Willis McGahee ranks in the all-time elite tier for running backs — a career that places McGahee in the top 10% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns McGahee a career score of 71, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

RBCLE#26ACT

Willis McGahee

2× Pro BowlTop 9% all-time RBsIron Man📈 Late Developer · 2011 Team Carrier · #101

Height6'0"

Weight235 lb

BornOct 21, 1981

Age44

CollegeMiami

Team Carrier Evidence

Ranked #101 of 600 by seasons where high individual production happened on low-win teams. Score aggregates only tracked StatVault categories.

Full board

Total Score

3 qualifying seasons

2007 BAL·5 team wins#8

Rushing Yards · 1,207 · score 36

2005 BUF·5 team wins#10

Rushing Yards · 1,247 · score 32

2007 BAL

Career Value · VORP

173 career value over replacement — #499 all-time of 4,649. 17.3/season above a replacement-level RB.

Career Profile

5 top-10 seasonstop-10 marks 2-phase playertwo-way

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #23 (Rd 1) · BUF · 2003 · +15.3 vs expected KV-H

71actual

55.7 expected · Δ+15.3

💔+20.6 stolen VORP·1.2 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Compare Willis McGahee vs Player Report data error

Rushing Touchdowns · 7 · score 20

All-Time Standing

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

Solid

of 100

Reached 46% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader — a solid all-time profile at the position.

46% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader46

2 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader67

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: 93%.

Encyclopedia Coverage6/8 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 Day40-yard dash, vertical, broad jump, 3-cone, shuttle, bench press. Source: nflverse combine.csv.

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

Running Backs · proprietary · 2012+

—

below snap floor

Yards / snap:1.504 ydsSee leaderboard →

Yards/snap1.504Touch rate0.564EPA/snap0Snap share31.9%Off snaps264Emerging

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within running backs, 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 RBs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Combine · 2003

Percentiles compare each raw measurement against position peers, the full combine pool, and the same draft class where enough samples exist.

RB · 2003 class

4.45s

40-Yard

Strong · 81th pct

Pos 81thAll 87thClass Pos 89thClass All 90th

Playoff vs Regular Season

📊 Consistent

Yards / Carry: 4.0 regular season → 3.7 playoffs (4 playoff seasons)

-9%

vs reg season

From Scrimmage · Career

Scrimmage Yds

9,813

8,474 rush · 1,339 recv

Total TDs

65 rush · 5 recv

Total Touches

2,305

2,095 carries · 210 rec

Yds / Touch

4.3

rushing + receiving

Career Milestones8

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

20041K career rushing yards
20063K career rushing yards
200725 career rushing TDs
2007100 career receptions
20085K career rushing yards
200950 career rushing TDs
20101K career receiving yards
20128K 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.

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

9 playoff games

Rushing

Att111Yds408TD5Y/A3.7TD%4.51D191D%17.1Fmb1

Receiving

Tgt12Rec10Yds70Ctch%83.3%Y/R7.0Y/Tgt5.81D3

College Stats

MiamiCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Miami), 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

2013team change
Joined CLE (from DEN)
2013final season
Last recorded season with CLE
2011team change
Joined DEN (from BAL)
2007team change
Joined BAL (from BUF)
2003draft
Drafted by BUF — Round 1, Pick 23

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'0" / 235 lb

Frame

223 lb at 4.45s

Size-speed

Injury History

2 career games missed (Out)

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Games Out	Designations
2013	CLE	1	W15Out· Concussion / Knee
2011	DEN	1	W8Out· HandW11Questionable· HamstringW14Questionable· Knee
2010	BAL	0	W15Questionable· Illness

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 76

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

B+2004

B+2005

B2006

B+2007

B2008

B2009

C+2010

B+2011

B+2012

C+2013

Availability

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

88%

20042013

2012 · cause not documented · 63%

Durability IQ

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

Iron

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
2004	1,128	75.2	1,144+16	67.3
2005	1,247	77.9	1,181-66	69.4
2006	990	70.7	1,041+51	61.2
2007	1,207	80.5	1,196-11	70.4
2008	671	51.6	791+120	46.5
2009	544	36.3	586+42	34.5
2010	380	25.3	458+78	27
2011	1,199	79.9	1,340+141	78.8
2012	731	73.1	1,272+541	74.8
2013	377	34.3	643+266	37.8

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

Career Geography

Journeyman · 4 crestsLeague board →

Wore 4 distinct franchise crests across 10 seasons (2004–2013) — a true nomad. The crest trail:

BUF 2004–2006 BAL 2007–2010 DEN 2011–2012 CLE 2013

Willis McGahee 2004–2006

Willis McGahee 2011–2012

Willis McGahee

Team Carrier Evidence

All-Time Standing

Per-Snap Impact

Career Aging Trajectory

Combine · 2003

From Scrimmage · Career

Postseason Career

Rushing

Receiving

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

2003 Draft Class· this player went #23

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography