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

LBBUF#51ACT

Michael Danna

Top 34% all-time linebackersReliable Starter📈 Late Developer · 2023

Height6'2"

Weight261 lb

BornDec 4, 1997

Age28

CollegeMichigan See College Stats

ConferenceBig Ten

Rookie yr2020

Draft2020 · Rd 5, Pick 177 · KC

Archetype Intelligence

Reliable StarterExplore archetypes →

A linebacker with a above-average career — the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (excellent availability over their career) added to their value.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 18 · #3202 · Role Player

Worth 18 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 70% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 5 of 6 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +3.6 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

5 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+3.6

Avg surplus

peak +9

5 seasons × ~3.6 surplus ≈ VORP 18

Combined Season Grid

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

3 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Defense													Snap Counts						Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%	Tgt	Cmp	Cmp%	RateAll	ADOT	Prss	Hrry	QBKD	Bltz	MissTkl	Miss%
2020	—	KC	12	—	24	15	9	4	6	2.5	12.5	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	334	37.9%	43	14.7%	0	0	—	—	—	9	3	3	10	3	0.1
2021	—	KC	14	—	25	10	15	3	10	3.0	16.0	0	1	2	—	0	0	—	0.0%	534	47.9%	75	17.5%	6	5	0.8	85.4	-2.3	14	4	7	3	0	0.0
2022	—	KC	11	—	26	8	18	3	10	5.0	18.0	0	0	2	—	0	0	—	0.0%	471	54.9%	41	13.9%	2	2	1.0	81.2	-5.0	16	6	5	7	4	0.1
2023	—	KC	16	—	47	29	18	7	13	6.5	26.5	0	3	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	745	74.1%	65	16.4%	4	3	0.8	116.7	-4.5	21	9	5	1	2	0.0
2024	—	KC	12	—	39	18	21	5	8	3.5	16.5	0	1	2	—	0	0	—	0.0%	496	59.4%	48	15.6%	2	1	0.5	56.2	-0.5	11	3	4	1	0	0.0
2025	—	KC	12	—	24	7	17	3	4	1.0	8.0	1	1	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	389	42.1%	63	17.5%	5	5	1.0	57.1	-1.0	4	0	3	0	1	0.0
Career		—	77	—	185	87	98	25	51	21.5	97.5	1	6	6	—	0	0	—	0.0%	2,969	52.7%	335	15.9%	19	16	—	—	—	75	25	27	22	10	—

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	VAL
2020	23	KC	12	0*	24	15	9	4	6	2.5	12.5	0	0	0	—	5.6
2021	24	KC	14	0*	25	10	15	3	10	3.0	16.0	0	1	2	—	7.6
2022	25	KC	11	7*	26	8	18	3	10	5.0	18.0	0	0	2	—	6.5
2023	26	KC	16	12*	47	29	18	7	13	6.5	26.5	0	3	0	—	8.7
2024	27	KC	12	8*	39	18	21	5	8	3.5	16.5	0	1	2	—	6.8
2025	28	KC	12	0*	24	7	17	3	4	1.0	8.0	1	1	0	—	6.1
Career			77	27*	185	87	98	25	51	—	—	1	6	6	—	41.3

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

Snap Counts

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2020	23	KC	13	0*	—	0.0%	334	37.9%	43	14.7%
2021	24	KC	17	0*	—	0.0%	534	47.9%	75	17.5%
2022	25	KC	13	7*	—	0.0%	471	54.9%	41	13.9%
2023	26	KC	16	12*	—	0.0%	745	74.1%	65	16.4%
2024	27	KC	13	8*	—	0.0%	496	59.4%	48	15.6%
2025	28	KC	15	0*	—	0.0%	389	42.1%	63	17.5%
Career			87	27*	—	—	2,969	—	335	—

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Cmp	Cmp%	RateAll	ADOT	Prss	Hrry	QBKD	Bltz	MissTkl	Miss%
2020	23	KC	13	0*	0	0	—	—	—	9	3	3	10	3	0.1
2021	24	KC	17	0*	6	5	0.8	85.4	-2.3	14	4	7	3	0	0.0
2022	25	KC	13	7*	2	2	1.0	81.2	-5.0	16	6	5	7	4	0.1
2023	26	KC	16	12*	4	3	0.8	116.7	-4.5	21	9	5	1	2	0.0
2024	27	KC	13	8*	2	1	0.5	56.2	-0.5	11	3	4	1	0	0.0
2025	28	KC	15	0*	5	5	1.0	57.1	-1.0	4	0	3	0	1	0.0
Career			87	27*	19	16	—	—	—	75	25	27	22	10	—

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 51 · Solid

A solid career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 51 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 6 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 50.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 51· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 50

On-field 34.6

Availability 15.4

On-field production Staying available

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

2020bestavg 502025

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 11% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

11% of the all-time Sacks leader11

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: 92%.

Per-Snap Impact

Linebackers · proprietary · 2012+

Above average

SIS

Disruption / 100 snaps:3.722See leaderboard →

Disruption/1003.722Snap share52.7%Def snaps2,969ConsistentCV 0.15

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within linebackers, shrinkage-regularized so small samples don't spike, over the NFL snap-count era (2012+).

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

15 playoff games

Defense

Tkl26Solo12Ast14TFL2QBHits8Sk2.0Dis12.0FF1

College Stats

MichiganCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Michigan), 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.

2020 Draft Class· this player went #177

#169Harrison HandCB #170Broderick WashingtonDT #171Isaiah CoulterWR #172Jason HuntleyRB #173Darnell MooneyWR #174Larrell MurchisonDT #175Kamal MartinLB #176K.J. OsbornWR #178Justin StrnadLB #179Bradlee AnaeDE #180Hakeem AdenijiOT #181Netane MutiG #182Mike OnwenuG #183Cameron BrownLB #184Bravvion RoyDT #185Blake FergusonLS

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Michael inherited the Kansas City Chiefs LB room from Willie Gay Jr. (2020–2023), and handed it to Nick Bolton (2021–2025).

Derrick Thomas 1989–1999Lonnie Marts 1991–1993Tracy Simien 1991–1997Greg Manusky 1994–1999Donnie Edwards 1996–2008Marvcus Patton

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2025final season
Last recorded season with KC
2020draft
Drafted by KC — Round 5, Pick 177

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 261 lb

Frame

Injury History

7 career games missed (Out)

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Games Out	Designations
2024	KC	4	W4Out· CalfW7Out· PectoralW8Out· PectoralW9Out· Pectoral
2023	KC	0	W18Questionable· Coaching
2022	KC	2	W3Out· CalfW4Out· CalfW5Questionable· CalfW7Questionable· CalfW16Questionable· Illness
2020	KC	1	W5Out· Hamstring

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 52

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

C2020

C2021

C2022

C+2023

C+2024

C2025

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 6 seasons.

86%

Era Translator

Tackles 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 Tackles	Tackles/G	→ 2025 Tackles	→ 2025 /G
2020	24	2	31+7	1.8
2021	25	1.8	28+3	1.6
2022	26	2.4	38+12	2.2
2023	47	2.9	50+3	2.9
2024	39	3.3	56+17	3.3
2025	24	2	34+10	2

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:snap_counts, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:injuries · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

18 career value over replacement — #3202 all-time of 4,642. 3/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #177 (Rd 5) · KC · 2020 · +24.1 vs expected KV-H

51actual

26.9 expected · Δ+24.1

Fan Rating

Rate Michael Danna — All-Time

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Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

Snap Counts

Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Per-Snap Impact

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

2020 Draft Class· this player went #177

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography