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

RBDET#31ACT

Mario Bates

Top 11% all-time RBsElite Playmaker⭐ Shooting Star · 1999 Team Carrier · #401

Height6'2"

Weight239 lb

BornJan 16, 1973

Age53

CollegeArizona State See College Stats

Rookie yr1994

Draft1994 · Rd 2, Pick 44 · NO

Archetype Intelligence

Elite PlaymakerExplore archetypes →

A top 20% all-time running back who consistently made an impact across multiple seasons.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 87 · #1337 · High-Value

Worth 87 points of value above a freely-available replacement running back — top 30% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 6 of 6 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +14.5 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

6 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+14.5

Avg surplus

peak +30

6 seasons × ~14.5 surplus ≈ VORP 87

Combined Season Grid

The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.

4 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Rushing								Receiving									Defense													Advanced (EPA)
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA	Pass AirYd	Rec AirYd
1994	—	NO	7	—	151	579	6	3.8	4.0	—	—	—	—	8	62	0	—	7.8	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995	—	NO	16	—	244	951	7	3.9	2.9	—	—	—	—	18	114	0	—	6.3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	—	NO	10	—	164	584	4	3.6	2.4	—	—	—	—	13	44	0	—	3.4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	—	NO	7	—	119	440	4	3.7	3.4	—	—	—	—	5	42	0	—	8.4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	—	ARI	1	—	60	165	6	2.8	10.0	—	—	—	—	1	14	0	—	14.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	ARI	10	—	72	202	9	2.8	12.5	23	31.9	0	7	5	34	0	71.4%	6.8	4.9	—	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.7	-0.8	0	0
2000	—	DET	12	—	31	127	2	4.1	6.5	12	38.7	0	20	15	109	0	75.0%	7.3	5.5	—	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2000	—	GB	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3	3	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
2000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.5	-7.3	0	0
Career		—	66	—	841	3,048	38	3.6	4.5	—	—	—	27	65	419	0	240.7%	6.4	15.5	—	—	3	3	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	6.2	-8.1	0	0

Career EPA-1.9·6 rushing · -8 receiving·-1.0/season

Rushing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb	VAL
1994	21	NO	7	—	151	579	6	3.8	4.0	—	—	—	9
1995	22	NO	16	—	244	951	7	3.9	2.9	—	—	—	14.3
1996	23	NO	10	—	164	584	4	3.6	2.4	—	—	—	8.4
1997	24	NO	7	—	119	440	4	3.7	3.4	—	—	—	7.3
1998	25	ARI	1	—	60	165	6	2.8	10.0	—	—	—	—
1999	26	ARI	10	—	72	202	9	2.8	12.5	23	31.9	0	9
2000	27	DET	12	—	31	127	2	4.1	6.5	12	38.7	0	6.6
Career			63		841	3,048	38	3.6	—	—	—	—	54.6

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D
1994	21	NO	7	—	—	8	62	—	7.8	—	—	—
1995	22	NO	16	—	—	18	114	—	6.3	—	—	—
1996	23	NO	10	—	—	13	44	—	3.4	—	—	—
1997	24	NO	7	—	—	5	42	—	8.4	—	—	—
1998	25	ARI	1	—	—	1	14	—	14.0	—	—	—
1999	26	ARI	10	—	7	5	34	71.4%	6.8	4.9	—	2
2000	27	DET	12	—	20	15	109	75.0%	7.3	5.5	—	5
Career			63		27	65	419	240.7%	6.4	15.5	—	—

Advanced (EPA)

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA
1999	26	—	—	—	—	2.7	-0.8
2000	27	—	—	—	—	3.5	-7.3
Career					—	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 69 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 69 of 100, era-normalized against rush yds/g peers across 6 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 69.2 × longevity 1 = KV-H 69· confidence 96%

What builds the career mark of 66

On-field 52.1

Availability 13.9

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative rush yds/g)

1994bestavg 65elite 702000

Team Carrier Evidence

Ranked #401 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

1999 ARI·6 team wins#8

Rushing Touchdowns · 9 · score 18

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 23% of the all-time Rushing Touchdowns leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

23% of the all-time Rushing Touchdowns leader23

0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0

-0.98 EPA/season over 2 seasons50

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: 85%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

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

College Stats

Arizona StateCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Arizona 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.

1994 Draft Class· this player went #44

#34Errict RhettRB #35Kevin LeeWR #36Kevin MawaeC #38Chuck LevyRB #39Marcus SpearsOT #40David PalmerRB #41Ryan YarboroughWR #42Charlie GarnerRB #45Bert EmanuelWR #46Larry AllenG #47Thomas RandolphDB #49Toby WrightDB #50Brentson BucknerDT #51Allen AldridgeOLB #52James FolstonLB #53Kevin MitchellMLB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Mario inherited the New Orleans Saints RB room from Lorenzo Neal (1993–1996), and handed it to Ray Zellars (1995–1998).

George Rogers 1981–1984Hokie Gajan 1982–1985Rueben Mayes 1986–1990Dalton Hilliard 1986–1993Craig Heyward 1988–1992Gill Fenerty

Similar Players

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

BenJarvus Green-Ellis

Movementderived from season history

2000team change
Joined DET (from ARI)
2000final season
Last recorded season with DET
1998team change
Joined ARI (from NO)
1994draft
Drafted by NO — Round 2, Pick 44

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 239 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 6-season peers. See all →

peak 74

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

B1994

A1995

B+1996

B1997

C+1999

C+2000

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 7 seasons.

58%

Era Translator

Rush Yds 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 Rush Yds	Rush Yds/G	→ 2025 Rush Yds	→ 2025 /G
1994	579	82.7	1,856+1,277	109.2
1995	951	59.4	1,405+454	82.7
1996	584	58.4	1,387+803	81.6
1997	440	62.9	1,410+970	82.9
1999	202	20.2	586+384	34.4
2000	127	10.6	386+259	22.7

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:advanced-epa (CC-BY 4.0), wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

87 career value over replacement — #1337 all-time of 4,642. 14.5/season above a replacement-level RB.

Career Profile

1 top-10 seasonstop-10 marks

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #44 (Rd 2) · NO · 1994 · +19.2 vs expected KV-H

69actual

49.8 expected · Δ+19.2

💔+37.8 stolen VORP·2.52 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Compare Mario Bates vs Player Report data error

Mario Bates

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Rushing

Receiving

Advanced (EPA)

KV-H Anatomy

Team Carrier Evidence

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1994 Draft Class· this player went #44

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography