Willie McGinest ranks in the all-time elite tier for pass rushers — a career that places McGinest in the top 10% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns McGinest a career score of 77, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

OLBCLE#55ACT

Willie McGinest

2× Pro BowlTop 8% all-time pass rushersIron Man⛰️ Mountain Arc · 2004

Height6'5"

Weight270 lb

BornDec 11, 1971

Age54

CollegeUSC See College Stats

Rookie yr1994

Draft1994 · Rd 1, Pick 4 · NE

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Regular-season all-time ranks

61stSacks·85

Postseason all-time ranks

8thPlayoff Sacks·10.5

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Iron ManExplore archetypes →

A high-end edge rusher 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 314 · #118 · All-Time

Worth 314 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 4% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 15 of 15 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +20.9 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

15 cleared

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+20.9

Avg surplus

peak +37

15 seasons × ~20.9 surplus ≈ VORP 314

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
1994	—	NE	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.5	4.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995	—	NE	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	11.0	11.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	—	NE	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	9.5	9.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	—	NE	11	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	—	NE	9	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.5	3.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	NE	16	—	59	33	26	19	10	9.0	38.0	0	0	1	2	1	0
2000	—	NE	13	—	47	29	18	13	5	6.0	24.0	0	1	1	2	0	0
2001	—	NE	10	—	28	20	8	9	5	6.0	20.0	0	2	1	—	0	0
2002	—	NE	16	—	53	32	21	10	6	5.5	21.5	1	10	0	—	0	0
2003	—	NE	14	—	49	30	19	0	0	5.0	5.0	1	4	2	2	1	0
2004	—	NE	16	—	41	26	15	0	0	9.0	9.0	1	6	2	1	0	0
2005	—	NE	16	—	34	23	11	0	0	5.5	5.5	0	5	0	1	0	0
2006	—	CLE	14	—	33	24	9	0	10	5.0	15.0	1	2	0	1	0	0
2007	—	CLE	13	—	27	16	11	0	4	2.5	6.5	0	5	0	1	0	0
2008	—	CLE	14	—	44	31	13	5	7	1.0	13.0	0	2	0	—	0	0
Career		—	210	—	415	264	151	56	47	85.0	188.0	4	37	7	10	2	0

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1994	23	NE	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.5	4.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	17.6
1995	24	NE	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	11.0	11.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	23
1996	25	NE	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	9.5	9.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	23
1997	26	NE	11	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.0	2.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	7.2
1998	27	NE	9	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.5	3.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	9.8
1999	28	NE	16	—	59	33	26	19	10	9.0	38.0	0	0	1	2	1	0	13.2
2000	29	NE	13	—	47	29	18	13	5	6.0	24.0	0	1	1	2	0	0	9.5
2001	30	NE	10	—	28	20	8	9	5	6.0	20.0	0	2	1	—	0	0	7.6
2002	31	NE	16	—	53	32	21	10	6	5.5	21.5	1	10	0	—	0	0	12.3
2003	32	NE	14	—	49	30	19	0	0	5.0	5.0	1	4	2	2	1	0	10.1
2004	33	NE	16	—	41	26	15	0	0	9.0	9.0	1	6	2	1	0	0	11.9
2005	34	NE	16	—	34	23	11	0	0	5.5	5.5	0	5	0	1	0	0	8.2
2006	35	CLE	14	—	33	24	9	0	10	5.0	15.0	1	2	0	1	0	0	8.5
2007	36	CLE	13	—	27	16	11	0	4	2.5	6.5	0	5	0	1	0	0	6.3
2008	37	CLE	14	—	44	31	13	5	7	1.0	13.0	0	2	0	—	0	0	6.5
Career			210		415	264	151	56	47	—	—	4	37	7	10	2	0	174.7

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 77 · Great

A great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 77 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 15 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 74.2 × longevity 1 = KV-H 77· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 69

On-field 50.9

Availability 18.1

On-field production Staying available

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

1994bestavg 68elite 702008

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 43% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

43% of the all-time Sacks leader43

1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33

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: 90%.

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+).

Postseason Career

11 playoff games

Defense

Tkl36Solo25Ast11TFL5QBHits2Sk10.5Dis17.5PD4

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.

1994 Draft Class· this player went #4

#1Dan WilkinsonDT #1Tito WootenDB #2Marshall FaulkRB #3Heath ShulerQB #6Trent DilferQB #7Bryant YoungDT #8Sam AdamsDT #9Antonio LanghamDB #10Jamir MillerOLB #11John ThierryOLB #12Aaron GlennDB #13Joe JohnsonDE #15Wayne GandyOT #17Charles JohnsonWR #18Dewayne WashingtonDB #19Todd SteussieG

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Willie inherited the New England Patriots LB room from Todd F. Collins (1992–1998), and handed it to Ted Johnson (1995–2004).

Todd F. Collins 1992–1998Willie McGinest 1994–2005Ted Johnson 1995–2004Tedy Bruschi 1996–2008Roman Phifer 2001–2004Mike Vrabel

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2008final season
Last recorded season with CLE
2006team change
Joined CLE (from NE)
1994draft
Drafted by NE — Round 1, Pick 4

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'5" / 270 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 15-season peers. See all →

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
1994	4.5	0.3	4-0.5	0.3
1995	11	0.7	10-1	0.6
1996	9.5	0.6	9-0.5	0.5
1997	2	0.2	3+1	0.2
1998	3.5	0.4	6+2.5	0.3
1999	9	0.6	8-1	0.5
2000	6	0.5	7+1	0.4
2001	6	0.6	10+4	0.6
2002	5.5	0.3	6+0.5	0.3
2003	5	0.4	6+1	0.3
2004	9	0.6	9	0.5
2005	5.5	0.3	6+0.5	0.3
2006	5	0.4	6+1	0.4
2007	2.5	0.2	3+0.5	0.2
2008	1	0.1	1	0.1

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

314 career value over replacement — #118 all-time of 4,642. 20.9/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #4 (Rd 1) · NE · 1994 · +15.2 vs expected KV-H

77actual

61.8 expected · Δ+15.2

💔+37.6 stolen VORP·1.8 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Willie McGinest

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1994 Draft Class· this player went #4

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator