Leslie O'Neal ranks in the all-time elite tier for pass rushers — a career that places O'Neal in the top 3% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns O'Neal a career score of 91, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

DEKC#91ACT

Leslie O'Neal

6× Pro BowlTop 2% all-time pass rushersIron Legend

Height6'4"

Weight281 lb

BornMay 7, 1964

Age62

CollegeOklahoma State See College Stats

Rookie yr1986

Draft1986 · Rd 1, Pick 8 · LAC

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Regular-season all-time ranks

16thSacks·132.5

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Iron LegendExplore archetypes →

An all-time caliber edge rusher (top 5% all-time) who combined elite production with excellent availability over their career. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 335 · #91 · All-Time

Worth 335 points of value above a freely-available replacement edge rusher — top 3% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 12 of 12 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +27.9 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

12 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+27.9

Avg surplus

peak +47

12 seasons × ~27.9 surplus ≈ VORP 335

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
1986	—	SD	13	—	82	—	—	—	—	12.5	12.5	2	—	3	2	—	—
1988	—	SD	1	—	28	—	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	0	—	1	0	—	—
1989	—	SD	16	—	96	—	—	—	—	12.5	12.5	0	—	2	2	—	—
1990	—	SD	16	—	81	—	—	—	—	13.5	13.5	0	—	2	2	—	—
1991	—	SD	16	—	68	—	—	—	—	9.0	9.0	0	—	2	0	—	—
1992	—	SD	15	—	78	—	—	—	—	17.0	17.0	0	—	0	1	—	—
1993	—	SD	16	—	56	—	—	—	—	12.0	12.0	0	—	2	1	—	—
1994	—	SD	16	—	60	47	—	—	—	12.5	12.5	0	—	2	1	—	—
1995	—	SD	16	—	48	36	—	—	—	12.5	12.5	0	—	4	0	—	—
1996	—	STL	16	—	54	39	—	—	—	7.0	7.0	0	—	0	3	—	—
1997	—	STL	14	—	43	35	—	—	—	10.0	10.0	1	—	1	2	—	—
1998	—	KC	13	—	45	32	—	—	—	4.5	4.5	0	—	2	2	—	—
1999	—	KC	13	—	25	19	6	8	6	5.5	19.5	0	2	0	—	0	0
Career		—	181	—	764	208	6	8	6	132.5	146.5	3	2	21	16	0	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1986	22	SD	13	—	82	—	—	—	—	12.5	12.5	2	—	3	2	—	—	13
1988	24	SD	1	—	28	—	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	0	—	1	0	—	—	—
1989	25	SD	16	—	96	—	—	—	—	12.5	12.5	0	—	2	2	—	—	14.5
1990	26	SD	16	—	81	—	—	—	—	13.5	13.5	0	—	2	2	—	—	22.4
1991	27	SD	16	—	68	—	—	—	—	9.0	9.0	0	—	2	0	—	—	16.2
1992	28	SD	15	—	78	—	—	—	—	17.0	17.0	0	—	0	1	—	—	21.7
1993	29	SD	16	—	56	—	—	—	—	12.0	12.0	0	—	2	1	—	—	16.9
1994	30	SD	16	—	60	47	—	—	—	12.5	12.5	0	—	2	1	—	—	19.3
1995	31	SD	16	—	48	36	—	—	—	12.5	12.5	0	—	4	0	—	—	23.2
1996	32	STL	16	—	54	39	—	—	—	7.0	7.0	0	—	0	3	—	—	12
1997	33	STL	14	—	43	35	—	—	—	10.0	10.0	1	—	1	2	—	—	15.3
1998	34	KC	13	—	45	32	—	—	—	4.5	4.5	0	—	2	2	—	—	12.3
1999	35	KC	13	—	25	19	6	8	6	5.5	19.5	0	2	0	—	0	0	10.1
Career			181		764	208	6	8	6	—	—	3	2	21	16	0	0	196.9

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 91 · All-Time Great

A all-time great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 91 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 12 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 84.6 × longevity 1 = KV-H 91· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 79

On-field 60.2

Availability 18.8

On-field production Staying available

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

1986bestavg 79elite 701999

All-Time Standing

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

Solid

of 100

Reached 67% of the all-time Sacks leader — a solid all-time profile at the position.

67% of the all-time Sacks leader67

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: 94%.

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+).

College Stats

Oklahoma StateCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Oklahoma 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.

1986 Draft Class· this player went #8

#3Jim EverettQB #10Keith ByarsFB #12Chuck LongQB #16Ronnie HarmonRB #18Mike SherrardWR #21Tim McGeeWR #26Reggie DupardRB #27Neal AndersonRB #29Garry JamesRB #31Dalton HilliardRB #33Darryl ClackRB #34Ernest GivinsWR #37Anthony ToneyRB #41Kenneth DavisRB #43Webster SlaughterWR #45Walter MurrayWR

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Leslie opened the Los Angeles Chargers DL lineage the corpus knows, and handed it to Joe Phillips (1987–1991).

Leslie O'Neal 1986–1995Joe Phillips 1987–1991Chris Mims 1992–1999Raylee Johnson 1993–2003John Parrella 1994–2001Marco Coleman 1996–1998

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

1999final season
Last recorded season with KC
1998team change
Joined KC (from STL)
1996team change
Joined STL (from SD)
1986draft
Drafted by LAC — Round 1, Pick 8
1986team change
Joined SD (from LAC)

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'4" / 281 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 12-season peers. See all →

peak 93

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

B+1986

B+1989

A1990

B+1991

A+1992

A1993

A1994

A1995

B+1996

A1997

B1998

B1999

Availability

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
1986	12.5	1	8-4.5	0.5
1989	12.5	0.8	8-4.5	0.5
1990	13.5	0.8	10-3.5	0.6
1991	9	0.6	7-2	0.4
1992	17	1.1	15-2	0.9
1993	12	0.8	11-1	0.7
1994	12.5	0.8	11-1.5	0.7
1995	12.5	0.8	12-0.5	0.7
1996	7	0.4	7	0.4
1997	10	0.7	11+1	0.6
1998	4.5	0.3	5+0.5	0.3
1999	5.5	0.4	6+0.5	0.4

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

335 career value over replacement — #91 all-time of 4,642. 27.9/season above a replacement-level EDGE.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #8 (Rd 1) · LAC · 1986 · +30.6 vs expected KV-H

91actual

60.4 expected · Δ+30.6

💔+48.7 stolen VORP·1.69 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Leslie O'Neal

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1986 Draft Class· this player went #8

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography