Neil Smith ranks in the all-time elite tier for pass rushers — a career that places Smith in the top 5% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns Smith a career score of 85, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

DELAC#91ACT

Neil Smith

6× Pro Bowl1× All-ProTop 4% all-time pass rushersIron Legend

Height6'4"

Weight270 lb

BornApr 10, 1966

Age60

CollegeNebraska See College Stats

Rookie yr1988

Draft1988 · Rd 1, Pick 2 · KC

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Regular-season all-time ranks

33rdSacks·104.5

Pro Bowls

All-Pro

Season honors and record seasons

Led NFL1993·Sacks15

Archetype Intelligence

Iron LegendExplore archetypes →

An all-time caliber edge rusher (top 5% all-time) who combined elite production with excellent availability over their career. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 280 · #160 · All-Time

Worth 280 points of value above a freely-available replacement edge rusher — top 4% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 11 of 12 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +25.5 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

11 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+25.5

Avg surplus

peak +45

11 seasons × ~25.5 surplus ≈ VORP 280

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
1988	—	KC	13	—	53	—	—	—	—	2.5	2.5	0	—	1	0	—	—
1989	—	KC	15	—	67	—	—	—	—	6.5	6.5	0	—	4	2	—	—
1990	—	KC	16	—	68	—	—	—	—	9.5	9.5	0	—	4	1	—	—
1991	—	KC	16	—	65	—	—	—	—	8.0	8.0	0	—	3	2	—	—
1992	—	KC	16	—	77	—	—	—	—	14.5	14.5	1	—	2	2	—	—
1993	—	KC	16	—	55	—	—	—	—	15.0	15.0	1	—	4	3	—	—
1994	—	KC	14	—	46	42	—	—	—	11.5	11.5	1	—	5	1	—	—
1995	—	KC	16	—	55	42	—	—	—	12.0	12.0	0	—	4	1	—	—
1996	—	KC	16	—	41	34	—	—	—	6.0	6.0	0	—	1	0	—	—
1997	—	DEN	14	—	34	29	—	—	—	8.5	8.5	0	—	1	0	—	—
1998	—	DEN	14	—	27	20	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	1	—	1	0	—	—
1999	—	DEN	14	—	29	23	6	7	7	6.5	20.5	0	1	0	—	0	0
2000	—	LAC	3	—	2	2	0	1	0	0.0	1.0	0	1	0	—	0	0
Career		—	183	—	619	192	6	8	7	104.5	119.5	4	2	30	12	0	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1988	22	KC	13	—	53	—	—	—	—	2.5	2.5	0	—	1	0	—	—	6.7
1989	23	KC	15	—	67	—	—	—	—	6.5	6.5	0	—	4	2	—	—	9.7
1990	24	KC	16	—	68	—	—	—	—	9.5	9.5	0	—	4	1	—	—	19.3
1991	25	KC	16	—	65	—	—	—	—	8.0	8.0	0	—	3	2	—	—	15.9
1992	26	KC	16	—	77	—	—	—	—	14.5	14.5	1	—	2	2	—	—	22
1993	27	KC	16	—	55	—	—	—	—	15.0	15.0	1	—	4	3	—	—	24.2
1994	28	KC	14	—	46	42	—	—	—	11.5	11.5	1	—	5	1	—	—	19.8
1995	29	KC	16	—	55	42	—	—	—	12.0	12.0	0	—	4	1	—	—	22.8
1996	30	KC	16	—	41	34	—	—	—	6.0	6.0	0	—	1	0	—	—	11.5
1997	31	DEN	14	—	34	29	—	—	—	8.5	8.5	0	—	1	0	—	—	13.6
1998	32	DEN	14	—	27	20	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	1	—	1	0	—	—	10.2
1999	33	DEN	14	—	29	23	6	7	7	6.5	20.5	0	1	0	—	0	0	11.1
2000	34	LAC	3	—	2	2	0	1	0	0.0	1.0	0	1	0	—	0	0	—
Career			183		619	192	6	8	7	—	—	4	2	30	12	0	0	186.8

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 85 · All-Time Great

A all-time great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 85 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 12 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 82.2 × longevity 1 = KV-H 85· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 75

On-field 56.1

Availability 18.9

On-field production Staying available

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

1988bestavg 74elite 701999

All-Time Standing

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

Solid

of 100

Reached 53% of the all-time Sacks leader — a solid all-time profile at the position.

53% of the all-time Sacks leader53

1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33

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: 93%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

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

College Stats

NebraskaCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Nebraska), 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.

1988 Draft Class· this player went #2

#1Aundray BruceDE #4Paul GruberOT #6Tim BrownWR #7Sterling SharpeWR #11Michael IrvinWR #13Keith JacksonTE #14Gaston GreenRB #17John StephensRB #19Randall McDanielG #20Aaron CoxWR #22Lorenzo WhiteRB #23Brad MusterFB #24Craig HeywardRB #27Wendell DavisWR #30Eric AllenCB #31Ickey WoodsRB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Neil opened the Kansas City Chiefs DL lineage the corpus knows, and handed it to Joe Phillips (1992–1997).

Neil Smith 1988–1996Joe Phillips 1992–1997Darren Mickell 1993–1995Pellom McDaniels 1993–1998Vaughn Booker 1994–1997John Browning 1996–2005

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2000team change
Joined LAC (from DEN)
2000final season
Last recorded season with LAC
1997team change
Joined DEN (from KC)
1988draft
Drafted by KC — Round 1, Pick 2

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'4" / 270 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 12-season peers. See all →

peak 93

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

C+1988

B1989

B+1990

B1991

A+1992

A+1993

A1994

A1995

B1996

B+1997

B1998

B+1999

Availability

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
1988	2.5	0.2	2-0.5	0.1
1989	6.5	0.4	4-2.5	0.3
1990	9.5	0.6	7-2.5	0.4
1991	8	0.5	6-2	0.3
1992	14.5	0.9	12-2.5	0.7
1993	15	0.9	14-1	0.8
1994	11.5	0.8	12+0.5	0.7
1995	12	0.8	11-1	0.7
1996	6	0.4	6	0.3
1997	8.5	0.6	9+0.5	0.5
1998	4	0.3	4	0.3
1999	6.5	0.5	7+0.5	0.4

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

280 career value over replacement — #160 all-time of 4,642. 23.3/season above a replacement-level EDGE.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #2 (Rd 1) · KC · 1988 · +23.2 vs expected KV-H

85actual

61.8 expected · Δ+23.2

💔+37.1 stolen VORP·1.56 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Neil Smith

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1988 Draft Class· this player went #2

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography