Pos 88thAll 88thClass Pos 95thClass All 95th

4.21s

Shuttle

Above avg · 63th pct

Pos 63thAll 73thClass Pos 65thClass All 64th

50 career rushing TDs

2004250 career receptions

20068K career rushing yards

200675 career rushing TDs

2006100 career rushing TDs

200710K career rushing yards

20073K career receiving yards

2008125 career rushing TDs

2008500 career receptions

200912K career rushing yards

Rushing

Att — Rushing attempts (carries).

Yds — Rushing yards.

TD — Rushing touchdowns.

Y/A — Yards per carry — rushing yards ÷ carries. The core rushing efficiency rate; 4.5+ is solid, 5+ is elite.

TD% — Touchdown rate per carry (TDs ÷ carries × 100) — measures scoring efficiency per touch independent of volume. Red-zone workhorses lead here.

1D — First downs gained on rushing plays.

1D% — First-down conversion rate (first downs ÷ carries × 100) — how often a carry moves the chains. Top RBs convert on 25%+ of attempts.

Fmb — Rushing fumbles lost — the key ball-security stat for running backs. Below 1 per season is elite.

Receiving

Tgt — Targets — how many times the receiver was thrown to, regardless of completion.

Rec — Receptions — catches made.

Yds — Receiving yards.

TD — Receiving touchdowns.

Ctch% — Catch rate — receptions ÷ targets × 100. Measures how reliably a receiver turns opportunities into gains. 70%+ is elite.

Y/R — Yards per reception — receiving yards ÷ receptions. Measures big-play ability; 15+ is elite for WRs.

Y/Tgt — Yards per target — receiving yards ÷ targets. The single most complete receiving efficiency metric: accounts for both drops and incomplete targets. Elite receivers post 8+ yards per target.

AirYd/T — Air yards per target — average depth of route at time of target. High values indicate a deep threat role; low values indicate a slot/check-down role.

1D — First downs gained on receiving plays.

Proprietary StatVault Metrics

KV-H (Knox Value-Historical) — Era-normalized career rating 0–100 within position group, calibrated so a 50 = average starter and 90+ = all-time great. Covers 1999–present. Built on a 5-year IQR/robust-std era window.

SIS (Snap Impact Score) — Per-snap production z-scored within position group and era (2012+). Measures how much a player produced per opportunity, not raw volume.

VORP (Value Over Replacement) — Sum of max(0, season KV-H − positional replacement level) across a career. Measures career value above the minimum-roster baseline at each position.

Durability IQ — 0–100 score reflecting how many games a player played relative to peers at the same position in the same era. Adjusts for injury-shortened seasons.

LaDainian Tomlinson 2001–2009

The room is reconstructed from arrival order among durable members (≥4 seasons with the club) at the player’s position group — a lineage by arrival, not a week-by-week depth chart. Distinct from the league-wide positional GOAT torch.

Durability IQ

Composite score across availability, IR frequency, and injury severity. See all →

Iron

Canton Monitor · HOF

Enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. See all →

✓

Enshrined

What carries the case

All-Pro 27%Era Quality (KV-H) 24.3%League Leads 15%Pro Bowls 11.2%All-Time Ranks 11.2%Longevity 11.2%

Monitor score 133.4 · components sum to the score (All-Pro ×12 · Pro Bowl ×3 · League Lead ×4 · ranks/era/longevity weighted).

Career Fingerprint

Statistical profile across 5 dimensions

Overall

Longevity90

Peak88

Accolades59

Consistency69

Per-Snap50

On the boards· Appears on 5 boards

LaDainian Tomlinson

All-Time Standing

Where this data comes from

Career Aging Trajectory

Combine · 2001

From Scrimmage · Career

Postseason Career

Rushing

Receiving

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

2001 Draft Class· this player went #5