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

RBDET#31ACT

Mario Bates

Top 12% all-time RBsElite Playmaker⭐ Shooting Star · 1999 Team Carrier · #401

Height6'2"

Weight239 lb

BornJan 16, 1973

Age53

CollegeArizona State

Team Carrier Evidence

Ranked #401 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

1999 ARI·6 team wins#8

Rushing Touchdowns · 9 · score 18

All-Time Standing

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

Depth

of 100

Reached 23% of the all-time Rushing Touchdowns leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

23% of the all-time Rushing Touchdowns leader

Career Value · VORP

82 career value over replacement — #1399 all-time of 4,649. 13.7/season above a replacement-level RB.

Career Profile

1 top-10 seasonstop-10 marks

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #44 (Rd 2) · NO · 1994 · +18.6 vs expected KV-H

68actual

49.4 expected · Δ+18.6

💔+37.8 stolen VORP·2.52 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Compare Mario Bates vs Player Report data error

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: 90%.

Encyclopedia Coverage4/8 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)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+).

Career Milestones3

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

19951K career rushing yards
199825 career rushing TDs
20003K career rushing yards

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.

Defense

Tkl / Solo / Ast — Combined tackles (Solo + ½ Assist). Solo = unassisted. Ast = helped by a teammate.

TFL — Tackles for loss — stops made behind the line of scrimmage (run stuffs + QB contain).

QBHits — QB hits — any legal contact on the quarterback, including but beyond sacks (hurries that land).

Sk — Sacks — tackled the QB behind the line for a loss. Half-sacks shared between defenders.

Dis — Disruption plays = sacks + QB hits + TFL. The composite pass-rush / run-stop impact stat for one season. Elite pass rushers post 30+ disruption plays per season.

Int — Interceptions caught by this defender.

PD — Passes defended — deflections and breakups.

FF / FR — Forced fumbles (stripped or jarred loose). Fumble Recoveries.

TD — Defensive touchdowns — picks, fumble returns, safeties returned.

Sfty — Safeties — tackled the ball carrier in their own end zone.

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

Arizona StateCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Arizona State), 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.

Movementderived from season history

2000team change
Joined DET (from ARI)
2000final season
Last recorded season with DET
1998team change
Joined ARI (from NO)
1994draft
Drafted by NO — Round 2, Pick 44

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 239 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 6-season peers. See all →

peak 73

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

B1994

A1995

B+1996

C+1997

C+1999

C+2000

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 7 seasons.

58%

19942000

1994 · backup · 7/16 G

1996 · cause not documented · 63%1997 · cause not documented · 44%1998 · cause not documented · 6%1999 · cause not documented · 63%

Durability IQ

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

Typical

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
1994	579	82.7	1,799+1,220	105.8
1995	951	59.4	1,379+428	81.1
1996	584	58.4	1,332+748	78.3
1997	440	62.9	1,347+907	79.2
1999	202	20.2	571+369	33.6
2000	127	10.6	379+252	22.3

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) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 7/31/2026

Career Geography

Journeyman · 3 crestsLeague board →

Wore 3 distinct franchise crests across 7 seasons (1994–2000) — a true nomad. The crest trail:

NO 1994–1997 ARI 1998–1999 DET 2000