Antonio Gates ranks in the all-time elite tier for tight ends — a career that places Gates in the top 1% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns Gates a career score of 89, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

TELAC#85ACT

Antonio Gates

Top 1% all-time TEsFranchise Cornerstone📊 Undervalued by voters 👑 2× #1 Tight End · 2005–2010 📉 Fades · -15% playoffs 🌅 Early Bloomer · 2004 Team Carrier · #380

Height6'4"

Weight255 lb

Team Carrier Evidence

Ranked #380 of 600 by seasons where high individual production happened on low-win teams. Score aggregates only tracked StatVault categories.

Full board

Total Score

1 qualifying season

2016 LAC·5 team wins#16

Receiving Touchdowns · 7 · score 20

All-Time Standing

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

Strong

of 100

Reached 62% of the all-time Receptions leader — a strong all-time profile at the position.

62% of the all-time Receptions leader

Career Value · VORP

522 career value over replacement — #13 all-time of 4,649. 32.6/season above a replacement-level TE.

Career Profile

7 top-10 seasonstop-10 marks Compiler27% in top 3 yrs

💔+57.4 stolen VORP·1.76 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Compare Antonio Gates vs Player Report data error

ConferenceMid-American

3 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader100

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: 94%.

Encyclopedia Coverage5/8 data layers

StatVault aggregates multiple open-licensed and proprietary sources into a single profile. The depth indicator above shows which layers are available for this player.

Bio & DraftBirth date, height/weight, draft round/pick, college — sourced from nflverse players.csv (CC-BY 4.0). Covers all NFL eras.

Season Stats (1999–present)Week-by-week box scores aggregated to season totals: passing, rushing, receiving, defense. Source: nflverse player_stats. Counting stats are exact; rates are derived.

Advanced (EPA, 1999–present)Not available for this player

Snap Counts (2012–present)Offensive, defensive, and special-teams snap counts with team-share percentages. Essential for OL and situational players. Source: nflverse snap_counts.

Defensive StatsNot available for this player

College StatsCollege attribution is present, but this profile artifact does not yet carry a parsed college stat table.

NFL Combine / Pro DayNot available for this player

Proprietary LayersKV-H (Knox Value-Historical) — era-normalized career rating 0–100 calibrated within position group (1999+ coverage). SIS (Snap Impact Score, 2012+) — per-snap production z-scored within position. VORP — value over replacement player. Durability IQ — games-played percentile adjusted for era.

Pre-1999 players have bio + draft data but counting stats are not available from any freely-licensed source. Players with ★ Career Only see verified career aggregates from nflverse draft_picks.

Per-Snap Impact

Tight Ends · proprietary · 2012+

Excellent

SIS

Yards / snap:0.956 ydsSee leaderboard →

Yards/snap0.956Touch rate0.132EPA/snap0Snap share60.9%Off snaps3,683Elite · ConsistentCV 0.20

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within tight ends, 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 tight ends aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Playoff vs Regular Season

📉 Regular Season Player

Yards / Reception: 12.4 regular season → 10.6 playoffs (7 playoff seasons)

-15%

vs reg season

Career Milestones13

Major career thresholds crossed, derived from regular-season totals (1999+).

20041K career receiving yards
2004100 career receptions
200525 career receiving TDs
20063K career receiving yards
2006250 career receptions
20085K career receiving yards
200850 career receiving TDs
2010500 career receptions
201175 career receiving TDs
20128K career receiving yards
201410K career receiving yards
2014750 career receptions
2015100 career receiving TDs

Understanding These Stats

Receiving

Tgt — Targets — how many times the receiver was thrown to, regardless of completion.

Rec — Receptions — catches made.

Yds — Receiving yards.

TD — Receiving touchdowns.

Ctch% — Catch rate — receptions ÷ targets × 100. Measures how reliably a receiver turns opportunities into gains. 70%+ is elite.

Y/R — Yards per reception — receiving yards ÷ receptions. Measures big-play ability; 15+ is elite for WRs.

Y/Tgt — Yards per target — receiving yards ÷ targets. The single most complete receiving efficiency metric: accounts for both drops and incomplete targets. Elite receivers post 8+ yards per target.

AirYd/T — Air yards per target — average depth of route at time of target. High values indicate a deep threat role; low values indicate a slot/check-down role.

1D — First downs gained on receiving plays.

Snap Counts (2012–present)

Off / Off% — Offensive snaps played and share of team total. The most reliable usage metric for skill positions and OL.

Def / Def% — Defensive snaps played and share of team total.

ST / ST% — Special-teams snaps played and share of team total.

Proprietary StatVault Metrics

KV-H (Knox Value-Historical) — Era-normalized career rating 0–100 within position group, calibrated so a 50 = average starter and 90+ = all-time great. Covers 1999–present. Built on a 5-year IQR/robust-std era window.

SIS (Snap Impact Score) — Per-snap production z-scored within position group and era (2012+). Measures how much a player produced per opportunity, not raw volume.

VORP (Value Over Replacement) — Sum of max(0, season KV-H − positional replacement level) across a career. Measures career value above the minimum-roster baseline at each position.

Durability IQ — 0–100 score reflecting how many games a player played relative to peers at the same position in the same era. Adjusts for injury-shortened seasons.

Postseason Career

12 playoff games

Receiving

Tgt59Rec51Yds540TD2Ctch%86.4%Y/R10.6Y/Tgt9.21D28

Snap Counts

Off163Off%66.8%

College Stats

Kent State; Eastern Michigan; Michigan State; College of the SequoiasCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Kent State; Eastern Michigan; Michigan State; College of the Sequoias), 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.

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Antonio inherited the Los Angeles Chargers TE room from Freddie Jones (1997–2001), and handed it to Hunter Henry (2016–2020).

Pete Holohan 1981–1987Eric Sievers 1981–1988Derrick Walker 1990–1993Duane Young 1991–1995Alfred Pupunu 1993–1999Freddie Jones 1997–2001Antonio Gates 2003–2018Hunter Henry 2016–2020

The room is reconstructed from arrival order among durable members (≥4 seasons with the club) at the player’s position group — a lineage by arrival, not a week-by-week depth chart. Distinct from the league-wide positional GOAT torch.

Movementderived from season history

2018final season
Last recorded season with LAC
2017team change
Joined LAC (from SD)
2003signing
Entered the NFL with SD

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'4" / 255 lb

Frame

Injury History

1 career game missed (Out)

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Games Out	Designations
2018	LAC	0	W3Questionable· IllnessW11Questionable· Knee
2016	SD	0	W3Doubtful· HamstringW4Doubtful· HamstringW5Questionable· Hamstring
2015	SD	0	W7Questionable· KneeW8Questionable· Knee
2014	SD	0	W1Questionable· Hamstring
2012	SD	0	W2Questionable· Ribs
2011	SD	0	W3Questionable· FootW4Doubtful· FootW5Doubtful· FootW7Questionable· Foot
2010	SD	1	W7Questionable· ToeW8Questionable· ToeW9Doubtful· Toe / FootW11Questionable· Toe / FootW12Questionable· Toe / FootW13Questionable· Toe / FootW14Questionable· Toe / FootW15Doubtful· Toe / FootW16Out· Toe / Foot

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 16-season peers. See all →

peak 96

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

B+2003

A+2004

A+2005

A2006

A2007

B+2008

A+2009

A2010

B+2011

B2012

B+2013

B+2014

B+2015

B+2016

C+2017

C+2018

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 16 seasons.

89%

Durability IQ

Composite score across availability, IR frequency, and injury severity. See all →

Iron

Historical Rank · Era-Adjusted

Best single season, projected to Receiving Yards (TE) in a modern 17-game schedule. See all →

#14

2005 · TE · all-time

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
2003	389	43.2	884+495	52
2004	964	64.3	1,380+416	81.2
2005	1,101	73.4	1,464+363	86.1
2006	924	57.8	1,053+129	62
2007	984	61.5	1,066+82	62.7
2008	704	46.9	820+116	48.2
2009	1,157	72.3	1,193+36	70.2
2010	782	78.2	1,273+491	74.9
2011	778	59.8	946+168	55.6
2012	538	35.9	574+36	33.8
2013	872	54.5	865-7	50.9
2014	821	51.3	824+3	48.5
2015	630	57.3	954+324	56.1
2016	548	42.2	735+187	43.2
2017	316	19.8	338+22	19.9
2018	333	22.2	381+48	22.4

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats, nflverse:snap_counts, nflverse:injuries · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 7/31/2026

Career Geography

One-Club ManLeague board →

Gave the Los Angeles Chargers an entire corpus-attributed career — 16 seasons (2003–2018), one crest. The rarest loyalty in the sport.

2003 · cause not documented · 56%2010 · Toe · 63%2015 · cause not documented · 69%

Antonio Gates

Team Carrier Evidence

All-Time Standing

Per-Snap Impact

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Receiving

Snap Counts

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography