Nate Wayne is a career quality starter β a linebacker whose body of work places Wayne in the top quarter of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Wayne's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.
Nate Wayne
Height6'0"
Weight237 lb
BornJan 12, 1975
Age51
CollegeMississippiSee College Stats
Rookie yr1998
Draft1998 Β· Rd 7, Pick 219 Β· DEN
A top 20% all-time linebacker who consistently made an impact across multiple seasons.
Career Value Β· VORP
VORP 76 Β· #1500 Β· Above AverageWorth 76 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker β top 33% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 4 of 7 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +19 on average.See board β
Seasons above replacement
4 cleared
3 replaced
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it β adds 0, never a debit
47
Replacement
the KC-H bar
β
4
Seasons over
cleared the bar
Γ
+19
Avg surplus
peak +20
4 seasons Γ ~19 surplus β VORP 76
Combined Season Grid
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at onceβno 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 | |||||
| 1998 | β | DEN | 1 | β | β | β | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1999 | β | DEN | 5 | β | 10 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | β | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | β | GB | 14 | β | 81 | 55 | 26 | 7 | 1 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | β | GB | 12 | β | 71 | 45 | 26 | 10 | 5 | 5.5 | 20.5 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | β | GB | 16 | β | 87 | 45 | 42 | 3 | 1 | 2.5 | 6.5 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | β | PHI | 16 | β | 86 | 65 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | β | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | β | PHI | 7 | β | 30 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | β | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | β | DET | 5 | β | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | β | 0 | 0 |
| Career | β | 76 | β | 378 | 251 | 127 | 23 | 9 | 17.0 | 49.0 | 8 | 30 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
Defense
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | VAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 23 | DEN | 1 | β | β | β | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1999 | 24 | DEN | 5 | β | 10 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | β | 0 | 0 | 3.3 |
| 2000 | 25 | GB | 14 | β | 81 | 55 | 26 | 7 | 1 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8.5 |
| 2001 | 26 | GB | 12 | β | 71 | 45 | 26 | 10 | 5 | 5.5 | 20.5 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 2002 | 27 | GB | 16 | β | 87 | 45 | 42 | 3 | 1 | 2.5 | 6.5 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12.9 |
| 2003 | 28 | PHI | 16 | β | 86 | 65 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | β | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 2004 | 29 | PHI | 7 | β | 30 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | β | 0 | 0 | 4.1 |
| 2005 | 30 | DET | 5 | β | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | β | 0 | 0 | 3.3 |
| Career | 76 | 378 | 251 | 127 | 23 | 9 | β | β | 8 | 30 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 55.1 |
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 62 Β· Strong StarterA strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 62 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 7 scored seasons.
58
Sustained
career value
Γ.6
67
Peak
best 3 seasons
Γ.4
Γ1
Longevity
career length
Blend 61.6 Γ longevity 1 = KV-H 62Β· confidence 88%
What builds the career mark of 58
On-field 42.6
Availability 15.4
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative tackles/g)
1999bestavg 512005
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position8
Depth
of 100
Reached 9% of the all-time Sacks leader β a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
9% of the all-time Sacks leader9
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: 90%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average Β· 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
6 playoff gamesDefense
Tkl37Solo21Ast16TFL1Sk0.5Dis1.5FF1
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (Mississippi), 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
Brett FavreQB3yRyan LongwellK3yDonald DriverWR3yDarren SharperFS3yVonnie HollidayDE3yWilliam HendersonFB3yNa'il DiggsLB3yAhman GreenRB3yJosh BidwellP3yDorsey LevensRB3yMike McKenzieCB3yTyrone WilliamsDB3yKabeer Gbaja-BiamilaDE3yBubba FranksTE3yPaul GrasmanisDT3yCletidus HuntDT3yTyrone DavisTE3yAntuan EdwardsDB3yTod McBrideDB3yBilly LyonDT3yMike WahleG3yJason ElamK2yBrian DawkinsS2yBill RomanowskiOLB2y
1998 Draft ClassΒ· this player went #219
Franchise Succession
the room, before and afterNate inherited the Green Bay Packers LB room from John Thierry (2000β2001), and handed it to Na'il Diggs (2000β2005).
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0β100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 2005team change
Joined DET (from PHI)
- 2005final season
Last recorded season with DET
- 2003team change
Joined PHI (from GB)
- 2000team change
Joined GB (from DEN)
- 1998draft
Drafted by DEN β Round 7, Pick 219
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'0" / 237 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 7-season peers. See all β
62
peak 67
Season Report CardsΒ· KV-H era-normalized per season
F1999
B2000
B2001
B2002
B2003
C2004
F2005
Availability
Career durability β games played vs. scheduled, across 8 seasons.
73%
Era Translator
Tackles 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 Tackles | Tackles/G | β 2025 Tackles | β 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 10 | 2 | 30+20 | 1.8 |
| 2000 | 81 | 5.8 | 96+15 | 5.6 |
| 2001 | 71 | 5.9 | 94+23 | 5.5 |
| 2002 | 87 | 5.4 | 85-2 | 5 |
| 2003 | 86 | 5.4 | 84-2 | 4.9 |
| 2004 | 30 | 4.3 | 59+29 | 3.5 |
| 2005 | 13 | 2.6 | 21+8 | 1.2 |
Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, 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
76 career value over replacement β #1500 all-time of 4,642. 10.9/season above a replacement-level LB.
Draft OutcomeSteal β
Pick #219 (Rd 7) Β· DEN Β· 1998 Β· +39.2 vs expected KV-H
62actual
22.8 expected Β· Ξ+39.2
Fan Rating
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