Mark Nichols is a career quality starter β a receiver whose body of work places Nichols in the top quarter of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Nichols's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.
Mark Nichols
A wide receiver with a top 30% among starters β the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (excellent availability over their career) added to their value.
Career Value Β· VORP
VORP 49 Β· #2081 Β· Above AverageWorth 49 points of value above a freely-available replacement receiver β top 46% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 4 of 6 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +12.3 on average.See board β
Seasons above replacement
4 cleared
2 replaced
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it β adds 0, never a debit
48
Replacement
the KC-H bar
β
4
Seasons over
cleared the bar
Γ
+12.3
Avg surplus
peak +19
4 seasons Γ ~12.3 surplus β VORP 49
Combined Season Grid
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at onceβno tab hopping.
3 grids split in one view
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Receiving | Rushing | Defense | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D | Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | TD% | 1D | 1D% | Fmb | Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | |||||
| 1981 | β | DET | 12 | β | β | 10 | 222 | 1 | β | 22.2 | β | β | β | 3 | 50 | 0 | 16.7 | 0.0 | β | β | β | 1 | 1 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| 1982 | β | DET | 7 | β | β | 8 | 153 | 2 | β | 19.1 | β | β | β | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | β | β | β | 1 | 1 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| 1983 | β | DET | 16 | β | β | 29 | 437 | 1 | β | 15.1 | β | β | β | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13.0 | 0.0 | β | β | β | 2 | 2 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| 1984 | β | DET | 15 | β | β | 34 | 744 | 1 | β | 21.9 | β | β | β | 3 | 27 | 0 | 9.0 | 0.0 | β | β | β | 2 | 2 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| 1985 | β | DET | 14 | β | β | 36 | 592 | 4 | β | 16.4 | β | β | β | 1 | 15 | 0 | 15.0 | 0.0 | β | β | β | 1 | 1 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| 1987 | β | DET | 12 | β | β | 7 | 87 | 0 | β | 12.4 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | 1 | 1 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| Career | β | 76 | β | 0 | 124 | 2,235 | 9 | β | 18.0 | β | β | β | 9 | 108 | 0 | 12.0 | 0.0 | β | β | β | 8 | 8 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β | |
Rushing
Receiving
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 22 | DET | 12 | β | β | 10 | 222 | 1 | β | 22.2 | β | β | β |
| 1982 | 23 | DET | 7 | β | β | 8 | 153 | 2 | β | 19.1 | β | β | β |
| 1983 | 24 | DET | 16 | β | β | 29 | 437 | 1 | β | 15.1 | β | β | β |
| 1984 | 25 | DET | 15 | β | β | 34 | 744 | 1 | β | 21.9 | β | β | β |
| 1985 | 26 | DET | 14 | β | β | 36 | 592 | 4 | β | 16.4 | β | β | β |
| 1987 | 28 | DET | 12 | β | β | 7 | 87 | 0 | β | 12.4 | β | β | β |
| Career | 76 | 0 | 124 | 2,235 | 9 | β | 18.0 | β | β | β |
Defense
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 22 | DET | β | β | 1 | 1 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| 1982 | 23 | DET | β | β | 1 | 1 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| 1983 | 24 | DET | β | β | 2 | 2 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| 1984 | 25 | DET | β | β | 2 | 2 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| 1985 | 26 | DET | β | β | 1 | 1 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| 1987 | 28 | DET | β | β | 1 | 1 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| Career | 8 | 8 | β | β | β | β | β | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β |
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 60 Β· Strong StarterA strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 60 of 100, era-normalized against rec yds/g peers across 6 scored seasons.
57
Sustained
career value
Γ.6
63
Peak
best 3 seasons
Γ.4
Γ1
Longevity
career length
Blend 59.4 Γ longevity 1 = KV-H 60Β· confidence 98%
What builds the career mark of 57
On-field 39.7
Availability 17.3
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative rec yds/g)
1981bestavg 561987
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position9
Depth
of 100
Reached 10% of the all-time Receiving Yards leader β a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
10% of the all-time Receiving Yards leader10
0 categories β₯25% of the all-time leader0
A 0β100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data β career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence β so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite β₯ 85 Β· Strong β₯ 65 Β· Solid β₯ 45 Β· Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 93%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average Β· KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average wide receivers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (San Jose State; Bakersfield 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 β every name is linked.
Top Teammates
Rob RubickTE5yEric HippleQB5yBilly SimsRB4yPete MandleyWR3yDavid LewisTE2yRobbie MartinWR2yJim ArnoldP1yJerry BallDT1yTony PaigeFB1yButch WoolfolkRB1yAlvin MooreRB1yStan EdwardsRB1yVyto KabTE1yRaphel CherryDB1yGarry JamesRB1yGary EllersonRB1yMark WitteTE1yMike MeadeRB1yScott WilliamsRB1yChuck LongQB1yGary LeeWR1yDave D'AddioRB1y
1981 Draft ClassΒ· this player went #16
Franchise Succession
the room, before and afterMark opened the Detroit Lions WR lineage the corpus knows, and handed it to Pete Mandley (1984β1988).
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0β100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 1987final season
Last recorded season with DET
- 1981draft
Drafted by DET β Round 1, Pick 16
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'2" / 210 lb
Frame
Knox
StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works β
Historical Knox Β· KV-H
Era-normalized career quality β z-scored against 6-season peers. See all β
60
peak 63
Season Report CardsΒ· KV-H era-normalized per season
C+1981
C1982
B1983
B1984
B1985
C1987
Availability
Career durability β games played vs. scheduled, across 6 seasons.
86%
Era Translator
Rec Yds translated to the 2025NFL β each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.
| Season | Actual Rec Yds | Rec Yds/G | β 2025 Rec Yds | β 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 222 | 18.5 | 405+183 | 23.8 |
| 1982 | 153 | 21.9 | 447+294 | 26.3 |
| 1983 | 437 | 27.3 | 551+114 | 32.4 |
| 1984 | 744 | 49.6 | 862+118 | 50.7 |
| 1985 | 592 | 42.3 | 731+139 | 43 |
| 1987 | 87 | 7.3 | 174+87 | 10.2 |
Data: nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:players, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), nfl.com:official-stats (facts-only reference), nfl.com:official-stats (games-played, facts-only reference) Β· multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle Β· updated 6/18/2026
Career Value Β· VORP
49 career value over replacement β #2081 all-time of 4,642. 8.2/season above a replacement-level WR.
Draft OutcomeValue β
Pick #16 (Rd 1) Β· DET Β· 1981 Β· +2.5 vs expected KV-H
60actual
57.5 expected Β· Ξ+2.5
Fan Rating
Rate Mark Nichols β All-Time
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