Steve Van Buren is a Hall of Fame running back whose career earned a strong career value score of 71 in the Knox value model. Van's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.
S
Steve Van Buren
All-Time Rank & Honors
career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title contextRegular-season all-time ranks
Yes
Hall of Fame
A high-end running back defined as much by excellent availability over their career as by their on-field impact (top 10% all-time). Coaches and teammates could count on them being available.
Career Value · VORP
VORP 129 · #788 · High-ValueWorth 129 points of value above a freely-available replacement running back — top 18% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 7 of 8 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +18.4 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
7 cleared
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
50
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
7
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+18.4
Avg surplus
peak +33
7 seasons × ~18.4 surplus ≈ VORP 129
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 | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | TD% | 1D | 1D% | Fmb | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D | |||||
| 1944 | — | PHI | 9 | — | 80 | 444 | 5 | 5.5 | 6.3 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| 1945 | — | PHI | 10 | — | 143 | 832 | 15 | 5.8 | 10.5 | — | — | — | — | 10 | 123 | 2 | — | 12.3 | — | — | — |
| 1946 | — | PHI | 9 | — | 116 | 529 | 5 | 4.6 | 4.3 | — | — | — | — | 6 | 75 | 0 | — | 12.5 | — | — | — |
| 1947 | — | PHI | 12 | — | 217 | 1,008 | 13 | 4.6 | 6.0 | — | — | — | — | 9 | 79 | 0 | — | 8.8 | — | — | — |
| 1948 | — | PHI | 11 | — | 201 | 945 | 10 | 4.7 | 5.0 | — | — | — | — | 10 | 96 | 0 | — | 9.6 | — | — | — |
| 1949 | — | PHI | 12 | — | 263 | 1,146 | 11 | 4.4 | 4.2 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 88 | 1 | — | 22.0 | — | — | — |
| 1950 | — | PHI | 10 | — | 188 | 629 | 4 | 3.3 | 2.1 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 34 | 0 | — | 17.0 | — | — | — |
| 1951 | — | PHI | 10 | — | 112 | 327 | 6 | 2.9 | 5.4 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 28 | 0 | — | 7.0 | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 83 | — | 1,320 | 5,860 | 69 | 4.4 | 5.2 | — | — | — | 0 | 45 | 523 | 3 | — | 11.6 | — | — | — | |
Rushing
Receiving
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 71 · GreatA great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 71 of 100, era-normalized against rush yds/g peers across 8 scored seasons.
66
Sustained
career value
×.6
78
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×1
Longevity
career length
Blend 70.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 71· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 66
On-field 48.4
Availability 17.6
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative rush yds/g)
1944bestavg 64elite 701951
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position45
Solid
of 100
Reached 42% of the all-time Rushing Touchdowns leader — a solid all-time profile at the position.
42% of the all-time Rushing Touchdowns leader42
2 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader67
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: 91%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · 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 · Career
Scrimmage Yds
6,383
5,860 rush · 523 recv
Total TDs
72
69 rush · 3 recv
Total Touches
1,365
1,320 carries · 45 rec
Yds / Touch
4.7
rushing + receiving
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (LSU), 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.
Top Teammates
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 1951final season
Last recorded season with PHI
- 1944signing
Entered the NFL with PHI
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 →
71
peak 78
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
D1944
B+1945
C+1946
B+1947
B+1948
A1949
B1950
C+1951
Availability
Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 8 seasons.
86%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | 444 | 49.3 | 0-444 | 0 |
| 1945 | 832 | 83.2 | 1,118+286 | 65.8 |
| 1946 | 529 | 58.8 | 508-21 | 29.9 |
| 1947 | 1,008 | 84 | 1,122+114 | 66 |
| 1948 | 945 | 85.9 | 1,298+353 | 76.3 |
| 1949 | 1,146 | 95.5 | 1,543+397 | 90.7 |
| 1950 | 629 | 62.9 | 985+356 | 58 |
| 1951 | 327 | 32.7 | 437+110 | 25.7 |
Data: wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), wikipedia:pfhof-inductee-list · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 7/10/2026
Career Value · VORP
129 career value over replacement — #788 all-time of 4,642. 16.1/season above a replacement-level RB.
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