RUNNING BACKS 2008

Regular season totals,playoffs not included

Revised as of 3/5/2009

Running backs are ranked according to DYAR, or Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement. This gives the value of the performance on plays where this running back carried/caught the ball compared to replacement level, adjusted for situation and opponent and then translated into yardage. DYAR (and its cousin, YAR, which isn't adjusted based on opponent) is further explained here [1].

The next statistic given is DVOA, or Defense-adjusted Value Over Average. This number represents value, per play, over an average running back in the same game situations. The more positive the DVOA rating, the better the player's performance. Negative DVOA represents below-average offense. DVOA (and its cousin, VOA, which isn't adjusted based on opponent) is further explained here [2].

Effective Yards (EYds), listed in red, translate DVOA into a yards per attempt figure. This provides an easy comparison: in general, players with more Effective Yards than standard yards played better than standard stats would otherwise indicate, while players with fewer Effective Yards than standard yards played worse than standard stats would otherwise indicate. Effective Yards are not the best way to measure total value because they are more dependent on usage than DYAR.

The final statistic is Success Rate. This number represents the player's consistency, measured by successful running plays (the definition of success being different based on down and distance) divided by total running plays. A player with higher DVOA and a low success rate mixes long runs with downs getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage. A player with lower DVOA and a high success rate generally gets the yards needed, but doesn't often get more. Success Rate is further explained here [3]. It is not adjusted for opponent.

The simple version: DYAR means a running back with more total value. DVOA means a running back with more value per play.

These numbers do not separate the performance of a running back from the performance of his offensive line. (You'll find numbers that try to do that on this page [4].) Be aware that one will affect the other.
All fumbles are considered equal, whether recovered by the offense or defense.

RUSHING: Minimum 100 rushes, 49 players ranked

Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	YAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	VOA	Runs	Yards	EYds	TD	FUM	Suc Rate	Rk
34-D.Williams	CAR	385	1	442	1	28.3%	1	33.7%	273	1,515	1,523	18	0	47%	19
27-B.Jacobs	NYG	300	2	247	4	22.4%	3	16.9%	219	1,090	1,319	15	3	51%	7
26-C.Portis	WAS	286	3	233	5	11.7%	8	7.9%	342	1,487	1,675	9	3	48%	15
34-D.Ward	NYG	265	4	214	6	25.9%	2	19.2%	182	1,027	1,092	2	2	51%	8
20-T.Jones	NYJ	252	5	262	2	11.9%	7	12.7%	290	1,312	1,469	13	2	54%	3
33-M.Turner	ATL	203	6	259	3	4.1%	19	7.6%	376	1,699	1,710	17	3	48%	18
28-C.Johnson	TEN	175	7	165	9	9.2%	10	8.2%	251	1,228	1,132	9	1	44%	34
20-S.Slaton	HOU	166	8	148	13	5.8%	16	4.2%	268	1,285	1,262	9	2	44%	35
34-S.Morris	NE	166	9	154	11	14.8%	5	13.2%	156	728	877	7	1	49%	10
33-L.McClain	BAL	163	10	97	21	7.6%	11	1.0%	232	907	1,129	10	3	51%	9
23-P.Thomas	NO	161	11	190	7	16.9%	4	21.6%	129	625	802	9	1	62%	1
36-B.Westbrook	PHI	151	12	130	15	6.9%	15	4.8%	233	936	1,084	9	1	48%	17
25-L.White	TEN	145	13	155	10	7.6%	13	8.7%	200	774	1,002	15	0	54%	4
Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	YAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	VOA	Runs	Yards	EYds	TD	FUM	Suc Rate	Rk
21-M.Moore	PIT	139	14	105	20	14.3%	6	8.6%	140	588	750	5	0	51%	6
23-R.Brown	MIA	127	15	132	14	5.1%	17	5.6%	214	916	1,004	10	1	49%	11
28-J.Stewart	CAR	122	16	149	12	7.6%	12	11.3%	184	838	844	10	2	45%	31
28-A.Peterson	MIN	121	17	172	8	-0.3%	22	3.2%	363	1,761	1,457	10	9	46%	23
32-M.Jones-Drew	JAC	112	18	107	17	4.4%	18	3.8%	197	826	925	12	4	46%	22
22-F.Jackson	BUF	91	19	94	22	6.9%	14	7.4%	130	583	651	3	1	53%	5
21-L.Tomlinson	SD	88	20	107	16	-1.4%	27	0.2%	292	1,110	1,193	11	0	45%	32
23-W.McGahee	BAL	86	21	91	23	3.9%	20	4.6%	170	671	731	7	2	46%	25
26-D.McAllister	NO	86	22	107	18	9.6%	9	14.1%	106	418	544	5	0	59%	2
34-K.Smith	DET	80	23	90	24	-0.5%	23	0.6%	238	975	971	8	2	44%	36
23-M.Lynch	BUF	77	24	105	19	-1.2%	25	1.5%	250	1,036	1,018	8	2	46%	24
21-F.Gore	SF	69	25	72	25	-1.7%	29	-1.4%	240	1,038	977	6	6	47%	20
39-S.Jackson	STL	66	26	45	28	-2.5%	31	-4.5%	253	1,047	1,045	7	5	46%	26
Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	YAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	VOA	Runs	Yards	EYds	TD	FUM	Suc Rate	Rk
29-J.Addai	IND	49	27	44	29	-1.3%	26	-2.1%	155	544	662	5	1	48%	14
39-W.Parker	PIT	46	28	41	30	-2.9%	33	-3.6%	209	789	780	5	0	41%	41
32-E.James	ARI	46	29	39	31	0.0%	21	-1.3%	133	515	535	3	1	44%	33
24-M.Barber	DAL	43	30	31	34	-4.3%	35	-5.5%	238	885	949	7	3	41%	42
28-W.Dunn	TB	41	31	66	26	-2.9%	32	0.5%	186	786	689	2	0	46%	21
20-M.Morris	SEA	38	32	25	36	-1.1%	24	-3.6%	132	577	493	0	1	45%	30
34-R.Williams	MIA	31	33	36	33	-3.9%	34	-3.0%	160	663	607	4	4	48%	16
31-J.Lewis	CLE	29	34	-50	46	-6.0%	37	-13.0%	279	1,002	1,033	4	1	40%	45
29-C.Taylor	MIN	28	35	37	32	-1.4%	28	0.8%	101	399	387	4	0	43%	38
27-R.Rice	BAL	25	36	18	39	-2.4%	30	-4.1%	108	462	388	0	1	42%	40
38-D.Rhodes	IND	25	37	19	38	-4.9%	36	-5.8%	152	538	619	6	0	49%	12
22-M.Forte	CHI	21	38	53	27	-7.1%	38	-4.7%	316	1,239	1,204	8	1	43%	37
34-E.Graham	TB	1	39	25	37	-8.4%	39	-4.2%	132	563	482	4	2	48%	13
Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	YAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	VOA	Runs	Yards	EYds	TD	FUM	Suc Rate	Rk
20-D.McFadden	OAK	-2	40	26	35	-8.9%	40	-2.9%	113	500	386	4	3	38%	47
25-R.Bush	NO	-2	41	8	40	-9.0%	41	-6.8%	106	404	374	2	2	45%	28
22-J.Jones	SEA	-9	42	-1	41	-10.2%	43	-8.7%	158	697	499	2	4	39%	46
25-R.Grant	GB	-19	43	-21	43	-10.1%	42	-10.2%	312	1,204	1,079	4	4	46%	27
28-F.Taylor	JAC	-32	44	-24	44	-14.3%	46	-12.8%	143	556	437	1	0	41%	43
32-C.Benson	CIN	-34	45	-70	48	-12.5%	44	-16.6%	214	747	690	2	2	40%	44
27-L.Johnson	KC	-37	46	-4	42	-12.7%	45	-9.0%	193	874	699	5	5	45%	29
25-J.Fargas	OAK	-78	47	-46	45	-17.3%	47	-13.8%	219	841	635	1	4	42%	39
34-T.Hightower	ARI	-79	48	-60	47	-20.6%	48	-17.7%	143	400	439	10	1	37%	48
23-C.Perry	CIN	-137	49	-176	49	-39.2%	49	-47.7%	103	267	163	2	5	29%	49

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player	Team	DYAR	YAR	DVOA	VOA	Runs	Yards	EYds	TD	FUM
33-K.Faulk	NE	178	193	46.5%	51.1%	83	507	565	3	0
23-T.Choice	DAL	157	105	32.0%	18.5%	93	471	587	2	1
22-P.Hillis	DEN	151	156	41.0%	42.4%	68	343	508	5	0
28-F.Jones	DAL	118	119	81.8%	82.6%	30	266	304	3	0
32-L.Jordan	NE	113	104	22.2%	19.9%	80	363	497	4	1
29-L.Washington	NYJ	94	98	23.7%	24.9%	76	448	404	6	1
28-M.Pittman	DEN	93	88	15.6%	14.4%	76	320	480	4	0
35-J.Harrison	CLE	79	76	52.7%	50.7%	34	246	238	1	0
30-A.Green	HOU	74	76	12.6%	13.2%	74	294	419	3	0
28-C.Buckhalter	PHI	69	55	11.0%	6.9%	76	369	417	2	0
21-T.Bell	DEN	67	76	28.2%	33.3%	44	249	263	2	0
43-D.Sproles	SD	64	82	17.9%	25.1%	61	330	313	1	0
25-J.Charles	KC	63	66	15.3%	16.5%	67	361	330	0	1
Player	Team	DYAR	YAR	DVOA	VOA	Runs	Yards	EYds	TD	FUM
32-B.Jackson	GB	62	65	25.3%	26.8%	45	248	258	1	1
32-J.Norwood	ATL	57	72	7.1%	11.2%	95	489	405	4	1
42-T.Duckett	SEA	56	79	7.3%	13.9%	62	172	392	8	0
42-B.Green-Ellis	NE	55	66	6.7%	9.9%	74	275	399	5	0
28-J.Arrington	ARI	44	48	31.2%	35.5%	30	188	165	1	0
21-R.Moats	HOU	42	30	31.5%	20.1%	26	94	158	1	0
35-S.Young	DEN	40	47	9.4%	12.5%	61	303	258	1	1
36-L.Polite	MIA	36	39	18.3%	21.1%	23	85	171	0	0
44-A.Bradshaw	NYG	20	-2	-1.4%	-9.3%	67	356	270	1	2
29-M.Bush	OAK	17	20	-3.9%	-3.3%	95	421	348	3	1
29-A.Peterson	CHI	17	24	13.7%	22.2%	20	100	94	0	0
29-J.Wright	CLE	16	10	8.3%	1.5%	23	85	109	0	0
33-G.Russell	PIT	13	11	-0.5%	-1.8%	28	77	164	3	0
Player	Team	DYAR	YAR	DVOA	VOA	Runs	Yards	EYds	TD	FUM
30-A.Pittman	STL	12	-6	-5.0%	-10.4%	79	296	307	0	0
33-K.Darby	STL	9	4	-1.9%	-5.8%	32	140	136	0	1
46-L.Betts	WAS	7	-13	-6.1%	-13.1%	61	206	255	1	1
24-C.Williams	TB	7	39	-6.2%	5.1%	63	233	254	4	1
23-A.Hall	DEN	2	3	-7.0%	-6.1%	35	152	112	0	2
43-L.Weaver	SEA	-1	-1	-9.0%	-9.0%	30	130	107	0	1
32-K.Eckel	PHI	-2	-1	-10.1%	-9.1%	24	79	93	0	0
39-L.Maroney	NE	-2	-4	-10.0%	-11.8%	28	93	101	0	0
25-L.Booker	PHI	-12	-16	-24.7%	-31.2%	20	53	43	0	0
21-K.Smith	KC	-26	-32	-24.5%	-28.4%	35	100	96	1	0
27-K.Jones	CHI	-28	-19	-29.3%	-23.1%	34	109	70	0	0
32-R.Johnson	DET	-35	-48	-21.3%	-26.1%	76	237	178	1	1
29-D.Foster	SF	-78	-65	-31.9%	-28.1%	76	238	161	1	2

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 49 players ranked

Passes includes all passes to this receiver, complete and incomplete.
Catch Rate is the percentage of passes completed to this receiver.

Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	YAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	VOA	Passes	Yards	EYds	TD	Catch Rate
32-M.Jones-Drew	JAC	220	1	222	1	43.8%	4	44.4%	75	568	728	2	83%
22-M.Forte	CHI	201	2	206	2	33.1%	8	34.2%	76	477	721	4	83%
33-K.Faulk	NE	192	3	192	3	34.1%	6	33.9%	74	486	680	3	78%
43-D.Sproles	SD	171	4	174	4	73.1%	1	74.2%	34	348	495	5	85%
28-C.Buckhalter	PHI	153	5	154	5	62.1%	2	62.2%	32	324	462	2	81%
23-P.Thomas	NO	136	6	146	6	40.2%	5	44.4%	41	284	460	3	76%
25-R.Bush	NO	118	7	110	8	15.3%	16	13.3%	72	440	533	4	72%
38-P.Cobbs	MIA	110	8	117	7	53.5%	3	57.6%	27	275	344	3	70%
34-D.Ward	NYG	107	9	101	11	24.0%	11	21.7%	55	384	424	0	75%
20-D.McFadden	OAK	107	10	109	9	33.3%	7	34.0%	39	285	383	0	77%
29-C.Taylor	MIN	104	11	101	10	25.4%	10	24.3%	55	399	406	2	82%
28-J.Arrington	ARI	81	12	83	12	23.3%	12	24.1%	40	254	329	1	75%
27-R.Rice	BAL	81	13	81	13	25.8%	9	26.1%	43	273	312	0	77%
Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	YAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	VOA	Passes	Yards	EYds	TD	Catch Rate
29-L.Washington	NYJ	75	14	71	14	9.3%	20	8.2%	61	355	385	2	77%
20-T.Jones	NYJ	71	15	70	15	12.7%	17	12.3%	42	207	339	3	86%
22-F.Jackson	BUF	67	16	70	16	12.4%	18	13.4%	45	321	322	0	82%
21-F.Gore	SF	62	17	69	17	2.4%	28	4.1%	66	373	403	2	65%
36-B.Westbrook	PHI	59	18	65	18	0.2%	30	1.6%	73	400	424	5	74%
23-R.Brown	MIA	57	19	59	19	11.6%	19	12.4%	43	254	280	0	77%
24-M.Barber	DAL	56	20	52	23	4.3%	26	3.0%	61	417	336	2	85%
21-M.Moore	PIT	55	21	56	21	4.6%	25	4.8%	53	320	330	1	75%
32-J.Norwood	ATL	55	22	49	25	5.0%	23	2.9%	54	338	324	2	67%
26-C.Portis	WAS	54	23	49	26	15.3%	15	12.5%	36	218	243	0	78%
38-D.Rhodes	IND	54	24	58	20	2.2%	29	3.6%	59	302	349	3	76%
21-L.Tomlinson	SD	52	25	53	22	-1.4%	34	-1.2%	77	415	410	1	68%
39-S.Jackson	STL	46	26	51	24	0.2%	31	1.5%	62	379	332	1	65%
Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	YAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	VOA	Passes	Yards	EYds	TD	Catch Rate
43-L.Weaver	SEA	45	27	42	29	15.6%	14	13.3%	32	222	204	2	63%
20-M.Morris	SEA	45	28	44	27	16.8%	13	15.9%	27	136	198	2	70%
29-J.Addai	IND	40	29	42	28	5.3%	22	6.2%	39	206	235	2	64%
28-W.Dunn	TB	39	30	36	30	-3.7%	36	-4.5%	68	330	353	1	69%
29-M.Bush	OAK	35	31	28	33	7.5%	21	3.7%	30	162	187	0	63%
31-J.Lewis	CLE	31	32	33	32	4.6%	24	5.9%	32	178	185	1	72%
20-S.Slaton	HOU	30	33	36	31	-3.9%	37	-2.0%	59	377	276	1	85%
23-T.Choice	DAL	29	34	21	36	3.9%	27	-1.0%	30	185	178	0	70%
34-E.Graham	TB	24	35	27	34	-1.1%	32	0.5%	33	174	181	0	70%
46-L.Betts	WAS	19	36	22	35	-1.4%	33	0.8%	35	200	149	0	63%
25-J.Charles	KC	16	37	13	39	-6.2%	38	-7.8%	40	274	180	1	68%
34-K.Smith	DET	15	38	16	38	-8.9%	39	-8.5%	54	286	248	1	72%
32-C.Benson	CIN	15	39	16	37	-2.9%	35	-1.8%	26	185	128	0	77%
Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	YAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	VOA	Passes	Yards	EYds	TD	Catch Rate
34-T.Hightower	ARI	10	40	2	43	-10.2%	41	-13.2%	50	245	214	0	68%
34-R.Williams	MIA	8	41	10	40	-9.6%	40	-8.8%	39	219	161	1	74%
23-M.Lynch	BUF	5	42	4	41	-12.5%	43	-12.7%	67	300	275	1	70%
30-A.Pittman	STL	4	43	3	42	-11.4%	42	-11.9%	27	137	113	0	67%
32-B.Jackson	GB	1	44	0	44	-13.2%	44	-13.6%	39	185	136	0	77%
34-D.Williams	CAR	-1	45	0	45	-14.5%	45	-14.0%	30	121	114	2	73%
23-W.McGahee	BAL	-15	46	-17	47	-22.0%	47	-23.4%	32	173	98	0	75%
29-J.Wright	CLE	-17	47	-19	48	-22.5%	48	-23.8%	37	155	103	2	59%
28-C.Johnson	TEN	-20	48	-15	46	-19.8%	46	-18.1%	62	260	204	1	69%
33-L.McClain	BAL	-23	49	-22	49	-28.0%	49	-27.0%	30	123	70	1	63%
22-J.Jones	SEA	-56	50	-59	50	-53.1%	51	-55.4%	25	66	-13	0	56%
28-A.Peterson	MIN	-70	51	-71	51	-46.5%	50	-47.0%	39	125	9	0	54%
23-C.Perry	CIN	-77	52	-82	52	-55.2%	52	-57.8%	35	76	-26	0	60%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player	Team	DYAR	YAR	DVOA	VOA	Passes	Yards	EYds	TD	Catch Rate
24-M.Robinson	SF	85	81	54.9%	52.0%	20	202	260	0	85%
35-M.Tolbert	SD	82	83	72.0%	73.1%	15	171	239	1	87%
22-P.Hillis	DEN	82	86	55.9%	59.4%	19	179	253	1	74%
33-K.Darby	STL	75	72	43.5%	41.5%	21	183	247	0	90%
33-G.Jones	JAC	61	59	53.2%	50.5%	16	116	191	1	81%
22-J.Hester	SD	49	54	44.6%	50.3%	13	91	161	1	92%
34-S.Morris	NE	42	43	18.1%	19.2%	24	161	181	0	71%
26-D.McAllister	NO	41	34	16.0%	10.5%	23	128	183	1	78%
36-J.Griffith	OAK	40	37	34.6%	31.8%	13	85	140	1	69%
45-A.Hall	TEN	36	39	14.5%	17.0%	18	138	165	2	72%
29-D.Foster	SF	35	34	12.9%	11.8%	20	133	167	1	80%
32-R.Johnson	DET	29	28	23.8%	22.6%	14	88	114	1	86%
35-J.Harrison	CLE	29	28	14.7%	13.5%	18	116	131	1	67%
44-J.Snelling	ATL	24	24	43.9%	44.8%	11	89	79	0	73%
45-M.Sellers	WAS	21	22	9.0%	10.4%	15	98	108	1	80%
Player	Team	DYAR	YAR	DVOA	VOA	Passes	Yards	EYds	TD	Catch Rate
25-R.Grant	GB	16	21	1.1%	5.2%	22	116	113	1	82%
27-A.Stecker	NO	16	16	8.8%	9.0%	12	52	82	1	75%
44-V.Leach	HOU	11	9	-3.9%	-5.6%	18	103	104	0	67%
34-O.Mughelli	ATL	11	9	7.6%	4.2%	10	57	59	0	80%
47-L.Vickers	CLE	10	10	-2.3%	-2.9%	15	78	84	0	67%
32-E.James	ARI	1	-1	-12.6%	-15.2%	18	85	68	0	67%
28-M.Pittman	DEN	1	4	-12.2%	-6.6%	13	112	44	0	77%
21-T.Bell	DEN	0	-1	-13.2%	-15.0%	14	57	54	0	71%
21-K.Smith	KC	0	0	-14.3%	-13.1%	11	52	34	0	91%
39-M.Hedgecock	NYG	-3	-1	-16.4%	-14.5%	15	52	71	1	53%
35-B.Askew	TB	-5	-4	-18.9%	-18.3%	18	66	60	0	72%
44-L.Lawton	OAK	-8	-11	-26.2%	-30.4%	11	30	29	0	55%
25-J.Fargas	OAK	-8	-7	-25.9%	-23.2%	15	52	32	0	67%
37-J.McKie	CHI	-9	-11	-23.3%	-25.2%	15	64	49	1	73%
45-B.Hoover	CAR	-9	-13	-27.0%	-32.1%	11	39	31	0	55%
Player	Team	DYAR	YAR	DVOA	VOA	Passes	Yards	EYds	TD	Catch Rate
29-A.Peterson	CHI	-17	-15	-43.7%	-39.8%	10	45	6	0	60%
27-L.Johnson	KC	-21	-18	-37.6%	-34.8%	16	66	20	0	75%
27-B.Jacobs	NYG	-21	-19	-42.6%	-40.3%	12	36	9	0	50%
28-F.Taylor	JAC	-23	-19	-32.2%	-29.2%	22	98	41	0	73%
30-A.Green	HOU	-31	-34	-58.1%	-61.5%	14	32	-14	0	79%
44-M.Karney	NO	-31	-29	-57.3%	-54.6%	12	18	-13	0	75%
39-W.Parker	PIT	-34	-37	-72.9%	-77.6%	11	15	-29	0	36%
25-L.Booker	PHI	-34	-36	-75.2%	-78.7%	10	11	-31	0	60%
42-L.Neal	BAL	-36	-38	-55.8%	-58.4%	15	35	-13	0	47%
28-J.Stewart	CAR	-37	-39	-49.4%	-51.3%	17	47	-2	0	47%
25-L.White	TEN	-43	-42	-90.3%	-88.4%	10	16	-48	0	50%
42-M.Cox	KC	-49	-49	-70.3%	-69.9%	13	19	-39	0	62%
38-N.Tahi	MIN	-76	-75	-74.3%	-73.6%	21	37	-67	0	76%