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Dean vs Donovan

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
DeanWinner
85.4

Dean wins: Dominance, Peak, Statistics

Donovan
85.4

Donovan wins: Longevity, Honours

Candidates
Locked to American Football

Shareable URL · /compare/fred-dean-vs-art-donovan

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Fred Dean
85.4

Dean leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. Two Super Bowl titles and six sacks in a single 1983 game.

1. Fred Dean
85.4
2. Art Donovan
85.4

Category breakdown

Season form · Touchdowns per season

Career timeline · Touchdowns 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 · Touchdowns per season
1. 🇺🇸 Fred Dean5 seasons played · career day 1,825329 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Art Donovan5 seasons played · career day 1,825307 touchdowns
-6.7% vs Dean at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Dean0050108329663
🇺🇸 Donovan0050106307653

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricDeanRetiredDonovanRetired
Super Bowl titles2
Sacks in one game6
Pro Bowls45
Defensive Player of the Year awards1
Seasons played1112
NFL titles2
All-Pro selections4
Games played137
Dominance w25%8482
Peak w20%9490
Longevity w20%7682
Honours w20%8688
Statistics w15%8886

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Dean85.4
Donovan85.4
The people
Dean
Donovan

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Make your case for Dean vs Donovan. 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.

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