Mike Barber is a career quality starter — a linebacker whose body of work places Barber in the top half of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Barber's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.
Mike Barber
Top 36% all-time linebackersHigh-End Starter
A quality linebacker with a above-average career — a legitimate starter who contributed meaningfully across their career.
Career Value · VORP
VORP 29 · #2717 · Role PlayerWorth 29 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 60% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 3 of 3 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +9.7 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
3 cleared
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
47
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
3
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+9.7
Avg surplus
peak +15
3 seasons × ~9.7 surplus ≈ VORP 29
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 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | |||||
| 1995 | — | SEA | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 1996 | — | SEA | 7 | — | 42 | 32 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 1997 | — | SEA | 2 | — | 18 | 16 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| 1998 | — | IND | 6 | — | 61 | 43 | — | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| 1999 | — | IND | 16 | — | 64 | 36 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | — | 31 | — | 185 | 127 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
Defense
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 50 · SolidA solid career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 50 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 3 scored seasons, with a short career trimming the score.
58
Sustained
career value
×.6
57
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×0.86
Longevity
career length
Blend 57.6 × longevity 0.86 = KV-H 50· confidence 88%
What builds the career mark of 58
On-field 44
Availability 14
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative tackles/g)
1996bestavg 571999
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position1
Depth
of 100
Reached 1% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
1% of the all-time Sacks leader1
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: 84%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average linebackers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
Postseason Career
1 playoff gameDefense
Tkl5Solo4Ast1
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (Clemson), 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
Peyton ManningQB2yMack StrongFB2yJoey GallowayWR2yMarvin HarrisonWR2yPhillip DanielsDE2ySam AdamsDT2yJay BellamyDB2yCortez KennedyDT2yChris WarrenRB2yBrian BladesWR2yDarryl WilliamsDB2yKen DilgerTE2yJason BelserFS2yMarcus PollardTE2yChristian FauriaTE2yTim HauckDB2yEllis JohnsonDE2yMichael SinclairDE2yJeff BurrisCB2yTyrone PooleDB2yBertrand BerryOLB2yDean WellsLB2yFred ThomasCB2ySteve BroussardRB2y
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 IND
- 1998team change
Joined IND (from SEA)
- 1995signing
Entered the NFL with SEA
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'0" / 254 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 3-season peers. See all →
50
peak 57
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
C+1996
C+1998
B1999
Availability
Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 4 seasons.
100%
1996
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 42 | 6 | 98+56 | 5.8 |
| 1998 | 61 | 10.2 | 169+108 | 10 |
| 1999 | 64 | 4 | 66+2 | 3.9 |
Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026
Career Value · VORP
29 career value over replacement — #2717 all-time of 4,642. 9.7/season above a replacement-level LB.
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