Ray Buchanan ranks in the all-time elite tier for defensive backs — a career that places Buchanan in the top 5% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns Buchanan a career score of 77, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

FSLV#34ACT

Ray Buchanan

1× Pro BowlTop 4% all-time defensive backsIron Legend🌅 Early Bloomer · 2000 Team Carrier · #210

Height5'9"

Weight185 lb

BornSep 29, 1971

Age54

CollegeLouisville See College Stats

Rookie yr1993

Draft1993 · Rd 3, Pick 65 · IND

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Regular-season all-time ranks

39thInterceptions·47

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Iron LegendExplore archetypes →

An all-time caliber defensive back (top 5% all-time) who combined elite production with exceptional availability — almost never missed time. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 244 · #240 · Elite

Worth 244 points of value above a freely-available replacement safety — top 6% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 12 of 12 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +20.3 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

12 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+20.3

Avg surplus

peak +46

12 seasons × ~20.3 surplus ≈ VORP 244

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
1993	—	IND	16	—	59	45	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	4	7	0	—	—	—
1994	—	IND	16	—	103	79	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	8	23	0	—	—	—
1995	—	IND	16	—	84	70	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	2	17	1	—	—	—
1996	—	IND	13	—	61	53	—	—	—	0.5	0.5	2	8	0	—	—	—
1997	—	ATL	16	—	52	48	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	5	18	0	—	—	—
1998	—	ATL	16	—	60	53	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	7	22	1	—	—	—
1999	—	ATL	16	—	58	52	6	3	1	1.0	5.0	4	18	0	—	1	0
2000	—	ATL	16	—	67	56	11	3	0	0.0	3.0	6	20	0	2	0	0
2001	—	ATL	16	—	61	53	8	0	0	0.0	0.0	5	19	1	1	0	0
2002	—	ATL	11	—	43	38	5	0	0	0.0	0.0	2	12	1	—	0	0
2003	—	ATL	12	—	32	31	1	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	8	0	—	0	0
2004	—	LV	16	—	77	53	24	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	6	1	—	0	0
Career		—	180	—	757	631	55	6	1	3.5	10.5	47	178	5	3	1	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1993	22	IND	16	—	59	45	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	4	7	0	—	—	—	8.3
1994	23	IND	16	—	103	79	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	8	23	0	—	—	—	15.6
1995	24	IND	16	—	84	70	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	2	17	1	—	—	—	10
1996	25	IND	13	—	61	53	—	—	—	0.5	0.5	2	8	0	—	—	—	6.2
1997	26	ATL	16	—	52	48	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	5	18	0	—	—	—	11.6
1998	27	ATL	16	—	60	53	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	7	22	1	—	—	—	14.6
1999	28	ATL	16	—	58	52	6	3	1	1.0	5.0	4	18	0	—	1	0	11.5
2000	29	ATL	16	—	67	56	11	3	0	0.0	3.0	6	20	0	2	0	0	13.4
2001	30	ATL	16	—	61	53	8	0	0	0.0	0.0	5	19	1	1	0	0	13.2
2002	31	ATL	11	—	43	38	5	0	0	0.0	0.0	2	12	1	—	0	0	7.7
2003	32	ATL	12	—	32	31	1	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	8	0	—	0	0	5.5
2004	33	LV	16	—	77	53	24	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	6	1	—	0	0	7.6
Career			180		757	631	55	6	1	—	—	47	178	5	3	1	0	125.2

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 77 · Great

A great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 77 of 100, era-normalized against int/g peers across 12 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 76.2 × longevity 1 = KV-H 77· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 69

On-field 50

Availability 19

On-field production Staying available

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

1993bestavg 68elite 702004

Team Carrier Evidence

Ranked #210 of 600 by seasons where high individual production happened on low-win teams. Score aggregates only tracked StatVault categories.

Full board

Total Score

1 qualifying season

2000 ATL·4 team wins#10

Interceptions · 6 · score 48

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 21% of the all-time Interceptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

21% of the all-time Interceptions leader21

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: 87%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average defensive backs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Postseason Career

2 playoff games

Defense

Tkl6Solo6PD3

College Stats

LouisvilleImported college table

College Defense

Season	School	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1989	Louisville	—	8	—	—	—	—	—	0	—	—	—	—	—
1990	Louisville	—	46	—	—	—	—	—	0	—	—	—	—	—
1991	Louisville	—	66	—	—	—	—	—	0	—	—	—	—	—
1992	Louisville	—	55	—	—	—	—	—	10	—	—	—	—	—
Career		0	175	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	10	0	0	0	—	—

Reference Graph

Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.

1993 Draft Class· this player went #65

#55John ParrellaDT #56Vincent BrisbyWR #57John GerakG #58Billy Joe HobertQB #59Steve TovarLB #60Lamar ThomasWR #61Chris GedneyTE #63Ty PartenDT #66Marcus BuckleyLB #67Harold AlexanderP #68Mike ComptonG #70Jason ElamK #72James TrappCB #74Will ShieldsG #76Andre HastingsWR #78Terry KirbyRB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Ray inherited the Atlanta Falcons DB room from Ronnie Bradford (1997–2001), and handed it to Marty Carter (1999–2001).

Charles Dimry 1988–1990Deion Sanders 1989–1993Louis Riddick 1992–1996Darnell Walker 1993–1996Juran Bolden 1996–2003Ronnie Bradford

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2004team change
Joined LV (from ATL)
2004final season
Last recorded season with LV
1997team change
Joined ATL (from IND)
1993draft
Drafted by IND — Round 3, Pick 65

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

5'9" / 185 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 87

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

B1993

A+1994

C+1995

C+1996

B+1997

A1998

B+1999

A2000

B+2001

C+2002

C+2003

C+2004

Availability

Era Translator

INT 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 INT	INT/G	→ 2025 INT	→ 2025 /G
1993	4	0.3	2-2	0.1
1994	8	0.5	6-2	0.3
1995	2	0.1	0-2	0
1996	2	0.2	1-1	0
1997	5	0.3	3-2	0.2
1998	7	0.4	5-2	0.3
1999	4	0.3	3-1	0.2
2000	6	0.4	4-2	0.2
2001	5	0.3	3-2	0.2
2002	2	0.2	2	0.1
2003	1	0.1	1	0
2004	1	0.1	0-1	0

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, wikipedia:college-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), nfl.com:official-stats (facts-only reference), espn.com:stats-api (games-played, facts-only reference) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

244 career value over replacement — #240 all-time of 4,642. 20.3/season above a replacement-level S.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #65 (Rd 3) · IND · 1993 · +30.1 vs expected KV-H

77actual

46.9 expected · Δ+30.1

Fan Rating

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Compare Ray Buchanan vs Player Report data error

Ray Buchanan

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

Team Carrier Evidence

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

College Defense

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1993 Draft Class· this player went #65

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography