Who is better, Smith or Matson?
Ollie Matson leads with a GOAT score of 87.6 against 87.5 for Bruce Smith — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Smith vs Matson
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Ollie Matson above Bruce Smith: 87.6 vs 87.5. Ollie Matson leads on Peak, Honours. Bruce Smith leads on Longevity, Statistics.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
MatsonWinner
87.6Matson wins: Peak, Honours
Smith
87.5Smith wins: Longevity, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to American FootballShareable URL · /compare/bruce-smith-vs-ollie-matson
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Ollie Matson
87.6
Matson leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Ollie Matson
2. Bruce Smith
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. 🇺🇸 Ollie Matson5 seasons played · career day 1,826366 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Bruce Smith5 seasons played · career day 1,82557.5 touchdowns
-84.3% vs Matson at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Smith | 0 | 0 | 6.5 | 21.5 | 57.5 | 106 |
| 🇺🇸 Matson | 0 | 0 | 50 | 112 | 270 | 690 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | SmithRetired | MatsonRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Career sacks | 200 | — |
| Defensive Player of the Year | 2 | — |
| Pro Bowls | 11 | 6 |
| All-Pro First Teams | 8 | — |
| Super Bowl appearances | 4 | — |
| Forced fumbles | 43 | — |
| Olympic medals | — | 2 |
| Career touchdowns | — | 73 |
| All-purpose yards | — | 12,844 |
| Return touchdowns | — | 9 |
| Dominance w25% | 84 | 84 |
| Peak w20% | 88 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 92 | 86 |
| Honours w20% | 82 | 86 |
| Statistics w15% | 94 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Matson87.6
Smith87.5
FAQ
Where does Smith beat Matson?
Smith scores higher on statistics, longevity. Matson leads on peak, honours.
How is the Smith vs Matson score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Smith: 87.5, Matson: 87.6.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Smith vs Matson. 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.