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

OLBCAR#58ACT

Mark Fields

2× Pro BowlTop 16% all-time pass rushersIron Man📈 Late Developer · 2002

Height6'2"

Weight244 lb

BornNov 9, 1972

Age53

CollegeWashington State; Los Angeles Southwest College See College Stats

Rookie yr1995

Draft1995 · Rd 1, Pick 13 · NO

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Iron ManExplore archetypes →

A high-end edge rusher defined as much by excellent availability over their career as by their on-field impact (top 20% all-time). Coaches and teammates could count on them being available.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 122 · #854 · High-Value

Worth 122 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 19% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 7 of 8 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +17.4 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

7 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+17.4

Avg surplus

peak +29

7 seasons × ~17.4 surplus ≈ VORP 122

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
1995	—	NOR	3	—	40	31	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	—	0	0	—	—
1996	—	NOR	15	—	107	85	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	1	1	—	—
1997	—	NOR	15	—	108	88	—	—	—	8.0	8.0	—	—	4	2	—	—
1998	—	NOR	15	—	109	82	—	—	—	6.0	6.0	—	—	1	1	—	—
1999	—	NO	14	—	58	41	17	7	4	4.0	15.0	2	5	2	1	0	0
2000	—	NO	14	—	59	39	20	3	2	2.0	7.0	0	1	0	—	0	0
2001	—	LA	12	—	43	28	15	4	0	0.0	4.0	1	6	0	—	0	0
2002	—	CAR	15	—	97	70	27	14	5	7.5	26.5	1	7	5	2	0	0
2004	—	CAR	13	—	56	44	12	0	0	4.0	4.0	1	3	1	1	0	0
Career		—	116	—	677	508	91	28	11	34.5	73.5	5	22	14	8	0	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1995	23	NOR	3	—	40	31	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	—	—	0	0	—	—	—
1996	24	NOR	15	—	107	85	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	1	1	—	—	10.7
1997	25	NOR	15	—	108	88	—	—	—	8.0	8.0	—	—	4	2	—	—	17.5
1998	26	NOR	15	—	109	82	—	—	—	6.0	6.0	—	—	1	1	—	—	14.2
1999	27	NO	14	—	58	41	17	7	4	4.0	15.0	2	5	2	1	0	0	11.3
2000	28	NO	14	—	59	39	20	3	2	2.0	7.0	0	1	0	—	0	0	6.4
2001	29	LA	12	—	43	28	15	4	0	0.0	4.0	1	6	0	—	0	0	6
2002	30	CAR	15	—	97	70	27	14	5	7.5	26.5	1	7	5	2	0	0	15.2
2004	32	CAR	13	—	56	44	12	0	0	4.0	4.0	1	3	1	1	0	0	8.6
Career			116		677	508	91	28	11	—	—	5	22	14	8	0	0	89.9

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 67 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 67 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 8 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 66.4 × longevity 1 = KV-H 67· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 62

On-field 44.4

Availability 17.6

On-field production Staying available

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

1996bestavg 62elite 702004

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 17% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

17% of the all-time Sacks leader17

0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0

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: 89%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average linebackers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Postseason Career

2 playoff games

Defense

Tkl7Solo5Ast2TFL1Dis1.0

College Stats

Washington State; Los Angeles Southwest CollegeCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Washington State; Los Angeles Southwest College), 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.

1995 Draft Class· this player went #13

#5Kerry CollinsQB #6Kevin CarterDE #7Mike MamulaDE #8Joey GallowayWR #9Kyle BradyTE #10J.J. StokesWR #11Derrick L. AlexanderDE #12Warren SappDT #14Ruben BrownG #15Ellis JohnsonDE #16Hugh DouglasDE #17Tyrone WheatleyRB #18Napoleon KaufmanRB #20Luther EllissDT #21Rashaan SalaamRB #22Tyrone PooleDB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Mark inherited the New Orleans Saints LB room from Richard Harvey (1995–1997), and handed it to Keith Mitchell (1997–2001).

Winfred Tubbs 1994–1997Richard Harvey 1995–1997Mark Fields 1995–2000Keith Mitchell 1997–2001Darrin Smith 2000–2003Charlie Clemons

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2004final season
Last recorded season with CAR
2002team change
Joined CAR (from LA)
2001team change
Joined LA (from NO)
1999team change
Joined NO (from NOR)
1995draft
Drafted by NO — Round 1, Pick 13
1995team change
Joined NOR (from NO)

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 244 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 8-season peers. See all →

peak 73

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

C+1996

B+1997

B1998

B1999

C+2000

C2001

B+2002

B2004

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 9 seasons.

88%

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
1996	2	0.1	2	0.1
1997	8	0.5	8	0.5
1998	6	0.4	6	0.4
1999	4	0.3	4	0.2
2000	2	0.1	2	0.1
2001	0	0	0	0
2002	7.5	0.5	8+0.5	0.5
2004	4	0.3	5+1	0.3

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

122 career value over replacement — #854 all-time of 4,642. 15.3/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #13 (Rd 1) · NO · 1995 · +6.7 vs expected KV-H

67actual

60.3 expected · Δ+6.7

Fan Rating

Rate Mark Fields — All-Time

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Mark Fields

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1995 Draft Class· this player went #13

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography