Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



RUNNING BACKS 2009

Regular season totals, through Week 17

Revised as of 1/4/2010

Running backs are ranked according to DYAR, or Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement. This gives the value of the performance on plays where this RB 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.

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.

Effective Yards, 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. 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.) Be aware that one will affect the other.
  • All fumbles are considered equal, whether recovered by the offense or defense.

RUSHING: Minimum 100 rushes, 50 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
C.Johnson TEN 343 1 322 1 15.2% 7 13.8% 358 2,006 1,794 14 3 45% 32
R.Grant GB 251 2 252 4 12.9% 10 12.9% 282 1,252 1,413 11 0 49% 18
R.Rice BAL 241 3 259 2 15.9% 6 17.7% 255 1,341 1,237 7 2 51% 14
J.Charles KC 233 4 258 3 20.4% 2 23.4% 191 1,117 1,072 7 3 53% 7
P.Thomas NO 220 5 206 5 25.9% 1 23.8% 147 793 904 6 1 56% 3
S.Jackson STL 217 6 155 13 8.6% 16 3.7% 324 1,420 1,438 4 2 45% 31
J.Stewart CAR 208 7 201 7 14.4% 9 13.6% 221 1,132 1,117 10 3 50% 16
R.Williams MIA 179 8 195 8 9.0% 14 10.6% 241 1,121 1,164 11 4 55% 5
D.Williams CAR 175 9 170 9 12.5% 11 12.0% 216 1,118 993 7 3 45% 30
M.Barber DAL 167 10 154 14 8.7% 15 7.3% 214 932 1,101 7 1 52% 10
M.Jones-Drew JAC 167 11 203 6 3.5% 22 6.1% 312 1,391 1,455 15 2 49% 17
A.Peterson MIN 166 12 131 18 3.3% 23 0.8% 314 1,379 1,468 18 6 46% 29
C.Benson CIN 153 13 123 20 3.9% 21 1.4% 301 1,253 1,301 6 1 44% 37
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
J.Addai IND 151 14 133 16 7.7% 17 5.7% 219 831 1,046 10 1 53% 9
R.Brown MIA 145 15 157 11 14.4% 8 16.3% 147 648 777 8 1 51% 13
M.Turner ATL 143 16 152 15 11.0% 12 12.3% 178 875 859 10 4 49% 19
W.McGahee BAL 130 17 155 12 19.6% 3 25.0% 109 544 609 12 1 55% 4
A.Bradshaw NYG 128 18 131 19 9.5% 13 9.9% 163 778 815 7 3 52% 12
J.Forsett SEA 122 19 122 21 18.4% 4 18.2% 114 619 589 4 2 46% 28
F.Gore SF 117 20 103 24 4.4% 20 2.8% 229 1,121 968 10 4 41% 41
F.Jones DAL 115 21 114 22 17.0% 5 16.8% 116 685 573 3 2 46% 27
F.Jackson BUF 106 22 132 17 2.6% 25 5.4% 237 1,067 984 2 2 48% 21
T.Jones NYJ 103 23 161 10 -1.1% 32 3.0% 331 1,402 1,357 14 2 44% 38
L.Maroney NE 85 24 102 25 1.3% 29 3.3% 194 757 879 9 3 52% 11
R.Mendenhall PIT 80 25 107 23 -0.9% 31 1.7% 242 1,108 1,028 7 3 46% 25
C.Wells ARI 76 26 51 33 1.4% 28 -1.9% 178 784 776 7 6 53% 8
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
C.Buckhalter DEN 76 27 96 26 6.4% 18 10.4% 120 642 558 1 3 58% 1
J.Harrison CLE 72 28 92 27 0.8% 30 3.5% 194 869 770 5 2 48% 22
J.Snelling ATL 70 29 83 28 2.1% 26 4.0% 142 613 680 4 1 46% 24
S.Greene NYJ 60 30 74 30 5.5% 19 8.9% 108 542 464 2 3 48% 20
M.Bush OAK 58 31 82 29 3.2% 24 8.1% 123 591 516 3 1 47% 23
C.Williams TB 49 32 40 35 -2.8% 33 -3.8% 210 821 796 4 1 38% 43
R.Moats HOU 45 33 58 32 1.6% 27 4.5% 101 390 454 4 2 57% 2
M.Bell NO 42 34 50 34 -3.1% 34 -2.0% 172 654 715 5 2 54% 6
K.Moreno DEN 38 35 62 31 -5.1% 37 -3.0% 247 947 1,011 7 2 50% 15
J.Jones SEA 35 36 18 36 -3.8% 35 -6.2% 177 663 692 2 0 44% 35
L.McCoy PHI 25 37 13 37 -4.6% 36 -6.5% 155 637 583 4 2 46% 26
T.Hightower ARI 6 38 3 40 -7.6% 38 -8.1% 143 592 537 8 5 44% 36
J.Fargas OAK 4 39 -3 41 -7.8% 39 -9.1% 129 491 460 3 1 38% 45
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
B.Jacobs NYG 4 40 8 38 -8.2% 40 -7.7% 224 838 838 5 2 45% 33
J.Lewis CLE -10 41 -15 43 -10.3% 42 -11.3% 142 499 466 0 0 38% 44
L.Tomlinson SD -14 42 6 39 -10.1% 41 -8.0% 223 733 805 12 1 43% 39
K.Smith DET -17 43 -57 46 -10.5% 43 -15.0% 217 750 733 4 3 44% 34
C.Portis WAS -38 44 -7 42 -16.3% 45 -10.0% 124 494 364 1 1 40% 42
M.Lynch BUF -41 45 -35 44 -17.5% 46 -16.3% 120 450 326 2 3 38% 48
D.Ward TB -45 46 -56 45 -18.6% 47 -20.9% 114 409 315 1 0 36% 49
M.Forte CHI -75 47 -128 50 -15.4% 44 -20.4% 258 929 817 4 5 42% 40
D.McFadden OAK -87 48 -67 47 -30.7% 49 -25.6% 104 366 197 1 4 38% 47
L.Johnson CIN -91 49 -94 48 -21.8% 48 -22.4% 178 562 442 0 2 38% 46
S.Slaton HOU -116 50 -122 49 -31.0% 50 -32.1% 131 448 257 3 5 35% 50

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
K.Faulk NE 109 111 36.5% 37.2% 62 335 385 2 0
R.Bush NO 103 95 30.6% 27.7% 70 396 391 5 2
L.Weaver PHI 101 80 24.8% 17.9% 70 323 424 2 0
T.Choice DAL 92 101 24.8% 27.8% 64 349 388 3 0
F.Taylor NE 91 65 24.4% 14.9% 63 269 384 4 1
A.Foster HOU 77 80 24.6% 26.1% 54 257 324 3 0
L.McClain BAL 56 58 11.9% 12.5% 46 180 329 2 0
M.Tolbert SD 52 58 33.5% 38.2% 25 148 190 1 0
K.Bell CHI 46 43 19.4% 17.9% 40 220 214 0 0
G.Wolfe CHI 44 41 40.6% 37.7% 22 120 147 1 0
B.Westbrook PHI 43 55 8.2% 12.7% 61 274 292 1 0
L.Polite MIA 37 33 8.8% 6.9% 37 123 244 0 1
R.Jennings JAC 31 35 9.0% 10.7% 39 202 206 1 0
K.Darby STL 30 28 21.6% 18.9% 27 152 136 0 0
A.Brown DET 24 18 18.1% 11.3% 27 131 116 0 0
A.Green GB 23 15 4.5% -0.2% 41 160 186 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
L.White TEN 21 12 -0.8% -4.3% 64 222 270 2 1
L.Betts WAS 15 12 -1.9% -3.4% 56 210 220 2 0
L.Hamilton NO 11 16 -2.6% 0.0% 35 125 180 2 0
S.Morris NE 11 7 -5.4% -6.5% 73 319 311 2 2
M.Morris DET 11 -5 -5.6% -9.9% 93 386 337 2 1
B.Green-Ellis NE 9 15 -0.1% 5.4% 26 114 110 0 0
L.Hilliard MIA 8 9 -0.9% 0.0% 23 89 99 1 0
Q.Ganther WAS 6 12 -6.3% -4.2% 62 199 246 3 0
B.Scott CIN 1 0 -8.4% -8.4% 74 321 251 0 1
C.Jennings CLE -1 -12 -9.1% -13.1% 63 220 228 1 0
B.Hoover CAR -2 -3 -11.1% -11.5% 20 52 78 1 1
C.Brown HOU -2 -5 -9.3% -9.9% 79 267 304 3 1
J.Norwood ATL -4 -5 -9.8% -10.1% 76 252 247 0 0
M.Mason WAS -6 1 -13.8% -7.9% 26 108 84 0 0
M.Hart IND -9 -13 -16.9% -20.0% 26 70 81 1 0
B.Jackson GB -10 -9 -16.0% -15.1% 37 112 102 2 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
D.Brown IND -12 -20 -12.4% -14.7% 78 281 258 3 1
L.Washington NYJ -14 1 -14.5% -8.0% 72 331 186 0 1
L.Jordan DEN -18 -11 -24.5% -18.1% 25 86 67 0 0
B.Leonard CIN -20 -19 -24.5% -23.5% 27 84 76 0 0
D.Sproles SD -22 -2 -14.3% -9.0% 93 343 295 3 0
M.Moore PIT -24 -21 -25.6% -23.1% 35 118 84 0 0
M.Bennett SD -27 -28 -36.2% -37.3% 23 65 40 0 0
R.Cartwright WAS -29 -29 -18.7% -18.7% 64 228 198 0 0
W.Parker PIT -31 -17 -16.1% -12.6% 98 387 309 0 2
J.Hester SD -33 -27 -38.3% -32.7% 21 74 42 0 1
E.James SEA -41 -45 -30.2% -31.8% 46 125 97 0 1
M.Goodson CAR -59 -54 -76.7% -70.5% 22 50 -21 0 1
C.Taylor MIN -73 -80 -29.1% -30.9% 94 338 188 1 2
G.Coffee SF -85 -95 -35.1% -38.1% 83 226 138 1 0

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 51 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		 FUM
D.Sproles SD 181 1 173 1 44.3% 2 41.9% 57 497 595 4 79% 0
S.Slaton HOU 167 2 166 2 41.8% 3 41.4% 55 419 561 4 80% 2
R.Rice BAL 128 3 140 3 9.8% 22 11.9% 101 702 652 1 77% 1
K.Smith DET 126 4 126 4 25.5% 9 25.5% 57 415 491 1 72% 0
F.Jackson BUF 124 5 115 5 25.8% 7 22.9% 60 368 480 2 77% 0
R.Mendenhall PIT 117 6 113 6 55.4% 1 53.2% 32 261 362 1 78% 0
C.Johnson TEN 113 7 102 7 16.8% 13 14.0% 71 503 497 2 70% 0
T.Hightower ARI 90 8 87 10 7.0% 25 6.3% 80 428 499 0 79% 0
A.Peterson MIN 90 9 92 9 15.6% 15 16.3% 57 436 404 0 75% 1
J.Addai IND 89 10 77 16 9.2% 23 5.9% 63 336 463 3 81% 0
D.Williams CAR 88 11 82 11 22.9% 10 20.4% 41 252 351 0 71% 0
C.Taylor MIN 83 12 96 8 13.4% 17 17.6% 59 389 388 1 75% 0
P.Thomas NO 81 13 79 15 20.5% 11 19.3% 45 302 337 2 87% 1
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
F.Gore SF 81 14 79 13 5.7% 26 5.1% 75 406 465 3 69% 0
J.Snelling ATL 81 15 69 19 25.6% 8 19.8% 39 259 314 1 77% 1
R.Cartwright WAS 80 16 80 12 32.6% 5 33.0% 32 242 288 1 84% 0
M.Jones-Drew JAC 77 17 70 18 4.9% 28 3.1% 71 374 454 1 75% 0
B.Jackson GB 77 18 79 14 40.5% 4 41.7% 26 187 260 1 81% 0
C.Williams TB 70 19 71 17 20.1% 12 20.9% 40 219 291 3 73% 0
S.Morris NE 66 20 58 22 30.4% 6 25.0% 27 180 243 0 70% 0
R.Bush NO 65 21 62 20 2.5% 31 1.7% 68 335 419 3 69% 0
K.Faulk NE 57 22 41 28 4.6% 29 -0.4% 53 301 336 1 70% 0
B.Leonard CIN 49 23 54 23 12.5% 20 15.3% 35 219 234 0 86% 1
M.Moore PIT 49 24 52 24 16.0% 14 18.2% 31 153 217 2 68% 0
M.Forte CHI 45 25 61 21 -1.2% 33 3.6% 72 471 339 0 79% 1
M.Morris DET 44 26 42 27 8.4% 24 7.4% 38 210 232 0 68% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
V.Leach HOU 43 27 38 30 13.2% 18 10.3% 26 155 200 1 77% 0
R.Grant GB 41 28 46 25 11.6% 21 14.8% 30 204 200 0 83% 1
M.Sellers WAS 40 29 44 26 12.8% 19 15.2% 26 178 190 2 65% 1
J.Stewart CAR 37 30 37 31 14.6% 16 14.7% 26 139 171 1 69% 0
C.Buckhalter DEN 35 31 39 29 4.1% 30 5.8% 38 240 214 0 82% 0
A.Bradshaw NYG 27 32 31 33 5.6% 27 8.3% 30 207 155 0 70% 0
L.McClain BAL 26 33 32 32 2.5% 32 6.7% 27 141 166 0 78% 0
J.Forsett SEA 23 34 16 37 -5.9% 37 -8.3% 57 350 256 1 72% 1
B.Westbrook PHI 20 35 19 35 -3.6% 34 -4.3% 34 181 182 1 74% 0
D.McFadden OAK 20 36 29 34 -3.9% 35 0.6% 35 245 183 0 60% 1
L.Weaver PHI 15 37 17 36 -4.2% 36 -2.9% 26 140 144 2 58% 0
J.Charles KC 13 38 15 38 -9.5% 41 -9.2% 55 297 251 1 73% 0
M.Barber DAL 13 39 12 39 -7.8% 39 -8.2% 36 221 174 0 72% 1
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
B.Jacobs NYG 12 40 10 41 -6.8% 38 -8.1% 31 184 143 1 58% 0
R.Williams MIA 11 41 8 42 -10.3% 42 -11.2% 53 264 235 2 66% 1
J.Jones SEA 9 42 4 44 -10.3% 43 -12.1% 43 232 193 2 81% 0
L.McCoy PHI 8 43 11 40 -11.4% 44 -10.3% 55 308 238 0 73% 0
L.Washington NYJ 5 44 -1 47 -9.5% 40 -14.3% 26 131 98 0 58% 0
K.Moreno DEN 0 45 4 45 -13.9% 45 -12.1% 41 217 165 2 68% 2
J.Harrison CLE -1 46 5 43 -14.2% 46 -11.8% 50 220 190 2 68% 0
C.Benson CIN -1 47 2 46 -14.6% 47 -12.3% 24 111 105 0 71% 0
S.Jackson STL -16 48 -22 49 -17.8% 48 -19.3% 75 322 262 0 68% 0
J.Griffith SEA -23 49 -16 48 -27.8% 50 -23.6% 27 118 69 1 70% 1
M.Lynch BUF -24 50 -31 51 -25.8% 49 -29.6% 37 179 92 0 76% 0
L.Tomlinson SD -28 51 -23 50 -31.2% 51 -27.8% 30 154 58 0 67% 1

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
L.Hilliard MIA 92 89 93.7% 89.6% 20 158 251 2 100% 0
J.Norwood ATL 87 77 58.1% 50.3% 22 190 266 1 86% 1
L.Betts WAS 78 76 60.1% 58.6% 20 170 236 0 85% 0
D.Ward TB 77 73 51.3% 48.4% 24 150 243 2 83% 0
D.Brown IND 68 68 76.5% 76.8% 14 169 194 0 79% 0
C.Wells ARI 53 55 38.6% 40.8% 16 143 181 0 75% 0
M.Tolbert SD 52 56 22.7% 25.4% 22 192 209 3 77% 1
H.Evans NO 46 46 48.7% 48.5% 13 70 149 2 77% 0
J.Felton DET 46 48 40.9% 43.9% 16 133 155 0 81% 0
J.Wright ARI 45 44 75.6% 73.5% 10 53 129 2 90% 0
J.Lewis CLE 44 39 69.3% 59.9% 11 88 130 0 73% 0
T.Choice DAL 39 37 23.0% 20.6% 22 132 157 0 68% 0
R.Moats HOU 34 35 27.1% 28.5% 15 106 129 1 87% 1
Q.Ganther WAS 30 30 38.4% 39.7% 10 99 101 0 90% 0
G.Russell OAK 29 28 19.0% 17.8% 15 96 123 0 80% 0
N.Tahi MIN 28 26 22.0% 18.9% 12 67 115 1 83% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
A.Brown DET 26 28 13.5% 16.4% 15 84 120 1 60% 0
O.Mughelli ATL 23 21 21.9% 18.2% 10 51 94 1 70% 0
M.Cox KC 21 24 12.8% 17.4% 13 79 99 0 77% 0
D.Woodhead NYJ 19 18 12.5% 11.7% 14 87 90 0 57% 0
T.Sutton CAR 17 15 18.7% 15.3% 11 62 71 0 55% 0
R.Brown MIA 14 12 -2.1% -3.2% 20 98 112 0 70% 0
L.Maroney NE 9 8 -3.7% -5.3% 17 99 84 0 82% 1
M.Bush OAK 8 6 -5.8% -7.4% 19 107 87 0 89% 1
D.Savage KC 7 6 -4.0% -5.6% 11 51 63 0 64% 0
J.Fargas OAK 6 6 -8.7% -8.9% 21 113 100 0 81% 0
R.Jennings JAC 6 10 -7.5% -3.2% 18 101 80 0 89% 0
W.McGahee BAL 3 5 -11.4% -9.7% 22 85 101 2 68% 0
E.Graham TB 2 2 -12.4% -12.4% 22 109 95 0 64% 0
F.Jones DAL 1 1 -13.3% -13.0% 22 119 87 0 86% 0
K.Darby STL 0 1 -14.1% -13.1% 24 96 78 0 75% 0
C.Portis WAS -1 -1 -15.7% -15.4% 13 55 44 1 69% 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
C.Jennings CLE -6 -2 -21.3% -16.5% 13 56 43 0 69% 0
O.Schmitt SEA -10 -13 -27.5% -32.3% 10 21 31 1 60% 0
L.Stephens-Howling ARI -11 -12 -25.1% -26.4% 18 83 46 1 56% 1
A.Hall TEN -12 -15 -25.4% -28.6% 16 79 48 0 75% 1
L.Johnson CIN -12 -14 -24.6% -25.5% 21 80 57 0 71% 0
L.Lawton OAK -17 -17 -42.5% -42.4% 10 31 7 0 70% 0
M.Norris SF -19 -17 -42.3% -39.9% 11 31 8 0 64% 0
C.Brown HOU -19 -25 -29.9% -34.6% 21 74 46 0 76% 0
T.Jones NYJ -24 -24 -36.8% -36.6% 18 58 25 0 56% 0
G.Jones JAC -25 -26 -59.9% -61.2% 10 14 -13 0 50% 0
J.Hester SD -26 -30 -59.1% -64.7% 11 24 -13 0 82% 0
M.Robinson SF -27 -29 -58.0% -60.9% 11 24 -12 0 55% 0
G.Coffee SF -34 -32 -48.0% -46.7% 18 76 1 0 61% 0
L.Polite MIA -47 -46 -50.7% -49.6% 23 51 -6 0 48% 0
J.McKie CHI -51 -50 -78.0% -76.1% 10 13 -49 0 50% 0
L.Vickers CLE -55 -59 -64.6% -68.2% 18 27 -36 1 44% 1