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

CBHOUDEV

Steven Nelson

Top 16% all-time defensive backsElite Playmaker📈 Late Developer · 2023

Height5'11"

Weight194 lb

BornJan 22, 1993

Age33

CollegeOregon State; College of the Sequoias See College Stats

Conference

Combined Season Grid

Season totals or exact team stints. Career totals count each season once.

3 categories · One row per season · Scroll for all statistics

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Defense													Snap Counts						Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%	Tgt	Cmp	Cmp%	RateAll	ADOT	Prss	Hrry	QBKD	Bltz	MissTkl	Miss%
2015	22–23	KC	12	—	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	53	7.2%	126	39.4%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2016	23–24	KC	15	—	64	58	6	4	1	0.0	5.0	0	16	0	2	0	0	—	0.0%	1,013	97.7%	117	27.1%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2017	24–25	KC	9	—	39	31	8	2	0	0.0	2.0	0	4	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	512	83.7%	35	13.9%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2018	25–26	KC	16	—	68	58	10	2	0	0.0	2.0	4	15	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	1,164	98.6%	1	0.1%	115	59	0.5	72.6	13.2	0	0	0	1	13	0.2
2019	26–27	PIT	15	—	57	48	9	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	8	0	1	0	0	—	0.0%	1,011	99.2%	60	14.7%	74	37	0.5	65.8	13.1	0	0	0	1	6	0.1
2020	27–28	PIT	15	—	43	38	5	2	0	0.0	2.0	2	9	0	1	0	0	—	0.0%	907	94.8%	53	12.5%	98	57	0.6	97.0	11.4	0	0	0	0	4	0.1
2021	28–29	PHI	16	—	47	31	16	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	7	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	982	92.1%	—	0.0%	72	48	0.7	108.4	9.2	0	0	0	0	2	0.0
2022	29–30	HOU	15	—	46	33	13	1	1	1.0	3.0	1	7	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	958	93.9%	1	0.2%	62	37	0.6	80.5	10.3	2	0	1	1	8	0.1
2023	30–31	HOU	17	—	60	45	15	0	0	0.0	0.0	4	12	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	1,088	95.4%	9	1.8%	70	43	0.6	73.3	14.0	0	0	0	1	5	0.1
Career		—	130	—	425	343	82	11	2	1.0	14.0	13	78	2	4	0	0	—	0.0%	7,688	86.9%	402	11.1%	491	281	—	—	—	2	0	1	4	38	—

Career Value · VORP

93 career value over replacement — #1279 all-time of 4,695. 11.6/season above a replacement-level CB.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #98 (Rd 3) · KC · 2015 · +28.5 vs expected KV-H

66actual

37.5 expected · Δ+28.5

Fan Rating

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Compare Steven Nelson vs Player Report data error

Career arc · VAL by season

9 seasons · peak 5.7 in 2023

VAL (Value Above League) measures each NFL season against that season's league; the dashed line is zero — a season that added nothing above the league's fringe. ● peak · ○ league-best season.

What he added · wins above replacement

1.4 career wins over 9 seasons · 1 win = 13.08 VAL

Best season · 2023 · +0.4 wins

Defence+0.4

VAL 3.0 measures each part of a NFL player's game in his sport's own currency against what that season's fringe players produced, converted to team wins with rates fitted from every team-season in the encyclopedia.

Position percentile · DB

#173 of 1,089 all-time defensive backs by KV-H

084th percentile100

StatVault · statvault.org/players/nfl/steven-nelsonJSON

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	VAL
2015	22–23	KC	3	0*	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0
2016	23–24	KC	15	15*	64	58	6	4	1	0.0	5.0	0	16	0	2	1.5
2017	24–25	KC	8	8*	39	31	8	2	0	0.0	2.0	0	4	1	—	0
2018	25–26	KC	16	16*	68	58	10	2	0	0.0	2.0	4	15	0	—	4.1
2019	26–27	PIT	15	15*	57	48	9	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	8	0	1	1
2020	27–28	PIT	15	14*	43	38	5	2	0	0.0	2.0	2	9	0	1	2.9
2021	28–29	PHI	15	15*	47	31	16	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	7	0	—	1.9
2022	29–30	HOU	14	14*	46	33	13	1	1	1.0	3.0	1	7	1	—	1.4
2023	30–31	HOU	17	16*	60	45	15	0	0	0.0	0.0	4	12	0	—	5.7
Career			118	113*	425	343	82	11	2	1.0	14.0	13	78	2	4	18.5

* 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%
2015	22–23	KC	12	0*	—	0.0%	53	7.2%	126	39.4%
2016	23–24	KC	15	15*	—	0.0%	1,013	97.7%	117	27.1%
2017	24–25	KC	9	8*	—	0.0%	512	83.7%	35	13.9%
2018	25–26	KC	16	16*	—	0.0%	1,164	98.6%	1	0.1%
2019	26–27	PIT	15	15*	—	0.0%	1,011	99.2%	60	14.7%
2020	27–28	PIT	15	14*	—	0.0%	907	94.8%	53	12.5%
2021	28–29	PHI	16	15*	—	0.0%	982	92.1%	—	0.0%
2022	29–30	HOU	15	14*	—	0.0%	958	93.9%	1	0.2%
2023	30–31	HOU	17	16*	—	0.0%	1,088	95.4%	9	1.8%
Career			130	113*	—	0.0%	7,688	86.9%	402	11.1%

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

Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Cmp	Cmp%	RateAll	ADOT	Prss	QBKD	Bltz	MissTkl	Miss%
2018	25–26	KC	16	16*	115	59	0.5	72.6	13.2	0	0	1	13	0.2
2019	26–27	PIT	15	15*	74	37	0.5	65.8	13.1	0	0	1	6	0.1
2020	27–28	PIT	15	14*	98	57	0.6	97.0	11.4	0	0	0	4	0.1
2021	28–29	PHI	16	15*	72	48	0.7	108.4	9.2	0	0	0	2	0.0
2022	29–30	HOU	15	14*	62	37	0.6	80.5	10.3	2	1	1	8	0.1
2023	30–31	HOU	17	16*	70	43	0.6	73.3	14.0	0	0	1	5	0.1
Career			94	90*	491	281	—	—	—	2	1	4	38	—

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

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 66 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 66 of 100, era-normalized against int/g peers across 8 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 65.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 66· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 61

On-field 43

Availability 18

On-field production Staying available

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

2016bestavg 60elite 702023

INTs career shape vs similar cornerbacks

2018-2023

Peak-aligned view: center line is each player's best INTs season; left/right show build-up, staying power, and decline. Comparison set uses same-position, overlapping-era comps when available.