Who is better, Smith or Hester?
Bruce Smith leads with a GOAT score of 87.5 against 87.5 for Devin Hester — a gap of 0.0 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Smith vs Hester
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently scores Bruce Smith and Devin Hester level at 87.5. Bruce Smith leads on Longevity, Statistics. Devin Hester leads on Dominance, Peak, Honours.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
SmithWinner
87.5Smith wins: Longevity, Statistics
Hester
87.5Hester wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours
Candidates
Locked to American FootballShareable URL · /compare/bruce-smith-vs-devin-hester
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Bruce Smith
87.5
Smith leads in 2 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Bruce Smith
2. Devin Hester
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 Bruce Smith5 seasons played · career day 1,82557.5 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Devin Hester5 seasons played · career day 1,82516 touchdowns
-72.2% vs Smith at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Smith | 0 | 0 | 6.5 | 21.5 | 57.5 | 106 |
| 🇺🇸 Hester | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | SmithRetired | HesterRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Career sacks | 200 | — |
| Defensive Player of the Year | 2 | — |
| Pro Bowls | 11 | 4 |
| All-Pro First Teams | 8 | — |
| Super Bowl appearances | 4 | — |
| Forced fumbles | 43 | — |
| Return touchdowns | — | 20 |
| Punt return touchdowns | — | 14 |
| First-team All-Pro selections | — | 3 |
| Super Bowl kickoff return touchdowns | — | 1 |
| Dominance w25% | 84 | 90 |
| Peak w20% | 88 | 94 |
| Longevity w20% | 92 | 78 |
| Honours w20% | 82 | 84 |
| Statistics w15% | 94 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Smith87.5
Hester87.5
FAQ
Where does Hester beat Smith?
Hester scores higher on peak, dominance, honours. Smith leads on statistics, longevity.
How is the Smith vs Hester score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Smith: 87.5, Hester: 87.5.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Smith vs Hester. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.