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

OLBLA#51ACT

Will Witherspoon

Top 26% all-time pass rushersReliable Starter⛰️ Mountain Arc · 2007

Height6'1"

Weight242 lb

BornAug 19, 1980

Age45

CollegeGeorgia See College Stats

Rookie yr2002

Draft2002 · Rd 3, Pick 73 · CAR

Archetype Intelligence

Reliable StarterExplore archetypes →

A edge rusher with a top 30% among starters — the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (exceptional availability — almost never missed time) added to their value.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 101 · #1111 · High-Value

Worth 101 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 25% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 10 of 12 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +10.1 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

10 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+10.1

Avg surplus

peak +28

10 seasons × ~10.1 surplus ≈ VORP 101

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	Defense													Snap Counts
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2002	—	CAR	10	—	54	40	14	3	1	1.5	5.5	0	5	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2003	—	CAR	16	—	86	62	24	0	0	1.0	1.0	1	5	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2004	—	CAR	16	—	91	73	18	0	0	3.0	3.0	4	14	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2005	—	CAR	15	—	72	57	15	0	0	2.5	2.5	2	14	0	—	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2006	—	LA	16	—	94	80	14	0	5	3.0	8.0	0	9	2	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2007	—	LA	16	—	100	82	18	0	12	7.0	19.0	0	7	2	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2008	—	LA	14	—	62	47	15	3	3	1.0	7.0	1	3	0	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2009	—	PHI	17	—	74	63	11	5	1	1.0	7.0	1	5	2	—	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2010	—	TEN	16	—	72	43	29	6	6	3.0	15.0	2	8	1	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2011	—	TEN	14	—	52	38	14	5	4	2.0	11.0	1	3	1	2	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2012	—	TEN	10	—	40	23	17	1	1	1.0	3.0	1	2	1	—	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2013	—	LA	5	—	12	11	1	1	0	0.0	1.0	1	1	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2013	—	STL	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0%	136	28.6%	158	35.4%
Career		—	181	—	809	619	190	24	33	26.0	83.0	14	76	11	7	3	0	—	0.0%	136	28.6%	158	35.4%

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	VAL
2002	22	CAR	10	—	54	40	14	3	1	1.5	5.5	0	5	1	1	0	6
2003	23	CAR	16	—	86	62	24	0	0	1.0	1.0	1	5	0	—	0	8.8
2004	24	CAR	16	—	91	73	18	0	0	3.0	3.0	4	14	1	1	0	13.4
2005	25	CAR	15	—	72	57	15	0	0	2.5	2.5	2	14	0	—	1	11.5
2006	26	LA	16	—	94	80	14	0	5	3.0	8.0	0	9	2	1	0	9.6
2007	27	LA	16	—	100	82	18	0	12	7.0	19.0	0	7	2	1	0	11.6
2008	28	LA	14	—	62	47	15	3	3	1.0	7.0	1	3	0	1	0	7.2
2009	29	PHI	17	—	74	63	11	5	1	1.0	7.0	1	5	2	—	1	9.5
2010	30	TEN	16	—	72	43	29	6	6	3.0	15.0	2	8	1	—	0	11.5
2011	31	TEN	14	—	52	38	14	5	4	2.0	11.0	1	3	1	2	0	8.3
2012	32	TEN	10	—	40	23	17	1	1	1.0	3.0	1	2	1	—	1	6.3
2013	33	LA	5	0*	12	11	1	1	0	0.0	1.0	1	1	0	—	0	2.7
Career			165		809	619	190	24	33	—	—	14	76	11	7	3	106.4

* 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%
2013	33	STL	16	0*	—	0.0%	136	28.6%	158	35.4%
Career			16		—	—	136	—	158	—

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

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 61 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 61 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 12 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 59.6 × longevity 1 = KV-H 61· confidence 97%

What builds the career mark of 56

On-field 37.9

Availability 18.1

On-field production Staying available

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

2002bestavg 53elite 702013

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 13% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

13% of the all-time Sacks leader13

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: 89%.

Per-Snap Impact

Edge Rushers · proprietary · 2012+

—

below snap floor

Disruption / 100 snaps:2.206See leaderboard →

Disruption/1002.206Snap share28.6%Def snaps136Emerging

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within edge rushers, shrinkage-regularized so small samples don't spike, over the NFL snap-count era (2012+).

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average linebackers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Combine · 2002

Percentiles compare each raw measurement against position peers, the full combine pool, and the same draft class where enough samples exist.

EDGE · 2002 class

4.68s

40-Yard

Above avg · 70th pct

Pos 70thAll 47thClass Pos 61thClass All 48th

38"

Vertical

Strong · 89th pct

Pos 89thAll 87thClass Pos 78thClass All 80th

122"

Broad Jump

Strong · 81th pct

Pos 81thAll 74thClass Pos 87thClass All 83th

25 reps

Bench

Above avg · 61th pct

Pos 61thAll 74thClass Pos 41thClass All 73th

7.09s

3-Cone

Above avg · 71th pct

Pos 71thAll 57thClass Pos 63thClass All 54th

4.21s

Shuttle

Strong · 83th pct

Pos 83thAll 71thClass Pos 71thClass All 56th

Postseason Career

8 playoff games

Defense

Tkl48Solo34Ast14Sk2.0Dis2.0PD3FF2

College Stats

GeorgiaCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Georgia), 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.

2002 Draft Class· this player went #73

#64Travis FisherDB #65Deion BranchWR #67Matt SchobelTE #68Andre' GoodmanCB #69Saleem RasheedLB #70Willie OffordS #71Ben LeberOLB #72Roe WilliamsDB #74Joseph JeffersonCB #75Derek RossDB #76Melvin FowlerC #77Rocky CalmusLB #79Rashad BaumanDB #80Will OverstreetLB #81Josh McCownQB #83Charles HillNT

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Will inherited the Los Angeles Rams LB room from Brandon Chillar (2004–2007), and handed it to James Laurinaitis (2009–2015).

Fred Strickland 1988–1992Roman Phifer 1991–1998Charlie Clemons 1997–1999Mike A. Jones 1997–2000London Fletcher 1998–2001Tommy Polley

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2013team change
Joined STL (from TEN)
2013final season
Last recorded season with STL
2010team change
Joined TEN (from PHI)
2009team change
Joined PHI (from LA)
2006team change
Joined LA (from CAR)
2002draft
Drafted by CAR — Round 3, Pick 73

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'1" / 242 lb

Frame

231 lb at 4.68s

Size-speed

38" vert / 122" broad

Explosion

25 reps

Bench power

Injury History

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Games Out	Designations
2012	TEN	0	W8Questionable· HamstringW9Questionable· HamstringW10Questionable· HamstringW17Questionable· Chest

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 65

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

C+2002

C+2003

C+2004

C+2005

C+2006

B+2007

C+2008

C+2009

B2010

C+2011

C2012

F2013

Availability

Era Translator

Sacks 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 Sacks	Sacks/G	→ 2025 Sacks	→ 2025 /G
2002	1.5	0.2	2+0.5	0.1
2003	1	0.1	1	0.1
2004	3	0.2	3	0.2
2005	2.5	0.2	3+0.5	0.2
2006	3	0.2	3	0.2
2007	7	0.4	8+1	0.4
2008	1	0.1	1	0.1
2009	1	0.1	1	0.1
2010	3	0.2	3	0.2
2011	2	0.1	3+1	0.1
2012	1	0.1	2+1	0.1
2013	0	0	0	0

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:snap_counts, nflverse:combine, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:injuries · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

101 career value over replacement — #1111 all-time of 4,642. 8.4/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #73 (Rd 3) · CAR · 2002 · +20.1 vs expected KV-H

61actual

40.9 expected · Δ+20.1

Fan Rating

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Will Witherspoon

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

Snap Counts

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Per-Snap Impact

Career Aging Trajectory

Combine · 2002

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

2002 Draft Class· this player went #73

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography