Hugh McElhenny is a Hall of Fame running back whose career earned a solid career value score of 62 in the Knox value model. McElhenny's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.

RBDEThistorical

Hugh McElhenny

★ HALL OF FAMETop 19% all-time RBsElite Playmaker

BornDec 31, 1928

Age97

CollegeCompton Washington See College Stats

Rookie yr1952

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 29% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

29% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader29

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: 95%.

Encyclopedia Coverage

Career Value · VORP

80 career value over replacement — #1419 all-time of 4,649. 8/season above a replacement-level RB.

Fan Rating

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Compare Hugh McElhenny vs Player Report data error

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)Not available for this player

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.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average RBs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

From Scrimmage · Career

Scrimmage Yds

8,528

5,281 rush · 3,247 recv

Total TDs

38 rush · 20 recv

Total Touches

1,388

1,124 carries · 264 rec

Yds / Touch

6.1

rushing + receiving

Career Milestones8

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

19531K career rushing yards
19541K career receiving yards
195625 career rushing TDs
19573K career rushing yards
1957100 career receptions
19625K career rushing yards
19623K career receiving yards
1963250 career receptions

Understanding These Stats

Rushing

Att — Rushing attempts (carries).

Yds — Rushing yards.

TD — Rushing touchdowns.

Y/A — Yards per carry — rushing yards ÷ carries. The core rushing efficiency rate; 4.5+ is solid, 5+ is elite.

TD% — Touchdown rate per carry (TDs ÷ carries × 100) — measures scoring efficiency per touch independent of volume. Red-zone workhorses lead here.

1D — First downs gained on rushing plays.

1D% — First-down conversion rate (first downs ÷ carries × 100) — how often a carry moves the chains. Top RBs convert on 25%+ of attempts.

Fmb — Rushing fumbles lost — the key ball-security stat for running backs. Below 1 per season is elite.

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.

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.

College Stats

Compton WashingtonCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Compton Washington), 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

Joe PerryFB9y John Henry JohnsonFB3y Fran TarkentonQB2y Frank GiffordRB1y

Movementderived from season history

1964team change
Joined DET (from NYG)
1964final season
Last recorded season with DET
1963team change
Joined NYG (from MIN)
1961team change
Joined MIN (from SF)
1952signing
Entered the NFL with SF

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 10-season peers. See all →

peak 64

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

B+1952

B1953

C+1954

C+1955

B+1956

C+1957

C+1958

D1959

C+1960

C+1961

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 13 seasons.

65%

19521964

1954 · cause not documented · 50%1955 · cause not documented · 67%1962 · cause not documented · 21%1963 · cause not documented · 7%1964 · cause not documented · 7%

Durability IQ

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

Typical

Canton Monitor · HOF

Enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. See all →

✓

Enshrined

What carries the case

Era Quality (KV-H) 51.2%League Leads 48.8%

Monitor score 8.2 · components sum to the score (All-Pro ×12 · Pro Bowl ×3 · League Lead ×4 · ranks/era/longevity weighted).

Career Fingerprint

Statistical profile across 5 dimensions

Overall

Longevity73

Peak64

Accolades3

Consistency50

Per-Snap50

Era Translator

Rush 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 Rush Yds	Rush Yds/G	→ 2025 Rush Yds	→ 2025 /G
1952	684	57	956+272	56.2
1953	503	41.9	685+182	40.3
1954	515	85.8	1,240+725	72.9
1955	327	40.9	496+169	29.2
1956	916	83.3	1,390+474	81.8
1957	478	47.8	555+77	32.7
1958	451	37.6	268-183	15.8
1959	67	7.4	0-67	0
1960	347	38.6	342-5	20.1
1961	570	43.8	437-133	25.7

Data: wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), wikipedia:pfhof-inductee-list · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 7/10/2026

Career Geography

Journeyman · 4 crestsLeague board →

Wore 4 distinct franchise crests across 13 seasons (1952–1964) — a true nomad. The crest trail:

SF 1952–1960 MIN 1961–1962 NYG 1963 DET 1964