Rick Fenney is a career quality starter — a running back whose body of work places Fenney in the top quarter of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Fenney's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.

RBMIN#0ACT

Rick Fenney

Top 21% all-time RBsReliable StarterTwo-Way Profile

Height6'1"

Weight242 lb

BornDec 7, 1964

Age61

CollegeWashington See College Stats

Rookie yr1987

Draft1987 · Rd 8, Pick 211 · MIN

Archetype Intelligence

Reliable StarterExplore archetypes →

A running back with a top 30% among starters — the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (excellent availability over their career) added to their value.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 44 · #2228 · Above Average

Worth 44 points of value above a freely-available replacement running back — top 49% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 4 of 5 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +11 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

4 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+11

Avg surplus

peak +20

4 seasons × ~11 surplus ≈ VORP 44

Combined Season Grid

The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.

3 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Rushing								Receiving									Defense
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	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
1987	—	MIN	11	—	42	174	2	4.1	4.8	—	—	—	—	7	27	0	—	3.9	—	—	—	5	4	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1988	—	MIN	13	—	55	271	3	4.9	5.5	—	—	—	—	15	224	0	—	14.9	—	—	—	3	2	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	1	—	—	—
1989	—	MIN	16	—	151	588	4	3.9	2.6	—	—	—	—	30	254	2	—	8.5	—	—	—	3	3	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1990	—	MIN	12	—	87	376	2	4.3	2.3	—	—	—	—	17	112	0	—	6.6	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1991	—	MIN	11	—	23	99	0	4.3	0.0	—	—	—	—	2	11	0	—	5.5	—	—	—	9	0	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	—	—	—
Career		—	63	—	358	1,508	11	4.2	3.1	—	—	—	0	71	628	2	—	8.8	—	—	—	20	9	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	0	0	1	0	—	—

Rushing

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	TD%	1D	1D%	Fmb	VAL
1987	23	MIN	11	—	42	174	2	4.1	4.8	—	—	—	6.2
1988	24	MIN	13	—	55	271	3	4.9	5.5	—	—	—	8.6
1989	25	MIN	16	—	151	588	4	3.9	2.6	—	—	—	16.1
1990	26	MIN	12	—	87	376	2	4.3	2.3	—	—	—	8.6
1991	27	MIN	11	—	23	99	0	4.3	0.0	—	—	—	4.3
Career			63		358	1,508	11	4.2	—	—	—	—	43.8

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D
1987	23	MIN	11	—	—	7	27	0	—	3.9	—	—	—
1988	24	MIN	13	—	—	15	224	0	—	14.9	—	—	—
1989	25	MIN	16	—	—	30	254	2	—	8.5	—	—	—
1990	26	MIN	12	—	—	17	112	0	—	6.6	—	—	—
1991	27	MIN	11	—	—	2	11	0	—	5.5	—	—	—
Career			63		0	71	628	2	—	8.8	—	—	—

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1987	23	MIN	—	—	5	4	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	—	—	—
1988	24	MIN	—	—	3	2	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	1	—	—	—
1989	25	MIN	—	—	3	3	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	—	—	—
1991	27	MIN	—	—	9	0	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	—	0	—	—	—
Career					20	9	—	—	—	—	—	0	1	0	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 61 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a well-rounded profile that scores 61 of 100, era-normalized against rush yds/g peers across 5 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 61.6 × longevity 1 = KV-H 61· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 60

On-field 43.6

Availability 16.4

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative rush yds/g)

1987bestavg 59elite 701991

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 8% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

8% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader8

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: 89%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

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

From Scrimmage · Career

Scrimmage Yds

2,136

1,508 rush · 628 recv

Total TDs

11 rush · 2 recv

Total Touches

429

358 carries · 71 rec

Yds / Touch

5.0

rushing + receiving

College Stats

WashingtonCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Washington), 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.

1987 Draft Class· this player went #211

#171Kerry PorterFB #173Jamie HollandWR #183Bo JacksonRB #185Derek TennellWR #190Harry SwayneOT #195William HarrisTE #206Kevin GoganG #207Toi CookDB #212Mark DennisOT #218Mike ClemonsRB #223Rod JonesTE #227Keith McKellerTE #233Joey ClinkscalesWR #255Don MajkowskiQB #258Curtis DuncanWR #261Merril HogeFB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Rick inherited the Minnesota Vikings RB room from D.J. Dozier (1987–1990), and handed it to Herschel Walker (1989–1991).

Darrin Nelson 1982–1992Allen Rice 1984–1990Alfred Anderson 1984–1991D.J. Dozier 1987–1990Rick Fenney 1987–1991Herschel Walker

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

1991final season
Last recorded season with MIN
1987draft
Drafted by MIN — Round 8, Pick 211

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'1" / 242 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 5-season peers. See all →

peak 64

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

C+1987

C+1988

B+1989

B1990

C+1991

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 5 seasons.

80%

Era Translator

Rush Yds 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 Rush Yds	Rush Yds/G	→ 2025 Rush Yds	→ 2025 /G
1987	174	15.8	464+290	27.3
1988	271	20.8	594+323	34.9
1989	588	36.8	953+365	56.1
1990	376	31.3	876+500	51.5
1991	99	9	363+264	21.3

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) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

44 career value over replacement — #2228 all-time of 4,642. 8.8/season above a replacement-level RB.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #211 (Rd 8) · MIN · 1987 · +37.1 vs expected KV-H

61actual

23.9 expected · Δ+37.1

Fan Rating

Rate Rick Fenney — All-Time

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Rick Fenney

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Rushing

Receiving

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

From Scrimmage · Career

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1987 Draft Class· this player went #211

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography