Vinson Smith is a career quality starter — a linebacker 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.
Vinson Smith
Top 22% all-time linebackersReliable Starter
A linebacker with a top 30% among starters — the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (excellent availability over their career) added to their value.
Career Value · VORP
VORP 67 · #1693 · Above AverageWorth 67 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 37% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 7 of 8 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +9.6 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
7 cleared
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
47
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
7
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+9.6
Avg surplus
peak +16
7 seasons × ~9.6 surplus ≈ VORP 67
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 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | |||||
| 1988 | — | ATL | 3 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1991 | — | DAL | 13 | — | 47 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1992 | — | DAL | 16 | — | 38 | 29 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1993 | — | CHI | 16 | — | 61 | 44 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1994 | — | CHI | 12 | — | 29 | 19 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 1995 | — | CHI | 16 | — | 72 | 60 | — | — | — | 4.0 | 4.0 | — | 0 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 1996 | — | CHI | 15 | — | 51 | 42 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1997 | — | DAL | 14 | — | 23 | 16 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 1998 | — | NO | 15 | — | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 1999 | — | NO | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Career | — | 121 | — | 330 | 217 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Defense
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | VAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 23 | ATL | 3 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
| 1991 | 26 | DAL | 13 | — | 47 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 4.5 |
| 1992 | 27 | DAL | 16 | — | 38 | 29 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 6.8 |
| 1993 | 28 | CHI | 16 | — | 61 | 44 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 5.6 |
| 1994 | 29 | CHI | 12 | — | 29 | 19 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 6.8 |
| 1995 | 30 | CHI | 16 | — | 72 | 60 | — | — | — | 4.0 | 4.0 | — | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | 9.1 |
| 1996 | 31 | CHI | 15 | — | 51 | 42 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 1997 | 32 | DAL | 14 | — | 23 | 16 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | 5.3 |
| 1998 | 33 | NO | 15 | — | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | 6.1 |
| 1999 | 34 | NO | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | 121 | 330 | 217 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50.2 |
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 58 · Strong StarterA strong starter career by KV-H: a well-rounded profile that scores 58 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 8 scored seasons.
56
Sustained
career value
×.6
61
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×1
Longevity
career length
Blend 58 × longevity 1 = KV-H 58· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 56
On-field 37.4
Availability 18.6
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative tackles/g)
1991bestavg 551998
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position4
Depth
of 100
Reached 4% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
4% of the all-time Sacks leader4
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: 91%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average linebackers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (East Carolina), 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
Curtis ConwayWR4yAlonzo SpellmanDE4yAlbert FontenotDE4yBarry MinterLB4yRyan WetnightTE4yKeith JenningsTE4yEmmitt SmithRB3yTroy AikmanQB3yMichael IrvinWR3yDaryl JohnstonRB3yJim FlaniganDT3yErik KramerQB3yJeremy LincolnDB3yJohn ThierryOLB3yChris GedneyTE3yRaymont HarrisRB3yChris GardockiP2yTrace ArmstrongDE2yKen NortonMLB2yLa'Roi GloverDT2yDarren WoodsonS2yMike SaxonP2ySammy KnightDB2yMarty CarterS2y
Franchise Succession
the room, before and afterVinson inherited the Dallas Cowboys LB room from Ken Norton (1989–1993), and handed it to Robert Jones (1992–1995).
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 NO
- 1998team change
Joined NO (from DAL)
- 1997team change
Joined DAL (from CHI)
- 1993team change
Joined CHI (from DAL)
- 1991team change
Joined DAL (from ATL)
- 1988signing
Entered the NFL with ATL
Athletic & Unique Profile
verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts6'2" / 247 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 8-season peers. See all →
58
peak 61
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
C+1991
C+1992
B1993
C+1994
B1995
C+1996
C+1997
C1998
Availability
Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 10 seasons.
82%
Era Translator
Tackles 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 Tackles | Tackles/G | → 2025 Tackles | → 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 47 | 3.6 | 63+16 | 3.7 |
| 1992 | 38 | 2.4 | 44+6 | 2.6 |
| 1993 | 61 | 3.8 | 60-1 | 3.5 |
| 1994 | 29 | 2.4 | 40+11 | 2.3 |
| 1995 | 72 | 4.5 | 70-2 | 4.1 |
| 1996 | 51 | 3.4 | 61+10 | 3.6 |
| 1997 | 23 | 1.6 | 33+10 | 2 |
| 1998 | 7 | 0.5 | 9+2 | 0.5 |
Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), nfl.com:official-stats (facts-only reference), nfl.com:official-stats (games-played, facts-only reference) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026
Career Value · VORP
67 career value over replacement — #1693 all-time of 4,642. 8.4/season above a replacement-level LB.
Fan Rating
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