Who is better, Riley or Polamalu?
Ken Riley leads with a GOAT score of 86.7 against 86.7 for Troy Polamalu — a gap of 0.0 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Riley vs Polamalu
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently scores Ken Riley and Troy Polamalu level at 86.7. Ken Riley leads on Longevity, Statistics. Troy Polamalu leads on Honours, Dominance, Peak.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
RileyWinner
86.7Riley wins: Longevity, Statistics
Polamalu
86.7Polamalu wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours
Candidates
Locked to American FootballShareable URL · /compare/ken-riley-vs-troy-polamalu
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Ken Riley
86.7
Riley leads in 2 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Ken Riley
2. Troy Polamalu
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. 🇺🇸 Ken Riley5 seasons played · career day 1,82520 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Troy Polamalu5 seasons played · career day 1,82510 touchdowns
-50.0% vs Riley at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Riley | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 37 |
| 🇺🇸 Polamalu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 29 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | RileyRetired | PolamaluRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Career interceptions | 65 | 32 |
| Interception return touchdowns | 5 | — |
| Games played | 207 | — |
| Seasons played | 15 | — |
| Hall of Fame inductions | 1 | — |
| Super Bowl titles | — | 2 |
| Defensive Player of the Year awards | — | 1 |
| Pro Bowls | — | 8 |
| Career tackles | — | 783 |
| Dominance w25% | 82 | 86 |
| Peak w20% | 90 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 92 | 80 |
| Honours w20% | 80 | 88 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 88 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Riley86.7
Polamalu86.7
FAQ
Where does Polamalu beat Riley?
Polamalu scores higher on peak, dominance, honours. Riley leads on statistics, longevity.
How is the Riley vs Polamalu score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Riley: 86.7, Polamalu: 86.7.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Riley vs Polamalu. 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.