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

SSF#46ACT

Tim McDonald

6× Pro Bowl👑 Dynasty DNA · 12 seasons · 3 titles Top 11% all-time defensive backsIron Man

Height6'2"

Weight219 lb

BornJan 6, 1965

Age61

CollegeUSC See College Stats

Rookie yr1987

Draft1987 · Rd 2, Pick 34 · LA

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Regular-season all-time ranks

53rdInterceptions·40

Pro Bowls

Title Seasons

Dynasty Seasons

Archetype Intelligence

Iron ManExplore archetypes →

A high-end defensive back defined as much by exceptional availability — almost never missed time as by their on-field impact (top 20% all-time). Coaches and teammates could count on them being available.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 163 · #552 · High-Value

Worth 163 points of value above a freely-available replacement safety — top 13% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 12 of 12 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +13.6 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

12 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+13.6

Avg surplus

peak +26

12 seasons × ~13.6 surplus ≈ VORP 163

Combined Season Grid

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

1 grid split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Defense
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1987	—	STL	3	—	7	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	0	—	0	0	—	—
1988	—	PHX	15	—	115	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	2	—	4	1	—	—
1989	—	PHX	16	—	155	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	7	—	0	1	—	—
1990	—	PHX	16	—	114	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	4	—	1	1	—	—
1991	—	PHX	13	—	96	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	5	—	0	1	—	—
1992	—	PHX	16	—	107	—	—	—	—	0.5	0.5	2	—	1	3	—	—
1993	—	SF	15	—	91	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	3	—	0	1	—	—
1994	—	SF	16	—	72	67	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	2	—	1	1	—	—
1995	—	SF	16	—	75	61	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	4	—	0	0	—	—
1996	—	SF	16	—	98	81	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	2	—	0	1	—	—
1997	—	SF	15	—	62	51	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	3	—	0	3	—	—
1998	—	SF	16	—	78	68	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	4	—	0	2	—	—
1999	—	SF	16	—	61	44	17	5	1	2.0	8.0	2	4	1	1	0	0
Career		—	189	—	1,131	372	17	5	1	9.5	15.5	40	4	8	16	0	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1987	22	STL	3	—	7	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	0	—	0	0	—	—	—
1988	23	PHX	15	—	115	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	2	—	4	1	—	—	11.7
1989	24	PHX	16	—	155	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	7	—	0	1	—	—	12.5
1990	25	PHX	16	—	114	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	4	—	1	1	—	—	13.4
1991	26	PHX	13	—	96	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	5	—	0	1	—	—	9.3
1992	27	PHX	16	—	107	—	—	—	—	0.5	0.5	2	—	1	3	—	—	9
1993	28	SF	15	—	91	—	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	3	—	0	1	—	—	8.9
1994	29	SF	16	—	72	67	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	2	—	1	1	—	—	8.7
1995	30	SF	16	—	75	61	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	4	—	0	0	—	—	9.8
1996	31	SF	16	—	98	81	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	2	—	0	1	—	—	7.6
1997	32	SF	15	—	62	51	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	3	—	0	3	—	—	7.6
1998	33	SF	16	—	78	68	—	—	—	4.0	4.0	4	—	0	2	—	—	9.7
1999	34	SF	16	—	61	44	17	5	1	2.0	8.0	2	4	1	1	0	0	7.3
Career			189		1,131	372	17	5	1	—	—	40	4	8	16	0	0	115.5

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 70 · Great

A great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 70 of 100, era-normalized against int/g peers across 12 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 65.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 70· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 61

On-field 41.7

Availability 19.3

On-field production Staying available

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

1988bestavg 62elite 701999

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 18% of the all-time Interceptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

18% of the all-time Interceptions leader18

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: 92%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average defensive backs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

College Stats

USCCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (USC), 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.

1987 Draft Class· this player went #34

#20Haywood JeffiresWR #21Roger VickRB #23Bruce ArmstrongOT #24Rod BernstineRB #25Terrence FlaglerRB #26Jim HarbaughQB #27Ricky NattielWR #31Kenny FlowersRB #35Christian OkoyeRB #40Lonzell HillWR #45David WymanMLB #47Donald EvansDE #51Don SmithRB #54Ron MorrisWR #56Scott SchwedesWR #57Mark CarrierWR

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Tim inherited the San Francisco 49ers DB room from Dana Hall (1992–1994), and handed it to Tyronne Drakeford (1994–2001).

Dave Waymer 1990–1991Eric Davis 1990–1995Merton Hanks 1991–1998Dana Hall 1992–1994Tim McDonald 1993–1999Tyronne Drakeford

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

1999final season
Last recorded season with SF
1993team change
Joined SF (from PHX)
1988team change
Joined PHX (from STL)
1987draft
Drafted by LA — Round 2, Pick 34
1987team change
Joined STL (from LA)

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 219 lb

Frame

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 12-season peers. See all →

peak 73

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

C1988

B+1989

B1990

B+1991

C+1992

B1993

C+1994

B1995

C+1996

B1997

B+1998

C+1999

Availability

Era Translator

INT 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 INT	INT/G	→ 2025 INT	→ 2025 /G
1988	2	0.1	0-2	0
1989	7	0.4	3-4	0.2
1990	4	0.3	2-2	0.1
1991	5	0.4	4-1	0.2
1992	2	0.1	0-2	0
1993	3	0.2	1-2	0.1
1994	2	0.1	0-2	0
1995	4	0.3	2-2	0.1
1996	2	0.1	0-2	0
1997	3	0.2	2-1	0.1
1998	4	0.3	3-1	0.2
1999	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 (games-played, facts-only reference) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

163 career value over replacement — #552 all-time of 4,642. 13.6/season above a replacement-level S.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #34 (Rd 2) · LA · 1987 · +15.1 vs expected KV-H

70actual

54.9 expected · Δ+15.1

Fan Rating

Rate Tim McDonald — All-Time

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Compare Tim McDonald vs Player Report data error

Tim McDonald

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1987 Draft Class· this player went #34

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator