Sammie Smith is a career quality starter β a running back whose body of work places Smith in the top quarter of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Smith's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.
Sammie Smith
Top 21% all-time RBsHigh-End Starter
All-Time Rank & Honors
career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title contextPostseason all-time ranks
A quality running back with a top 30% among starters β a legitimate starter who contributed meaningfully across their career.
Career Value Β· VORP
VORP 61 Β· #1816 Β· Above AverageWorth 61 points of value above a freely-available replacement running back β top 40% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 3 of 3 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +20.3 on average.See board β
Seasons above replacement
3 cleared
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it β adds 0, never a debit
50
Replacement
the KC-H bar
β
3
Seasons over
cleared the bar
Γ
+20.3
Avg surplus
peak +29
3 seasons Γ ~20.3 surplus β VORP 61
Combined Season Grid
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at onceβno tab hopping.
2 grids split in one view
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | TD% | 1D | 1D% | Fmb | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D | |||||
| 1989 | β | MIA | 13 | β | 200 | 659 | 6 | 3.3 | 3.0 | β | β | β | β | 7 | 81 | 0 | β | 11.6 | β | β | β |
| 1990 | β | MIA | 16 | β | 226 | 831 | 8 | 3.7 | 3.5 | β | β | β | β | 11 | 134 | 1 | β | 12.2 | β | β | β |
| 1991 | β | MIA | 12 | β | 83 | 297 | 1 | 3.6 | 1.2 | β | β | β | β | 14 | 95 | 0 | β | 6.8 | β | β | β |
| 1992 | β | DEN | 3 | β | 23 | 94 | 0 | 4.1 | 0.0 | β | β | β | β | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | 0.0 | β | β | β |
| Career | β | 44 | β | 1,064 | 3,762 | 30 | 3.5 | 2.8 | β | β | β | β | 64 | 620 | 2 | β | 9.7 | β | β | β | |
Rushing
Receiving
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 61 Β· Strong StarterA strong starter career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 61 of 100, era-normalized against rush yds/g peers across 3 scored seasons, with a short career trimming the score.
71
Sustained
career value
Γ.6
70
Peak
best 3 seasons
Γ.4
Γ0.86
Longevity
career length
Blend 70.6 Γ longevity 0.86 = KV-H 61Β· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 71
On-field 53.7
Availability 17.3
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative rush yds/g)
1989bestavg 70elite 701991
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position19
Depth
of 100
Reached 21% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader β a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
21% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader21
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 RBs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
From Scrimmage Β· Career
Scrimmage Yds
4,382
3,762 rush Β· 620 recv
Total TDs
32
30 rush Β· 2 recv
Total Touches
1,128
1,064 carries Β· 64 rec
Yds / Touch
3.9
rushing + receiving
Postseason Career
Rushing
Att82Yds362Y/A4.4
Receiving
Rec6Yds62Y/R10.3
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (Florida State), 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
Dan MarinoQB3yReggie RobyP3yJ.B. BrownDB3yMark DuperWR3yMarc LoganRB3yJim JensenWR3yFred BanksWR3yFerrell EdmundsTE3yScott SeculesQB3yTony MartinWR2yTony PaigeFB2yMark HiggsRB2yTroy StradfordRB2yJames PruittWR2yScott SchwedesWR2yJohn ElwayQB1yKeith TraylorNT1yMike HoranP1yShannon SharpeTE1yCharles DimryCB1yTyrone BraxtonS1ySteve AtwaterFS1yShane DronettDT1yBryan CoxLB1y
1989 Draft ClassΒ· this player went #9
Franchise Succession
the room, before and afterSammie inherited the Miami Dolphins RB room from Marc Logan (1989β1991), and handed it to Tony Paige (1990β1992).
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0β100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 1992team change
Joined DEN (from MIA)
- 1992final season
Last recorded season with DEN
- 1989draft
Drafted by MIA β Round 1, Pick 9
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'2" / 226 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 3-season peers. See all β
61
peak 70
Season Report CardsΒ· KV-H era-normalized per season
B+1989
B+1990
C+1991
Availability
Career durability β games played vs. scheduled, across 4 seasons.
69%
19891992
1992 Β· cause not documented Β· 19%
Era Translator
Rush 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 Rush Yds | Rush Yds/G | β 2025 Rush Yds | β 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 659 | 50.7 | 1,268+609 | 74.6 |
| 1990 | 831 | 51.9 | 1,356+525 | 79.8 |
| 1991 | 297 | 24.8 | 720+423 | 42.3 |
Data: nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:players, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), 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
61 career value over replacement β #1816 all-time of 4,642. 20.3/season above a replacement-level RB.
Draft OutcomeValue β
Pick #9 (Rd 1) Β· MIA Β· 1989 Β· +0.6 vs expected KV-H
61actual
60.4 expected Β· Ξ+0.6
Fan Rating
Rate Sammie Smith β All-Time
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