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

QBDET#8ACT

Matt Cassel

1× Pro BowlTop 33% all-time QBsHigh-End Starter⚡ Breakout · 2008 🌅 Early Bloomer · 2008 Team Carrier · #268

Height6'4"

Weight225 lb

BornMay 17, 1982

Age44

Team Carrier Evidence

Ranked #268 of 600 by seasons where high individual production happened on low-win teams. Score aggregates only tracked StatVault categories.

Full board

Total Score

2 qualifying seasons

2009 KC·4 team wins#20

Passing Yards · 2,924 · score 18

2009 KC·4 team wins#20

Passing Touchdowns · 16 · score 18

All-Time Standing

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

Career Value · VORP

86 career value over replacement — #1346 all-time of 4,649. 8.6/season above a replacement-level QB.

Career Profile

2 top-10 seasonstop-10 marks Comet56% in top 3 yrs 2-phase playertwo-way

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #230 (Rd 7) · NE · 2005 · +30.2 vs expected KV-H

49actual

18.8 expected · Δ+30.2

Fan Rating

Rate Matt Cassel — All-Time

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Compare Matt Cassel vs Player Report data error

ConferencePacific Ten

Depth

of 100

Reached 20% of the all-time Passing Yards leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

20% of the all-time Passing Yards leader20

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: 91%.

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.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average QBs aging curve. Group peak age: 24. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Career Milestones7

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

20081K career passing yards
20095K career passing yards
200925 career passing TDs
201050 career passing TDs
201110K career passing yards
2015100 career passing TDs
20151K career rushing yards

Understanding These Stats

Passing

Cmp / Att — Completions and pass attempts.

Cmp% — Completion percentage — completions ÷ attempts × 100.

Yds — Passing yards — total air + yards after catch on completions.

TD / TD% — Passing touchdowns. TD% = TDs per 100 attempts, measuring scoring efficiency.

Int / Int% — Interceptions thrown. Int% = INTs per 100 attempts — the primary ball-security metric.

Y/A — Yards per attempt — passing yards ÷ attempts. The core passing efficiency rate.

AdjY/A — Adjusted yards per attempt: (Pass Yds + 20×TD − 45×INT) ÷ Att. Penalizes turnovers and rewards touchdowns — widely considered the most predictive single-season QB metric.

TD:INT — TD-to-interception ratio — passing touchdowns ÷ interceptions thrown. Elite QBs sustain career ratios above 3.0; HOF greats often exceed 4.0. Not shown when no interceptions.

Rate — NFL passer rating — the official formula combining Cmp%, Y/A, TD%, and INT% on a 0–158.3 scale. Good QB performance ≈ 90+; elite ≈ 110+.

Sk — Times sacked — how many times the QB was brought down behind the line of scrimmage.

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.

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

2 playoff games

Passing

Cmp9Att18Cmp%50.0%Yds70Int3Int%16.7Y/A3.9AdjY/A-3.6Rate20.4Sk3

Rushing

Att4Yds5Y/A1.3

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.

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Matt inherited the Kansas City Chiefs QB room from Damon Huard (2006–2008), and handed it to Patrick Mahomes (2017–2025).

Todd Blackledge 1983–1987Steve Bono 1994–1996Rich Gannon 1995–1998Elvis Grbac 1997–2000Trent Green 2001–2006Damon Huard 2006–2008Matt Cassel 2009–2012Patrick Mahomes 2017–2025Tom Brady 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

2018team change
Joined DET (from TEN)
2018final season
Last recorded season with DET
2016team change
Joined TEN (from DAL)
2015team change
Joined DAL (from MIN)
2013team change
Joined MIN (from KC)
2009team change
Joined KC (from NE)
2005draft
Drafted by NE — Round 7, Pick 230

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'4" / 225 lb

Frame

Injury History

2 career games missed (Out)

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Games Out	Designations
2012	KC	1	W6Out· Concussion
2011	KC	1	W11Out· right Hand
2010	KC	0	W14Doubtful· IllnessW15Questionable· Illness
2009	KC	0	W1Questionable· KneeW2Questionable· Knee

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 58

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

F2006

F2007

B2008

C+2009

C+2010

C2011

C2012

C2013

F2015

F2016

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 14 seasons.

53%

20052018

2005 · backup · 2/16 G2006 · backup · 5/16 G2007 · backup · 5/16 G

2011 · right Hand · 56%2012 · Concussion · 56%2013 · cause not documented · 56%2014 · cause not documented · 19%2015 · cause not documented · 56%2016 · cause not documented · 25%2017 · cause not documented · 13%2018 · cause not documented · 13%

Durability IQ

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

Typical

Era Translator

Pass 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 Pass Yds	Pass Yds/G	→ 2025 Pass Yds	→ 2025 /G
2006	32	6.4	1,148+1,116	67.5
2007	38	7.6	1,257+1,219	73.9
2008	3,693	230.8	3,994+301	234.9
2009	2,924	194.9	3,456+532	203.3
2010	3,116	207.7	3,569+453	210
2011	1,713	190.3	3,249+1,536	191.1
2012	1,796	199.6	3,307+1,511	194.5
2013	1,807	200.8	3,172+1,365	186.6
2015	1,276	159.5	2,458+1,182	144.6
2016	284	71	1,126+842	66.3

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

Career Geography

Journeyman · 7 crestsLeague board →

Wore 7 distinct franchise crests across 14 seasons (2005–2018) — a true nomad. The crest trail:

NE 2005–2008 KC 2009–2012 MIN 2013–2014 BUF 2015 DAL 2015 TEN 2016–2017 DET 2018

Matt Cassel

Team Carrier Evidence

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Passing

Rushing

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

2005 Draft Class· this player went #230

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography