Sam Garnes is a career quality starter β a defensive back whose body of work places Garnes in the top half of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Garnes's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.
Sam Garnes
Height6'3"
Weight225 lb
BornJul 12, 1974
Age52
CollegeCincinnatiSee College Stats
Rookie yr1997
Draft1997 Β· Rd 5, Pick 136 Β· NYG
A defensive back with a above-average career 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 45 Β· #2203 Β· Above AverageWorth 45 points of value above a freely-available replacement safety β top 48% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 5 of 5 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +9 on average.See board β
Seasons above replacement
5 cleared
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it β adds 0, never a debit
48
Replacement
the KC-H bar
β
5
Seasons over
cleared the bar
Γ
+9
Avg surplus
peak +12
5 seasons Γ ~9 surplus β VORP 45
Combined Season Grid
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at onceβno tab hopping.
1 grid split in one view
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Defense | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | |||||
| 1999 | β | NYG | 15 | β | 69 | 52 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 2 | 6 | 1 | β | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | β | NYG | 15 | β | 47 | 35 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | β | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | β | NYG | 16 | β | 60 | 45 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | β | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | β | NYJ | 16 | β | 54 | 42 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | β | NYJ | 16 | β | 72 | 40 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | β | 78 | β | 302 | 214 | 88 | 10 | 1 | 3.0 | 14.0 | 8 | 36 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
Defense
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 58 Β· Strong StarterA strong starter career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 58 of 100, era-normalized against int/g peers across 5 scored seasons.
57
Sustained
career value
Γ.6
59
Peak
best 3 seasons
Γ.4
Γ1
Longevity
career length
Blend 57.8 Γ longevity 1 = KV-H 58Β· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 57
On-field 37.5
Availability 19.5
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative int/g)
1999bestavg 572003
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position4
Depth
of 100
Reached 4% of the all-time Interceptions leader β a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
4% of the all-time Interceptions leader4
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: 90%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average Β· KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average defensive backs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
Postseason Career
5 playoff gamesDefense
Tkl16Solo10Ast6Int1PD4
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (Cincinnati), 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
Michael StrahanDE3yKerry CollinsQB3yAmani ToomerWR3yJessie ArmsteadOLB3yKeith HamiltonDT3yHoward CrossTE3yIke HilliardWR3yTiki BarberRB3yJason SehornDB3yJoe JureviciusWR3yShaun WilliamsS3yDan CampbellTE3yGreg ComellaRB3yEmmanuel McDanielDB3yVinny TestaverdeQB2yMo LewisOLB2ySantana MossWR2yJohn AbrahamOLB2yCurtis MartinRB2yMicheal BarrowLB2yShaun EllisDE2yBrad DaluisoK2yJason FergusonNT2yCornelius GriffinDT2y
1997 Draft ClassΒ· this player went #136
#122Tarek SalehLB#123Chad LevittRB#126Jermaine SmithDT#127Macey BrooksWR#128Alshermond SingletonOLB#132Jamel WilliamsDB#134Jeff MitchellC#135Pete ChryplewiczTE#137Patrick HapeTE#138Kenny BynumRB#140Keith ThibodeauxDB#143George McCulloughDB#144Andre PurvisDE#145Ray AustinDB#147Damon JonesTE#148Twan RussellLB
Franchise Succession
the room, before and afterSam inherited the New York Giants DB room from Emmanuel McDaniel (1999β2001), and handed it to Shaun Williams (1999β2005).
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0β100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 2003final season
Last recorded season with NYJ
- 2002team change
Joined NYJ (from NYG)
- 1997draft
Drafted by NYG β Round 5, Pick 136
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'3" / 225 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 5-season peers. See all β
58
peak 59
Season Report CardsΒ· KV-H era-normalized per season
C+1999
C+2000
C+2001
B2002
C+2003
Availability
Career durability β games played vs. scheduled, across 5 seasons.
98%
Era Translator
INT 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 INT | INT/G | β 2025 INT | β 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2 | 0.1 | 1-1 | 0.1 |
| 2000 | 1 | 0.1 | 0-1 | 0 |
| 2001 | 1 | 0.1 | 0-1 | 0 |
| 2002 | 2 | 0.1 | 1-1 | 0.1 |
| 2003 | 2 | 0.1 | 1-1 | 0.1 |
Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), nfl.com:official-stats (facts-only reference), espn.com:stats-api (facts-only reference) Β· multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle Β· updated 6/18/2026
Career Value Β· VORP
45 career value over replacement β #2203 all-time of 4,642. 9/season above a replacement-level S.
Draft OutcomeSteal β
Pick #136 (Rd 5) Β· NYG Β· 1997 Β· +24.5 vs expected KV-H
58actual
33.5 expected Β· Ξ+24.5
Fan Rating
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