Rob Ninkovich ranks in the all-time elite tier for pass rushers — a career that places Ninkovich in the top 10% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns Ninkovich a career score of 74, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

OLBNE#50ACT

Rob Ninkovich

👑 Dynasty DNA · 11 seasons · 2 titles Top 9% all-time pass rushersElite Playmaker

Height6'2"

Weight260 lb

BornFeb 1, 1984

Age42

CollegePurdue; Joliet Junior College See College Stats

Rookie yr2006

Draft2006 · Rd 5, Pick 135 · NO

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Postseason all-time ranks

35thPlayoff Sacks·6

Title Seasons

Dynasty Seasons

Archetype Intelligence

Elite PlaymakerExplore archetypes →

A top 10% all-time edge rusher who consistently made an impact across multiple seasons. Average per-snap value reinforces the playmaking ability.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 179 · #473 · Elite

Worth 179 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 11% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 7 of 8 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +25.6 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

7 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+25.6

Avg surplus

peak +32

7 seasons × ~25.6 surplus ≈ VORP 179

Combined Season Grid

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

2 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Defense													Snap Counts
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2006	—	NO	2	—	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	1	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2009	—	NE	8	—	11	3	8	3	2	1.0	6.0	0	2	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2010	—	NE	16	—	43	28	15	6	9	4.0	19.0	2	3	1	3	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2011	—	NE	16	—	69	38	31	7	11	6.5	24.5	2	4	1	2	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2012	—	NE	15	—	56	30	26	9	12	8.0	29.0	0	0	5	4	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2013	—	NE	16	—	88	39	49	10	16	8.0	34.0	0	1	2	2	0	0	—	0.0%	1,096	95.6%	73	16.1%
2014	—	NE	16	—	57	40	17	11	16	8.0	35.0	1	2	0	1	1	0	—	0.0%	1,022	93.8%	78	18.3%
2015	—	NE	16	—	51	32	19	6	17	6.5	29.5	0	7	1	1	0	0	—	0.0%	888	81.0%	103	20.6%
2016	—	NE	11	—	31	16	15	3	5	4.0	12.0	0	2	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	462	59.2%	51	14.7%
Career		—	116	—	407	227	180	55	88	46.0	189.0	5	22	11	13	2	0	—	0.0%	3,468	82.4%	305	17.4%

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	VAL
2006	22	NO	2	—	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	1	0	—	0	—
2009	25	NE	8	—	11	3	8	3	2	1.0	6.0	0	2	0	—	0	3.5
2010	26	NE	16	—	43	28	15	6	9	4.0	19.0	2	3	1	3	0	10.6
2011	27	NE	16	—	69	38	31	7	11	6.5	24.5	2	4	1	2	1	13.3
2012	28	NE	15	—	56	30	26	9	12	8.0	29.0	0	0	5	4	0	11.2
2013	29	NE	16	15*	88	39	49	10	16	8.0	34.0	0	1	2	2	0	11.4
2014	30	NE	16	15*	57	40	17	11	16	8.0	35.0	1	2	0	1	1	12.6
2015	31	NE	16	13*	51	32	19	6	17	6.5	29.5	0	7	1	1	0	10.9
2016	32	NE	11	7*	31	16	15	3	5	4.0	12.0	0	2	1	—	0	6.5
Career			116	50*	407	227	180	55	88	—	—	5	22	11	13	2	80

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

Snap Counts

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2013	29	NE	16	15*	—	0.0%	1,096	95.6%	73	16.1%
2014	30	NE	16	15*	—	0.0%	1,022	93.8%	78	18.3%
2015	31	NE	16	13*	—	0.0%	888	81.0%	103	20.6%
2016	32	NE	12	7*	—	0.0%	462	59.2%	51	14.7%
Career			60	50*	—	—	3,468	—	305	—

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 74 · Great

A great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 74 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 8 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 73.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 74· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 71

On-field 52.4

Availability 18.6

On-field production Staying available

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

2009bestavg 69elite 702016

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 23% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

23% of the all-time Sacks leader23

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: 90%.

Per-Snap Impact

Edge Rushers · proprietary · 2012+

Solid

SIS

Disruption / 100 snaps:3.676See leaderboard →

Disruption/1003.676Snap share82.4%Def snaps3,468ConsistentCV 0.10

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within edge rushers, shrinkage-regularized so small samples don't spike, over the NFL snap-count era (2012+).

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

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

Combine · 2006

Percentiles compare each raw measurement against position peers, the full combine pool, and the same draft class where enough samples exist.

EDGE · 2006 class

4.91s

40-Yard

Low · 22th pct

Pos 22thAll 26thClass Pos 17thClass All 25th

34.5"

Vertical

Above avg · 64th pct

Pos 64thAll 59thClass Pos 58thClass All 46th

116"

Broad Jump

Above avg · 50th pct

Pos 50thAll 46thClass Pos 57thClass All 52th

23 reps

Bench

Below avg · 40th pct

Pos 40thAll 63thClass Pos 35thClass All 60th

6.96s

3-Cone

Strong · 86th pct

Pos 86thAll 74thClass Pos 86thClass All 72th

4.18s

Shuttle

Strong · 89th pct

Pos 89thAll 77thClass Pos 80thClass All 66th

Postseason Career

16 playoff games

Defense

Tkl64Solo34Ast30TFL8QBHits16Sk6.0Dis30.0Int1PD7FF1FR1

College Stats

Purdue; Joliet Junior CollegeCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Purdue; Joliet Junior College), 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.

2006 Draft Class· this player went #135

#126Elvis DumervilDE #127Ray EdwardsDE #128Rob SimsG #129Guy WhimperG #130Domenik HixonWR #131Willie ColonG #133Orien HarrisDT #134Kyle WilliamsDT #138Pat WatkinsDB #139Quinn OjinnakaG #140Parys HaralsonOLB #141Jonathan ScottOT #143Brad ButlerOT #144Marques HagansWR #145Jerome HarrisonRB #146Dawan LandryS

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Rob inherited the New England Patriots LB room from Jerod Mayo (2008–2015), and handed it to Brandon Spikes (2010–2013).

Todd F. Collins 1992–1998Willie McGinest 1994–2005Ted Johnson 1995–2004Tedy Bruschi 1996–2008Roman Phifer 2001–2004Mike Vrabel

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2016final season
Last recorded season with NE
2009team change
Joined NE (from NO)
2006draft
Drafted by NO — Round 5, Pick 135

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 260 lb

Frame

260 lb at 4.91s

Size-speed

34.5" vert / 116" broad

Explosion

23 reps

Bench power

Injury History

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Designations
2015	NE	W17Questionable· ShinW19Questionable· ShinW20Questionable· Shin
2014	NE	W15Questionable· HeelW16Questionable· HeelW17Questionable· Heel
2013	NE	W17Questionable· Ankle
2011	NE	W17Questionable· HipW19Questionable· HipW20Questionable· HipW21Questionable· Hip
2009	NE	W2Questionable· CalfW11Questionable· KneeW12Questionable· KneeW13Questionable· Knee

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 8-season peers. See all →

peak 78

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

C2009

B2010

B+2011

B+2012

B+2013

B+2014

B+2015

B2016

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 9 seasons.

90%

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
2009	1	0.1	2+1	0.1
2010	4	0.3	4	0.3
2011	6.5	0.4	7+0.5	0.4
2012	8	0.5	9+1	0.5
2013	8	0.5	8	0.5
2014	8	0.5	8	0.5
2015	6.5	0.4	7+0.5	0.4
2016	4	0.4	6+2	0.4

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:snap_counts, nflverse:combine, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:injuries · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

179 career value over replacement — #473 all-time of 4,642. 22.4/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #135 (Rd 5) · NO · 2006 · +40.5 vs expected KV-H

74actual

33.5 expected · Δ+40.5

Fan Rating

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Rob Ninkovich

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

Snap Counts

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Per-Snap Impact

Career Aging Trajectory

Combine · 2006

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

2006 Draft Class· this player went #135

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator