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

WRTEN#82ACT

Yancey Thigpen

2× Pro BowlTop 17% all-time WRsElite Playmaker📉 Fades · -53% playoffs ⭐ Shooting Star · 1999

Height6'1"

Weight203 lb

BornAug 15, 1969

Age56

CollegeWinston Salem State University See College Stats

Rookie yr1991

Draft1991 · Rd 4, Pick 90 · LAC

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Elite PlaymakerExplore archetypes →

A top 20% all-time wide receiver who consistently made an impact across multiple seasons.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 92 · #1261 · High-Value

Worth 92 points of value above a freely-available replacement receiver — top 28% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 6 of 8 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +15.3 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

6 cleared

2 replaced

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

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+15.3

Avg surplus

peak +31

6 seasons × ~15.3 surplus ≈ VORP 92

Combined Season Grid

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

3 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Receiving									Defense													Advanced (EPA)
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA	Pass AirYd	Rec AirYd
1991	—	SD	1	—	—	0	0	0	—	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1992	—	PIT	12	—	—	1	2	0	—	2.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1993	—	PIT	12	—	—	9	154	3	—	17.1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994	—	PIT	6	—	—	36	546	4	—	15.2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995	—	PIT	16	—	—	85	1,307	5	—	15.4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	—	PIT	2	—	—	12	244	2	—	20.3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	—	PIT	15	—	—	79	1,398	7	—	17.7	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998	—	TEN	8	—	—	38	493	3	—	13.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	TEN	10	—	68	38	648	4	55.9%	17.1	9.5	—	30	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	29.1	0	0
2000	—	TEN	11	—	26	15	289	2	57.7%	19.3	11.1	—	10	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2000	—	CLE	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
2000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	10.3	0	0
Career		—	94	—	94	313	5,081	30	333.0%	16.2	54.1	—	—	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	—	39.4	0	0

Career EPA39.4·39 receiving·19.7/season

Receiving

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	Ctch%	Y/R	Y/Tgt	AirYd/T	1D	VAL
1991	22	SD	1	—	—	0	0	0	—	0.0	—	—	—	—
1992	23	PIT	12	—	—	1	2	0	—	2.0	—	—	—	3
1993	24	PIT	12	—	—	9	154	3	—	17.1	—	—	—	6.1
1994	25	PIT	6	—	—	36	546	4	—	15.2	—	—	—	7.4
1995	26	PIT	16	—	—	85	1,307	5	—	15.4	—	—	—	14.4
1996	27	PIT	2	—	—	12	244	2	—	20.3	—	—	—	—
1997	28	PIT	15	—	—	79	1,398	7	—	17.7	—	—	—	15
1998	29	TEN	8	—	—	38	493	3	—	13.0	—	—	—	6.6
1999	30	TEN	10	—	68	38	648	4	55.9%	17.1	9.5	—	30	8.8
2000	31	TEN	11	—	26	15	289	2	57.7%	19.3	11.1	—	10	5.2
Career			93		94	313	5,081	30	333.0%	16.2	54.1	—	—	66.5

Advanced (EPA)

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Pass EPA	Rush EPA	Rec EPA
1999	30	—	—	—	—	—	29.1
2000	31	—	—	—	—	—	10.3
Career					—	—	—

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 63 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 63 of 100, era-normalized against rec yds/g peers across 8 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 62.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 63· confidence 97%

What builds the career mark of 60

On-field 45.1

Availability 14.9

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative rec yds/g)

1992bestavg 58elite 702000

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 22% of the all-time Receiving Yards leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

22% of the all-time Receiving Yards leader22

0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0

19.68 EPA/season over 2 seasons57

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: 96%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

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

Playoff vs Regular Season

📉 Regular Season Player

Yards / Reception: 16.2 regular season → 7.6 playoffs (2 playoff seasons)

-53%

vs reg season

Postseason Career

4 playoff games

Receiving

Tgt22Rec9Yds68TD1Ctch%40.9%Y/R7.6Y/Tgt3.1

Advanced (EPA)

Rec EPA-5.4

College Stats

Winston Salem State UniversityCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Winston Salem State University), 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.

1991 Draft Class· this player went #90

#74David DanielsWR #76Ricky ErvinsRB #77Tim BarnettWR #78Chris GardockiP #79Kevin DonnalleyG #83Ed McCaffreyWR #84Scott ZolakQB #89Derek RussellWR #92Randy BaldwinRB #97Curvin RichardsRB #98John KasayK #99Donald HollasQB #102Marcus RobertsonFS #103Adrian CooperTE #104William ThomasOLB #106Bill MusgraveQB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Yancey inherited the Pittsburgh Steelers WR room from Ernie Mills (1991–1996), and handed it to Andre Hastings (1993–1996).

Weegie Thompson 1984–1989Louis Lipps 1984–1991Dwight Stone 1987–1994Ernie Mills 1991–1996Yancey Thigpen 1992–1997Andre Hastings

Similar Players

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

Movementderived from season history

2000final season
Last recorded season with TEN
1998team change
Joined TEN (from PIT)
1992team change
Joined PIT (from SD)
1991draft
Drafted by LAC — Round 4, Pick 90
1991team change
Joined SD (from LAC)

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'1" / 203 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 →

peak 67

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

C1992

C1993

C+1994

B+1995

B+1997

C+1998

B1999

C2000

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 10 seasons.

64%

Era Translator

Rec Yds 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 Rec Yds	Rec Yds/G	→ 2025 Rec Yds	→ 2025 /G
1992	2	0.2	41+39	2.4
1993	154	12.8	227+73	13.3
1994	546	91	1,342+796	79
1995	1,307	81.7	1,158-149	68.1
1997	1,398	93.2	1,290-108	75.9
1998	493	61.6	883+390	51.9
1999	648	64.8	954+306	56.1
2000	289	26.3	362+73	21.3

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:advanced-epa (CC-BY 4.0), wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), espn.com:stats-api (games-played, facts-only reference) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

92 career value over replacement — #1261 all-time of 4,642. 11.5/season above a replacement-level WR.

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #90 (Rd 4) · LAC · 1991 · +24.3 vs expected KV-H

63actual

38.7 expected · Δ+24.3

Fan Rating

Rate Yancey Thigpen — All-Time

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Yancey Thigpen

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Receiving

Advanced (EPA)

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Receiving

Advanced (EPA)

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1991 Draft Class· this player went #90

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography