Paul McDonald is a career quality starter β a quarterback whose body of work places McDonald in the top half of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and McDonald's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.
Paul McDonald
Height6'2"
Weight185 lb
BornFeb 23, 1958
Age68
CollegeUSCSee College Stats
Rookie yr1980
Draft1980 Β· Rd 4, Pick 109 Β· CLE
A quarterback with a top 30% among starters β the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (exceptional availability β almost never missed time) added to their value.
Career Value Β· VORP
VORP 71 Β· #1612 Β· Above AverageWorth 71 points of value above a freely-available replacement quarterback β top 36% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 4 of 4 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +17.8 on average.See board β
Seasons above replacement
4 cleared
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it β adds 0, never a debit
36
Replacement
the KC-H bar
β
4
Seasons over
cleared the bar
Γ
+17.8
Avg surplus
peak +34
4 seasons Γ ~17.8 surplus β VORP 71
Combined Season Grid
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at onceβno tab hopping.
4 grids split in one view
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Passing | Rushing | Receiving | Defense | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | TD% | Int% | Y/A | AdjY/A | TD:INT | Rate | Sk | Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | TD% | 1D | 1D% | Fmb | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D | Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | |||||
| 1980 | β | CLE | 15 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | 3 | -2 | 0 | -0.7 | 0.0 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1981 | β | CLE | 12 | β | 35 | 57 | 61.4% | 463 | 4 | 2 | 7.0 | 3.5 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 2.0 | 95.9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1982 | β | CLE | 9 | β | 73 | 149 | 49.0% | 993 | 5 | 8 | 3.4 | 5.4 | 6.7 | 4.9 | 0.6 | 59.5 | 13 | 7 | -13 | 0 | -1.9 | 0.0 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| 1983 | β | CLE | 16 | β | 32 | 68 | 47.1% | 341 | 1 | 4 | 1.5 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 42.6 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 5.7 | 0.0 | β | 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 |
| 1984 | β | CLE | 16 | β | 271 | 493 | 55.0% | 3,472 | 14 | 23 | 2.8 | 4.7 | 7.0 | 5.5 | 0.6 | 67.3 | 53 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 0.2 | 4.5 | β | β | β | β | 1 | -4 | 0 | β | -4.0 | β | β | β | 1 | 1 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | β | 0 | 0 | β | β | β |
| Career | β | 68 | β | 411 | 767 | 53.6% | 5,269 | 24 | 37 | 3.1 | 4.8 | 6.9 | 5.3 | 0.6 | 65.7 | 78 | 37 | 6 | 1 | 0.2 | 2.7 | β | β | β | 0 | 1 | -4 | 0 | β | -4.0 | β | β | β | 2 | 2 | β | β | β | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β | |
Passing
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | TD% | Int% | Y/A | AdjY/A | TD:INT | Rate | Sk | VAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 23 | CLE | 12 | β | 35 | 57 | 61.4% | 463 | 4 | 2 | 7.0 | 3.5 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 2.0 | 95.9 | 6 | 9.1 |
| 1982 | 24 | CLE | 9 | β | 73 | 149 | 49.0% | 993 | 5 | 8 | 3.4 | 5.4 | 6.7 | 4.9 | 0.6 | 59.5 | 13 | 5.3 |
| 1983 | 25 | CLE | 16 | β | 32 | 68 | 47.1% | 341 | 1 | 4 | 1.5 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 42.6 | 6 | 6.4 |
| 1984 | 26 | CLE | 16 | β | 271 | 493 | 55.0% | 3,472 | 14 | 23 | 2.8 | 4.7 | 7.0 | 5.5 | 0.6 | 67.3 | 53 | 11.4 |
| Career | 53 | 411 | 767 | 53.6% | 5,269 | 24 | 37 | 3.1 | 4.8 | 6.9 | β | β | 65.7 | 78 | 32.2 |
Rushing
Receiving
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 51 Β· SolidA solid career by KV-H: a well-rounded profile that scores 51 of 100, era-normalized against pass yds/g peers across 4 scored seasons, with a short career trimming the score.
54
Sustained
career value
Γ.6
57
Peak
best 3 seasons
Γ.4
Γ0.93
Longevity
career length
Blend 55.2 Γ longevity 0.93 = KV-H 51Β· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 54
On-field 35
Availability 19
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative pass yds/g)
1981bestavg 54elite 701984
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position5
Depth
of 100
Reached 6% of the all-time Passing Yards leader β a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
6% of the all-time Passing Yards leader6
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: 88%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average Β· KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average QBs aging curve. Group peak age: 29. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (USC), 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
1980 Draft ClassΒ· this player went #109
Franchise Succession
the room, before and afterPaul opened the Cleveland Browns QB lineage the corpus knows, and handed it to Mike Pagel (1986β1990).
The room is reconstructed from arrival order among durable members (β₯4 seasons with the club) at the playerβs position group β a lineage by arrival, not a week-by-week depth chart. Distinct from the league-wide .
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0β100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 1984final season
Last recorded season with CLE
- 1980draft
Drafted by CLE β Round 4, Pick 109
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'2" / 185 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 4-season peers. See all β
51
peak 57
Season Report CardsΒ· KV-H era-normalized per season
C1981
C+1982
C1983
B+1984
Availability
Career durability β games played vs. scheduled, across 5 seasons.
93%
Era Translator
Pass 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 Pass Yds | Pass Yds/G | β 2025 Pass Yds | β 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 463 | 38.6 | 3,144+2,681 | 184.9 |
| 1982 | 993 | 110.3 | 3,597+2,604 | 211.6 |
| 1983 | 341 | 21.3 | 2,776+2,435 | 163.3 |
| 1984 | 3,472 | 217 | 4,271+799 | 251.2 |
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
71 career value over replacement β #1612 all-time of 4,642. 17.8/season above a replacement-level QB.
Draft OutcomeValue β
Pick #109 (Rd 4) Β· CLE Β· 1980 Β· +14.2 vs expected KV-H
51actual
36.8 expected Β· Ξ+14.2
Fan Rating
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