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 90, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

On the boards· Appears on 2 boards

Streaks4 straight · 10 sacks · 1992–95

DEKC#91ACT

Leslie O'Neal

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

Height6'4"

Weight281 lb

BornMay 7, 1964

Age62

Career Value · VORP

333 career value over replacement — #95 all-time of 4,695. 25.6/season above a replacement-level EDGE.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #8 (Rd 1) · LAC · 1986 · +28.5 vs expected KV-H

90actual

61.5 expected · Δ+28.5

💔+23.3 stolen VORP·0.91 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Compare Leslie O'Neal vs Player Report data error

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 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: 92%.

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 StatsMaterial defensive production only: playmaking stats, 10+ tackles, or 50+ defensive snaps. Source: nflverse player_stats and snap_counts.

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

NFL Combine / Pro DayNot available for this player

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

Understanding These Stats

Defense

Tkl / Solo / Ast — Combined tackles (Solo + ½ Assist). Solo = unassisted. Ast = helped by a teammate.

TFL — Tackles for loss — stops made behind the line of scrimmage (run stuffs + QB contain).

QBHits — QB hits — any legal contact on the quarterback, including but beyond sacks (hurries that land).

Sk — Sacks — tackled the QB behind the line for a loss. Half-sacks shared between defenders.

Dis — Disruption plays = sacks + QB hits + TFL. The composite pass-rush / run-stop impact stat for one season. Elite pass rushers post 30+ disruption plays per season.

Int — Interceptions caught by this defender.

PD — Passes defended — deflections and breakups.

FF / FR — Forced fumbles (stripped or jarred loose). Fumble Recoveries.

TD — Defensive touchdowns — picks, fumble returns, safeties returned.

Sfty — Safeties — tackled the ball carrier in their own end zone.

Proprietary StatVault Metrics

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.

Top Teammates

John CarneyK6y Junior SeauLB6y Ronnie HarmonRB6y John KiddP5y

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Leslie inherited the Los Angeles Chargers DL room from Lee Williams (1984–1990), and handed it to Burt Grossman (1989–1993).

Lee Williams 1984–1990Leslie O'Neal 1986–1995Burt Grossman 1989–1993Chris Mims 1992–1999Raylee Johnson 1993–2003Shawne Merriman

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 13-season peers. See all →

peak 93

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

B+1986

C+1988

B+1989

A1990

B+1991

A+1992

A1993

A1994

A1995

B+1996

A1997

B1998

B1999

Era Translator

Sacks 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 Sacks	Sacks/G	→ 2025 Sacks	→ 2025 /G
1986	12.5	1	7-5.5	0.4
1988	4	0.4	4	0.2
1989	12.5	0.8	7-5.5	0.4
1990	13.5	0.8	9-4.5	0.5
1991	9	0.6	6-3	0.4
1992	17	1.1	14-3	0.9
1993	12	0.8	11-1	0.6
1994	12.5	0.8	11-1.5	0.6
1995	12.5	0.8	11-1.5	0.7
1996	7	0.4	6-1	0.4
1997	10	0.7	10	0.6
1998	4.5	0.3	4-0.5	0.2
1999	5.5	0.4	6+0.5	0.4

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:player_stats_def, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 8/31/2026