Lem Barney is a Hall of Fame defensive back whose career earned a modest career value score of 57 in the Knox value model. Barney's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.
L
Lem Barney
All-Time Rank & Honors
career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title contextRegular-season all-time ranks
Yes
Hall of Fame
Season honors and record seasons
A defensive back with a above-average career — the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (excellent availability over their career) added to their value.
Career Value · VORP
VORP 53 · #1968 · Above AverageWorth 53 points of value above a freely-available replacement cornerback — top 43% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 8 of 11 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +6.6 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
8 cleared
3 replaced
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
49
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
8
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+6.6
Avg surplus
peak +9
8 seasons × ~6.6 surplus ≈ VORP 53
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 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | |||||
| 1967 | — | DET | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1968 | — | DET | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | 5 | — | — |
| 1969 | — | DET | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1970 | — | DET | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1971 | — | DET | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1972 | — | DET | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1973 | — | DET | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | 3 | — | — |
| 1974 | — | DET | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1975 | — | DET | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1976 | — | DET | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1977 | — | DET | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| Career | — | 136 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 17 | — | — | |
Defense
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 22 | DET | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1968 | 23 | DET | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | 5 | — | — |
| 1969 | 24 | DET | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1970 | 25 | DET | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1971 | 26 | DET | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1972 | 27 | DET | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1973 | 28 | DET | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | 3 | — | — |
| 1974 | 29 | DET | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1975 | 30 | DET | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1976 | 31 | DET | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1977 | 32 | DET | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| Career | 136 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 56 | 0 | 0 | 17 | — | — |
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 57 · Strong StarterA strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 57 of 100, era-normalized against int/g peers across 11 scored seasons.
53
Sustained
career value
×.6
59
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×1
Longevity
career length
Blend 55.4 × longevity 1 = KV-H 57· confidence 99%
What builds the career mark of 53
On-field 34.9
Availability 18.1
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative int/g)
1967bestavg 521977
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position26
Depth
of 100
Reached 25% of the all-time Interceptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
25% of the all-time Interceptions leader25
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: 95%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average defensive backs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (Jackson State), 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
- 1977final season
Last recorded season with DET
- 1967signing
Entered the NFL with DET
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 →
57
peak 59
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
C+1967
C+1968
C+1969
C+1970
C1971
C+1972
C+1973
C+1974
C+1975
C1976
C1977
Availability
Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 11 seasons.
Era Translator
INT 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 INT | INT/G | → 2025 INT | → 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 10 | 0.7 | 1-9 | 0.1 |
| 1968 | 7 | 0.5 | 1-6 | 0 |
| 1969 | 8 | 0.6 | 1-7 | 0.1 |
| 1970 | 7 | 0.5 | 1-6 | 0.1 |
| 1971 | 3 | 0.4 | 1-2 | 0 |
| 1972 | 3 | 0.2 | 1-2 | 0 |
| 1973 | 4 | 0.3 | 1-3 | 0 |
| 1974 | 4 | 0.3 | 1-3 | 0 |
| 1975 | 5 | 0.5 | 1-4 | 0 |
| 1976 | 2 | 0.1 | 0-2 | 0 |
| 1977 | 3 | 0.3 | 0-3 | 0 |
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
53 career value over replacement — #1968 all-time of 4,642. 4.8/season above a replacement-level CB.
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