Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics


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RUNNING BACKS 2008

Regular season totals, through Week 13

Revised as of 12/2/2008

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.

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 (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. 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, 41 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
26-C.Portis WAS 294 1 276 1 19.7% 2 17.9% 255 1,228 1,374 7 1 51% 6
27-B.Jacobs NYG 269 2 205 4 23.2% 1 16.2% 185 951 1,147 12 3 52% 3
20-T.Jones NYJ 209 3 220 3 12.5% 5 13.4% 233 1,088 1,200 11 2 55% 2
34-D.Williams CAR 167 4 229 2 17.2% 3 23.0% 193 955 892 11 0 45% 22
20-S.Slaton HOU 158 5 130 8 9.1% 9 7.6% 180 904 946 8 1 47% 15
28-A.Peterson MIN 145 6 200 5 6.0% 11 10.0% 270 1,312 1,161 9 4 46% 20
34-D.Ward NYG 142 7 95 12 14.4% 4 8.3% 130 632 716 2 1 49% 7
36-B.Westbrook PHI 137 8 122 9 11.0% 7 9.2% 159 657 810 8 1 52% 4
28-C.Johnson TEN 119 9 113 11 4.7% 12 5.6% 203 958 879 7 1 45% 23
33-L.McClain BAL 119 10 90 14 10.5% 8 5.2% 142 550 758 6 2 57% 1
32-M.Jones-Drew JAC 112 11 138 7 11.7% 6 14.8% 130 553 688 11 1 48% 14
21-F.Gore SF 94 12 64 21 -1.7% 24 -1.4% 215 928 922 6 5 46% 21
21-M.Moore PIT 93 13 73 15 8.6% 10 5.2% 121 499 606 5 0 49% 9
33-M.Turner ATL 86 14 152 6 -0.7% 21 3.9% 282 1,208 1,185 13 2 47% 16
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
25-L.White TEN 81 15 116 10 4.1% 13 9.1% 146 576 696 13 0 51% 5
23-R.Brown MIA 79 16 92 13 3.5% 14 3.6% 169 690 775 10 1 48% 13
24-M.Barber DAL 69 17 59 23 -2.0% 25 -2.5% 225 870 941 7 3 41% 33
34-K.Smith DET 65 18 66 20 2.4% 16 2.8% 145 621 605 5 0 39% 37
22-M.Forte CHI 57 19 45 25 -4.2% 27 -4.3% 247 1,006 998 6 1 43% 29
28-W.Dunn TB 53 20 70 18 1.1% 18 3.4% 145 640 592 2 0 49% 8
39-W.Parker PIT 53 21 73 16 3.0% 15 4.6% 142 572 562 4 0 44% 25
39-S.Jackson STL 48 22 23 28 -0.6% 20 -4.9% 149 621 614 4 3 44% 26
23-M.Lynch BUF 47 23 72 17 -3.8% 26 -0.1% 205 844 806 7 2 44% 24
23-W.McGahee BAL 45 24 64 22 -1.4% 23 2.3% 141 489 576 5 1 47% 18
28-J.Stewart CAR 40 25 70 19 2.0% 17 4.9% 127 588 511 6 2 43% 28
34-R.Williams MIA 39 26 43 26 0.4% 19 0.3% 121 516 475 3 3 48% 12
29-J.Addai IND 38 27 49 24 -1.3% 22 -0.8% 144 514 604 5 1 49% 10
38-D.Rhodes IND 27 28 4 31 -5.4% 28 -7.7% 108 394 447 3 0 46% 19
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
31-J.Lewis CLE 17 29 -18 34 -7.7% 32 -10.5% 219 793 826 4 0 42% 30
32-E.James ARI 17 30 2 32 -6.2% 30 -8.2% 112 385 420 3 1 42% 31
21-L.Tomlinson SD 11 31 10 29 -6.8% 31 -7.4% 217 794 801 6 0 40% 35
27-R.Rice BAL 9 32 8 30 -6.0% 29 -6.7% 105 431 357 0 1 42% 32
22-J.Jones SEA 6 33 -5 33 -9.2% 35 -9.5% 152 673 502 2 4 39% 38
25-R.Grant GB -1 34 -24 35 -8.7% 33 -11.2% 228 876 806 3 3 47% 17
34-E.Graham TB -12 35 25 27 -8.9% 34 -4.2% 132 563 461 4 2 48% 11
32-C.Benson CIN -15 36 -61 40 -13.4% 36 -21.5% 114 335 383 1 0 35% 40
25-J.Fargas OAK -36 37 -40 38 -14.7% 37 -14.5% 164 623 518 1 2 40% 36
28-F.Taylor JAC -41 38 -27 36 -17.1% 38 -13.9% 130 503 376 1 0 41% 34
34-T.Hightower ARI -48 39 -42 39 -17.9% 40 -16.6% 113 328 374 9 1 37% 39
27-L.Johnson KC -57 40 -36 37 -17.9% 39 -14.3% 143 657 452 4 5 43% 27
23-C.Perry CIN -136 41 -172 41 -40.2% 41 -47.2% 102 267 163 2 5 29% 41

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
33-K.Faulk NE 167 175 51.6% 52.7% 73 445 518 3 0
22-P.Hillis DEN 113 121 33.7% 35.3% 60 285 421 4 0
28-F.Jones DAL 113 119 81.4% 82.6% 30 266 296 3 0
23-P.Thomas NO 95 110 16.8% 19.2% 78 359 496 6 0
28-M.Pittman DEN 93 88 16.7% 14.4% 76 320 481 4 0
35-J.Harrison CLE 82 87 65.8% 67.7% 29 244 232 1 0
30-A.Green HOU 82 76 13.1% 13.2% 74 294 433 3 0
34-S.Morris NE 80 72 11.1% 7.6% 92 402 513 5 1
25-J.Charles KC 71 66 24.6% 22.3% 56 313 298 0 1
42-B.Green-Ellis NE 62 66 8.5% 9.9% 74 275 411 5 0
35-S.Young DEN 62 72 31.6% 32.0% 48 268 252 1 0
32-B.Jackson GB 58 62 25.3% 25.8% 44 242 248 1 1
42-T.Duckett SEA 53 60 8.7% 14.2% 48 137 313 6 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
32-J.Norwood ATL 52 66 7.3% 13.9% 77 412 337 2 1
26-D.McAllister NO 51 70 6.8% 9.2% 88 317 419 4 0
32-L.Jordan NE 47 38 32.5% 26.9% 24 106 170 0 0
28-C.Buckhalter PHI 45 27 7.8% 1.0% 59 249 316 2 0
22-F.Jackson BUF 41 42 3.2% 1.9% 86 373 415 1 1
29-L.Washington NYJ 36 40 6.1% 8.2% 61 326 265 4 1
44-A.Bradshaw NYG 35 16 5.8% -0.7% 49 311 235 1 2
28-J.Arrington ARI 35 34 33.8% 31.7% 22 134 130 1 0
23-T.Choice DAL 34 33 21.8% 19.4% 30 147 155 0 0
20-M.Morris SEA 33 24 4.5% 1.3% 59 288 259 0 0
43-D.Sproles SD 29 33 12.2% 14.5% 36 182 170 0 0
29-C.Taylor MIN 3 16 -6.4% -3.6% 80 293 274 3 0
30-A.Pittman STL -1 -24 -9.2% -16.6% 72 257 261 0 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
39-L.Maroney NE -1 -4 -10.3% -11.8% 28 93 102 0 0
23-A.Hall DEN -1 3 -4.0% -6.1% 35 152 106 0 2
46-L.Betts WAS -2 1 -7.3% -8.0% 45 167 181 1 1
25-L.Booker PHI -8 -16 -22.8% -31.2% 20 53 48 0 0
33-K.Darby STL -10 -19 -21.0% -29.2% 20 76 63 0 1
20-D.McFadden OAK -13 16 -8.1% -3.8% 87 406 275 3 3
21-K.Smith KC -19 -32 -20.8% -28.4% 35 100 106 1 0
25-R.Bush NO -24 -20 -14.8% -13.9% 90 294 291 2 2
27-K.Jones CHI -25 -19 -29.5% -23.1% 34 109 74 0 0
32-R.Johnson DET -26 -42 -19.7% -24.9% 73 233 181 1 1
29-M.Bush OAK -28 -27 -17.3% -19.5% 65 238 168 1 1
24-C.Williams TB -31 -18 -43.2% -28.5% 20 47 29 1 0
29-D.Foster SF -62 -56 -73.7% -65.3% 21 47 -16 0 1

RECEIVING: Minimum 20 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 181 1 174 1 59.6% 3 57.1% 49 418 549 0 88%
22-M.Forte CHI 172 2 167 2 37.4% 7 35.9% 59 365 596 4 83%
34-D.Ward NYG 119 3 120 4 34.8% 9 34.0% 48 371 425 0 75%
33-K.Faulk NE 118 4 123 3 27.2% 12 28.7% 54 363 448 1 80%
25-R.Bush NO 116 5 94 8 17.8% 17 12.6% 65 398 492 3 72%
28-C.Buckhalter PHI 104 6 107 5 48.8% 4 48.6% 27 247 339 1 78%
38-P.Cobbs MIA 100 7 106 6 60.1% 2 65.0% 23 256 302 3 70%
43-D.Sproles SD 95 8 98 7 62.9% 1 65.8% 21 234 283 1 81%
27-R.Rice BAL 93 9 85 10 34.0% 10 30.7% 41 264 329 0 76%
23-P.Thomas NO 80 10 85 9 35.7% 8 39.1% 26 192 281 1 77%
29-L.Washington NYJ 79 11 80 11 21.3% 16 21.9% 44 288 325 2 77%
29-C.Taylor MIN 72 12 69 13 23.2% 15 21.5% 41 291 289 1 80%
20-D.McFadden OAK 72 13 76 12 40.6% 6 44.7% 23 158 243 0 78%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
43-L.Weaver SEA 66 14 62 16 47.2% 5 42.7% 22 187 216 2 64%
28-J.Arrington ARI 59 15 63 15 29.5% 11 32.8% 24 158 219 1 75%
23-R.Brown MIA 59 16 57 17 26.2% 13 25.6% 27 191 226 0 78%
24-M.Barber DAL 58 17 48 22 5.6% 26 2.8% 56 366 325 2 84%
21-L.Tomlinson SD 57 18 63 14 3.0% 27 4.8% 62 360 359 1 71%
26-C.Portis WAS 56 19 56 19 25.1% 14 25.2% 28 187 217 0 82%
22-F.Jackson BUF 54 20 56 18 14.4% 18 16.3% 33 223 246 0 82%
21-F.Gore SF 54 21 54 20 0.8% 30 1.5% 61 354 363 1 64%
20-T.Jones NYJ 49 22 49 21 11.2% 20 10.3% 32 161 246 2 84%
20-S.Slaton HOU 45 23 43 23 7.3% 25 7.1% 37 250 240 1 92%
39-S.Jackson STL 44 24 42 24 8.6% 21 8.6% 38 275 225 0 68%
34-T.Hightower ARI 41 25 36 27 8.4% 22 4.4% 37 207 225 0 73%
28-W.Dunn TB 38 26 41 25 1.7% 28 2.6% 45 244 257 1 69%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
29-M.Bush OAK 37 27 37 26 12.0% 19 10.6% 27 156 185 0 67%
36-B.Westbrook PHI 37 28 34 30 -1.1% 32 -2.2% 51 231 286 4 73%
21-M.Moore PIT 34 29 35 29 0.4% 31 0.0% 43 254 250 1 77%
23-M.Lynch BUF 34 30 32 31 -3.5% 34 -3.6% 57 283 293 1 75%
31-J.Lewis CLE 31 31 35 28 8.1% 23 12.1% 25 161 160 0 72%
34-S.Morris NE 24 32 29 32 7.8% 24 11.2% 20 116 133 0 75%
34-E.Graham TB 22 33 27 33 -2.3% 33 0.5% 33 174 177 0 70%
32-J.Norwood ATL 19 34 15 36 -6.2% 37 -7.4% 42 261 202 1 64%
34-D.Williams CAR 18 35 26 34 0.9% 29 7.0% 24 112 125 2 75%
34-K.Smith DET 16 36 18 35 -6.2% 36 -5.3% 38 221 181 1 74%
32-B.Jackson GB 16 37 12 37 -4.6% 35 -6.5% 35 178 151 0 77%
29-J.Addai IND 7 38 7 39 -9.6% 38 -9.9% 34 137 144 1 62%
38-D.Rhodes IND 3 39 9 38 -12.0% 40 -10.2% 45 198 186 2 71%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
34-R.Williams MIA 3 40 3 40 -11.7% 39 -11.3% 25 153 100 1 76%
25-J.Charles KC -8 41 -10 42 -18.4% 41 -19.8% 32 160 98 1 66%
33-L.McClain BAL -10 42 -12 44 -21.2% 42 -21.8% 27 119 87 1 67%
30-A.Pittman STL -12 43 -9 41 -23.5% 44 -20.7% 23 96 63 0 70%
46-L.Betts WAS -14 44 -12 43 -29.6% 45 -26.7% 21 93 35 0 57%
28-F.Taylor JAC -19 45 -16 45 -30.3% 46 -27.9% 20 92 43 0 75%
28-C.Johnson TEN -26 46 -22 46 -22.0% 43 -21.3% 54 227 162 1 65%
22-J.Jones SEA -57 47 -59 47 -53.0% 48 -55.4% 25 66 -16 0 56%
28-A.Peterson MIN -68 48 -70 48 -49.8% 47 -51.4% 33 94 -9 0 55%
23-C.Perry CIN -89 49 -92 49 -62.6% 49 -64.0% 34 64 -53 0 59%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 8-19 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
35-M.Tolbert SD 80 83 69.1% 73.1% 15 171 234 1 87%
22-P.Hillis DEN 76 76 55.4% 56.0% 18 168 235 1 72%
33-G.Jones JAC 63 59 53.9% 50.5% 16 116 195 1 81%
33-K.Darby STL 56 57 62.6% 61.7% 12 117 170 0 100%
35-J.Harrison CLE 51 51 60.8% 60.0% 12 111 154 1 67%
24-M.Robinson SF 47 47 63.7% 63.6% 11 113 137 0 91%
20-M.Morris SEA 45 44 32.9% 33.4% 17 91 159 2 82%
36-J.Griffith OAK 39 37 31.9% 31.8% 13 85 138 1 69%
26-D.McAllister NO 36 34 31.0% 26.5% 14 81 135 1 86%
32-R.Johnson DET 35 35 37.7% 38.0% 13 89 121 1 85%
44-J.Snelling ATL 25 25 56.5% 56.1% 9 76 77 0 78%
34-O.Mughelli ATL 20 19 36.0% 33.7% 8 56 70 0 88%
47-L.Vickers CLE 18 19 18.4% 20.0% 10 58 79 0 80%
27-A.Stecker NO 18 16 11.3% 9.0% 12 52 86 1 75%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
23-W.McGahee BAL 17 13 1.3% 0.1% 18 120 104 0 89%
45-A.Hall TEN 13 14 1.0% 1.2% 13 94 94 1 69%
29-J.Wright CLE 13 12 -2.8% -3.2% 19 83 108 2 58%
45-M.Sellers WAS 10 10 -1.0% -1.2% 12 70 76 1 75%
35-O.Schmitt SEA 3 2 -6.3% -8.5% 8 29 37 0 75%
21-K.Smith KC 2 0 -11.1% -13.1% 11 52 39 0 91%
28-M.Pittman DEN 2 4 -11.5% -6.6% 13 112 46 0 77%
32-E.James ARI 2 2 -12.3% -11.0% 14 73 58 0 71%
45-B.Hoover CAR -3 -4 -18.9% -21.1% 9 39 37 0 67%
35-B.Askew TB -4 -4 -21.5% -19.6% 12 48 36 0 83%
27-L.Johnson KC -4 -3 -23.9% -18.7% 11 56 32 0 82%
32-C.Benson CIN -6 -6 -19.9% -20.7% 17 77 51 0 76%
37-J.McKie CHI -8 -11 -22.7% -25.2% 15 64 51 1 73%
44-V.Leach HOU -10 -13 -25.7% -30.0% 12 49 37 0 58%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
39-M.Hedgecock NYG -12 -10 -29.0% -26.3% 11 28 34 1 45%
25-J.Fargas OAK -14 -11 -38.4% -31.7% 12 39 14 0 58%
25-R.Grant GB