Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



RUNNING BACKS 2009

Regular season totals,playoffs not included

Revised as of 3/19/2010

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 1,793 14 3 45% 32
R.Grant GB 252 2 252 4 12.9% 10 12.9% 282 1,252 1,413 11 0 49% 18
R.Rice BAL 249 3 268 2 16.8% 6 18.7% 254 1,348 1,247 7 2 51% 14
J.Charles KC 233 4 258 3 20.3% 2 23.4% 191 1,117 1,071 7 3 53% 7
P.Thomas NO 222 5 206 5 26.2% 1 23.8% 147 793 907 6 1 56% 3
S.Jackson STL 217 6 155 14 8.6% 16 3.7% 324 1,420 1,438 4 2 45% 31
J.Stewart CAR 208 7 201 7 14.3% 9 13.6% 221 1,132 1,116 10 3 50% 16
R.Williams MIA 178 8 195 8 9.0% 14 10.6% 241 1,121 1,163 11 4 55% 5
D.Williams CAR 175 9 170 9 12.6% 11 12.0% 216 1,118 993 7 3 45% 30
M.Barber DAL 168 10 155 12 8.9% 15 7.5% 213 930 1,102 7 1 53% 9
M.Jones-Drew JAC 167 11 204 6 3.5% 22 6.2% 312 1,391 1,454 15 2 49% 17
A.Peterson MIN 165 12 131 18 3.2% 23 0.8% 314 1,379 1,466 18 6 46% 29
J.Addai IND 151 13 133 16 7.6% 17 5.7% 219 831 1,045 10 1 53% 10
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
C.Benson CIN 151 14 123 20 3.7% 21 1.4% 301 1,253 1,298 6 1 44% 37
R.Brown MIA 144 15 157 11 14.6% 8 16.3% 147 648 779 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 131 17 155 13 19.7% 3 25.0% 109 544 610 12 1 55% 4
A.Bradshaw NYG 129 18 131 19 9.7% 13 9.9% 163 778 817 7 3 52% 12
J.Forsett SEA 122 19 122 21 18.2% 4 18.2% 114 619 588 4 2 46% 28
F.Gore SF 119 20 106 24 4.7% 20 3.2% 228 1,121 968 10 4 42% 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 2.7% 25 5.4% 237 1,067 986 2 2 48% 21
T.Jones NYJ 102 23 161 10 -1.1% 32 3.0% 331 1,402 1,358 14 2 44% 38
L.Maroney NE 84 24 102 25 1.2% 29 3.3% 194 757 878 9 3 52% 11
R.Mendenhall PIT 80 25 107 23 -0.8% 31 1.7% 242 1,108 1,029 7 3 46% 25
C.Buckhalter DEN 76 26 96 26 6.3% 18 10.4% 120 642 557 1 3 58% 1
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
C.Wells ARI 75 27 51 33 1.3% 28 -1.9% 178 784 774 7 6 53% 8
J.Harrison CLE 73 28 92 27 1.1% 30 3.5% 194 869 773 5 2 48% 22
J.Snelling ATL 68 29 83 28 1.8% 26 4.0% 142 613 677 4 1 46% 24
S.Greene NYJ 61 30 74 30 5.7% 19 8.9% 108 542 465 2 3 48% 20
M.Bush OAK 57 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% 210 821 795 4 1 38% 44
R.Moats HOU 45 33 58 32 1.5% 27 4.5% 101 390 454 4 2 57% 2
M.Bell NO 41 34 50 34 -3.1% 34 -2.0% 172 654 715 5 2 54% 6
K.Moreno DEN 40 35 62 31 -4.9% 37 -3.0% 247 947 1,014 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 -4.5% 36 -6.5% 155 637 584 4 2 46% 26
B.Jacobs NYG 7 38 8 38 -7.8% 39 -7.7% 224 838 843 5 2 45% 33
T.Hightower ARI 6 39 3 40 -7.8% 38 -8.1% 143 592 536 8 5 44% 36
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
J.Fargas OAK 4 40 -3 41 -7.9% 40 -9.1% 129 491 458 3 1 38% 46
J.Lewis CLE -12 41 -15 43 -10.7% 42 -11.3% 142 499 462 0 0 38% 45
L.Tomlinson SD -15 42 6 39 -10.1% 41 -8.0% 223 733 805 12 1 43% 39
K.Smith DET -18 43 -57 46 -10.7% 43 -15.0% 217 750 730 4 3 44% 34
C.Portis WAS -39 44 -7 42 -16.5% 45 -10.0% 124 494 362 1 1 40% 42
M.Lynch BUF -40 45 -35 44 -17.3% 46 -16.3% 120 450 328 2 3 38% 48
D.Ward TB -46 46 -56 45 -18.6% 47 -20.9% 114 409 314 1 0 36% 49
M.Forte CHI -75 47 -128 50 -15.5% 44 -20.4% 258 929 816 4 5 42% 40
L.Johnson CIN -77 48 -82 48 -19.8% 48 -20.5% 178 581 464 0 2 38% 43
D.McFadden OAK -87 49 -67 47 -30.7% 49 -25.6% 104 366 198 1 4 38% 47
S.Slaton HOU -115 50 -122 49 -30.8% 50 -32.1% 131 448 259 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 36.3% 37.2% 62 335 384 2 0
R.Bush NO 102 95 30.2% 27.7% 70 396 389 5 2
L.Weaver PHI 101 80 24.8% 17.9% 70 323 424 2 0
T.Choice DAL 92 101 24.7% 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 24.8% 26.1% 54 257 324 3 0
L.McClain BAL 56 58 11.6% 12.5% 46 180 328 2 0
M.Tolbert SD 51 58 33.2% 38.2% 25 148 189 1 0
K.Bell CHI 45 43 19.2% 17.9% 40 220 213 0 0
G.Wolfe CHI 43 41 40.4% 37.7% 22 120 147 1 0
B.Westbrook PHI 43 55 7.9% 12.7% 61 274 291 1 0
L.Polite MIA 37 33 8.7% 6.9% 37 123 243 0 1
K.Darby STL 33 31 25.7% 23.0% 26 153 138 0 0
R.Jennings JAC 31 35 8.8% 10.7% 39 202 205 1 0
A.Brown DET 24 18 17.8% 11.3% 27 131 116 0 0
A.Green GB 23 15 4.2% -0.2% 41 160 186 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
L.White TEN 21 12 -0.3% -4.3% 64 222 273 2 1
L.Betts WAS 15 12 -2.1% -3.4% 56 210 220 2 0
M.Morris DET 12 -5 -5.3% -9.9% 93 386 339 2 1
S.Morris NE 10 7 -5.6% -6.5% 73 319 310 2 2
L.Hamilton NO 10 16 -3.2% 0.0% 35 125 178 2 0
B.Green-Ellis NE 9 15 0.1% 5.4% 26 114 110 0 0
Q.Ganther WAS 8 14 -5.5% -3.5% 62 201 249 3 0
L.Hilliard MIA 7 9 -1.9% 0.0% 23 89 98 1 0
B.Scott CIN 1 0 -8.1% -8.4% 74 321 252 0 1
C.Jennings CLE -1 -12 -9.1% -13.1% 63 220 228 1 0
B.Hoover CAR -2 -3 -10.9% -11.5% 20 52 78 1 1
C.Brown HOU -3 -5 -9.5% -9.9% 79 267 303 3 1
J.Norwood ATL -3 -5 -9.8% -10.1% 76 252 247 0 0
M.Mason WAS -6 1 -14.0% -7.9% 26 108 84 0 0
B.Jackson GB -10 -9 -15.8% -15.1% 37 112 102 2 1
M.Hart IND -10 -13 -18.0% -20.0% 26 70 79 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
D.Brown IND -12 -20 -12.5% -14.7% 78 281 258 3 1
L.Washington NYJ -15 1 -14.7% -8.0% 72 331 185 0 1
L.Jordan DEN -17 -11 -24.1% -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 -14.4% -9.0% 93 343 295 3 0
M.Moore PIT -24 -21 -25.5% -23.1% 35 118 84 0 0
M.Bennett SD -25 -28 -34.9% -37.3% 23 65 42 0 0
R.Cartwright WAS -28 -29 -18.4% -18.7% 64 228 200 0 0
W.Parker PIT -31 -17 -16.0% -12.6% 98 387 309 0 2
J.Hester SD -34 -27 -38.8% -32.7% 21 74 41 0 1
E.James SEA -41 -45 -30.1% -31.8% 46 125 98 0 1
M.Goodson CAR -59 -54 -77.0% -70.5% 22 50 -22 0 1
C.Taylor MIN -73 -80 -29.3% -30.9% 94 338 187 1 2
G.Coffee SF -85 -95 -35.0% -38.1% 83 226 138 1 0

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 52 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 44.4% 2 41.9% 57 497 595 4 79% 0
S.Slaton HOU 168 2 166 2 41.8% 3 41.4% 55 419 561 4 80% 2
K.Smith DET 127 3 126 4 25.7% 7 25.5% 57 415 492 1 72% 0
F.Jackson BUF 123 4 115 5 25.5% 9 22.9% 60 368 477 2 77% 0
R.Mendenhall PIT 117 5 113 6 55.6% 1 53.2% 32 261 363 1 78% 0
R.Rice BAL 117 6 127 3 7.5% 24 9.4% 102 695 633 1 77% 1
C.Johnson TEN 113 7 102 7 16.7% 13 14.0% 71 503 496 2 70% 0
A.Peterson MIN 90 8 92 9 15.7% 15 16.3% 57 436 405 0 75% 1
T.Hightower ARI 89 9 87 10 6.8% 25 6.3% 80 428 497 0 79% 0
J.Addai IND 89 10 77 15 9.1% 22 5.9% 63 336 462 3 81% 0
D.Williams CAR 87 11 82 11 22.7% 10 20.4% 41 252 351 0 71% 0
C.Taylor MIN 83 12 96 8 13.5% 17 17.6% 59 389 389 1 75% 0
J.Snelling ATL 81 13 69 19 25.6% 8 19.8% 39 259 315 1 77% 1
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
R.Cartwright WAS 80 14 80 12 32.9% 5 33.0% 32 242 289 1 84% 0
P.Thomas NO 80 15 79 14 20.1% 12 19.3% 45 302 335 2 87% 1
M.Jones-Drew JAC 77 16 70 18 4.9% 27 3.1% 71 374 454 1 75% 0
B.Jackson GB 77 17 79 13 40.3% 4 41.7% 26 187 260 1 81% 0
F.Gore SF 77 18 74 16 4.3% 29 3.6% 76 406 460 3 70% 0
C.Williams TB 70 19 71 17 20.2% 11 20.9% 40 219 292 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 2.4% 32 1.7% 68 335 418 3 69% 0
K.Faulk NE 56 22 41 28 4.4% 28 -0.4% 53 301 334 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 16.1% 14 18.2% 31 153 217 2 68% 0
M.Forte CHI 45 25 61 21 -1.1% 33 3.6% 72 471 339 0 79% 1
M.Morris DET 44 26 42 27 8.6% 23 7.4% 38 210 233 0 68% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
V.Leach HOU 42 27 38 30 13.1% 18 10.3% 26 155 200 1 77% 0
R.Grant GB 41 28 46 25 11.7% 21 14.8% 30 204 201 0 83% 1
M.Sellers WAS 40 29 44 26 13.1% 19 15.2% 26 178 191 2 65% 1
J.Stewart CAR 37 30 37 31 14.5% 16 14.7% 26 139 171 1 69% 0
C.Buckhalter DEN 36 31 39 29 4.2% 30 5.8% 38 240 215 0 82% 0
A.Bradshaw NYG 27 32 31 33 5.8% 26 8.3% 30 207 156 0 70% 0
L.McClain BAL 26 33 32 32 2.5% 31 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 -3.5% 34 -4.3% 34 181 182 1 74% 0
D.McFadden OAK 20 36 29 34 -3.9% 35 0.6% 35 245 184 0 60% 1
L.Weaver PHI 15 37 17 36 -4.1% 36 -2.9% 26 140 144 2 58% 0
J.Charles KC 14 38 15 38 -9.5% 40 -9.2% 55 297 251 1 73% 0
B.Jacobs NYG 12 39 10 40 -6.5% 38 -8.1% 31 184 144 1 58% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
R.Williams MIA 10 40 8 41 -10.4% 43 -11.2% 53 264 234 2 66% 1
J.Jones SEA 9 41 4 44 -10.2% 42 -12.1% 43 232 193 2 81% 0
M.Barber DAL 9 42 7 42 -9.7% 41 -10.4% 37 223 170 0 73% 1
L.McCoy PHI 8 43 11 39 -11.2% 44 -10.3% 55 308 239 0 73% 0
L.Washington NYJ 5 44 -1 47 -9.4% 39 -14.3% 26 131 98 0 58% 0
K.Moreno DEN 0 45 4 45 -13.8% 45 -12.1% 41 217 165 2 68% 2
J.Harrison CLE -1 46 5 43 -14.1% 46 -11.8% 50 220 190 2 68% 0
C.Benson CIN -1 47 2 46 -14.7% 47 -12.3% 24 111 105 0 71% 0
K.Darby STL -5 48 -4 48 -18.3% 49 -17.6% 25 95 72 0 76% 0
J.Griffith SEA -12 49 -6 49 -21.7% 50 -17.8% 26 118 83 1 73% 1
S.Jackson STL -16 50 -22 50 -17.8% 48 -19.3% 75 322 262 0 68% 0
M.Lynch BUF -24 51 -31 52 -25.8% 51 -29.6% 37 179 92 0 76% 0
L.Tomlinson SD -28 52 -23 51 -31.2% 52 -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 86 77 57.5% 50.3% 22 190 264 1 86% 1
L.Betts WAS 78 76 60.2% 58.6% 20 170 236 0 85% 0
D.Ward TB 77 73 51.5% 48.4% 24 150 244 2 83% 0
D.Brown IND 68 68 76.6% 76.8% 14 169 194 0 79% 0
C.Wells ARI 53 55 38.4% 40.8% 16 143 181 0 75% 0
M.Tolbert SD 52 56 22.9% 25.4% 22 192 210 3 77% 1
H.Evans NO 46 46 48.6% 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 75.5% 73.5% 10 53 129 2 90% 0
J.Lewis CLE 44 39 69.5% 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 26.9% 28.5% 15 106 128 1 87% 1
Q.Ganther WAS 30 30 38.7% 39.7% 10 99 102 0 90% 0
G.Russell OAK 29 28 19.1% 17.8% 15 96 123 0 80% 0
N.Tahi MIN 28 26 22.1% 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 13.6% 16.4% 15 84 120 1 60% 0
O.Mughelli ATL 23 21 21.4% 18.2% 10 51 93 1 70% 0
M.Cox KC 21 24 12.9% 17.4% 13 79 99 0 77% 0
C.Portis WAS 21 21 19.9% 21.0% 12 57 86 1 75% 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 13 12 -2.7% -3.2% 20 98 111 0 70% 0
L.Maroney NE 9 8 -3.7% -5.3% 17 99 83 0 82% 1
M.Bush OAK 8 6 -5.8% -7.4% 19 107 87 0 89% 1
D.Savage KC 7 6 -3.8% -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 -7.6% -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 -13.1% -13.0% 22 119 87 0 86% 0
C.Jennings CLE -6 -2 -21.3% -16.5% 13 56 43 0 69% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
J.Johnson CIN -9 -11 -25.6% -27.3% 12 41 37 0 50% 0
L.Stephens-Howling ARI -11 -12 -25.3% -26.4% 18 83 46 1 56% 1
A.Hall TEN -12 -15 -25.5% -28.6% 16 79 47 0 75% 1
L.Johnson CIN -12 -14 -24.5% -25.5% 21 80 57 0 71% 0
L.Lawton OAK -17 -17 -42.4% -42.4% 10 31 8 0 70% 0
M.Norris SF -18 -17 -41.9% -39.9% 11 31 9 0 64% 0
C.Brown HOU -19 -25 -29.9% -34.6% 21 74 46 0 76% 0
O.Schmitt SEA -20 -23 -38.1% -41.6% 11 21 18 1 55% 0
T.Jones NYJ -24 -24 -36.7% -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 -58.3% -60.9% 11 24 -12 0 55% 0
G.Coffee SF -34 -32 -48.1% -46.7% 18 76 1 0 61% 0
L.Polite MIA -48 -46 -51.0% -49.6% 23 51 -7 0 48% 0
J.McKie CHI -51 -50 -77.8% -76.1% 10 13 -48 0 50% 0
L.Vickers CLE -54 -59 -64.2% -68.2% 18 27 -35 1 44% 1