Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics

Need Help with KUBIAK or Premium?

blog advertising is good for you


RUNNING BACKS 1995

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 11/27/2009

Running backs are ranked according to DYAR, or Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement. This gives the value of the performance on plays where this 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, 41 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
E.Smith DAL 463 1 424 1 19.0% 2 16.7% 375 1,770 2,196 25 7 53% 4
T.Davis DEN 233 2 209 2 13.7% 4 11.4% 237 1,117 1,278 7 4 52% 7
R.Hampton NYG 222 3 205 3 7.4% 9 6.2% 305 1,196 1,557 10 4 56% 2
C.Warren SEA 218 4 187 6 8.4% 7 6.0% 309 1,340 1,457 15 4 45% 28
M.Allen KC 188 5 194 5 11.8% 5 12.4% 207 890 1,099 5 1 54% 3
C.Heyward ATL 186 6 204 4 10.1% 6 12.0% 236 1,085 1,155 6 3 53% 5
B.Sanders DET 159 7 128 10 3.6% 11 1.2% 314 1,500 1,381 11 2 44% 32
H.Williams OAK 157 8 154 8 6.0% 10 5.8% 255 1,114 1,178 9 5 49% 17
C.Garner PHI 156 9 173 7 27.6% 1 31.3% 108 588 626 6 1 56% 1
C.Martin NE 123 10 77 14 -0.9% 18 -3.8% 368 1,489 1,582 14 5 43% 34
R.Green CHI 113 11 131 9 17.4% 3 21.5% 107 570 559 3 2 52% 6
E.Rhett TB 87 12 119 11 -2.4% 20 -0.1% 332 1,207 1,352 11 2 47% 25
B.Parmalee MIA 79 13 51 22 -1.0% 19 -3.7% 236 881 1,026 9 4 50% 14
N.Means SD 78 14 49 23 1.3% 14 -2.4% 186 730 806 5 2 44% 33
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
N.Kaufman OAK 73 15 71 16 8.1% 8 7.6% 109 486 496 1 0 51% 8
J.Stewart JAC 63 16 57 21 2.6% 13 1.4% 137 525 590 2 1 48% 21
A.Hayden SD 62 17 65 18 3.5% 12 3.9% 128 470 544 3 0 45% 29
R.Smith MIN 59 18 61 19 1.3% 15 1.6% 139 632 614 5 1 43% 35
B.Morris PIT 55 19 78 13 -0.2% 16 3.3% 148 559 653 9 3 51% 9
M.Bates NO 54 20 4 31 -3.5% 22 -8.2% 246 951 1,001 7 2 46% 26
T.Thomas BUF 49 21 45 24 -4.4% 24 -4.7% 267 1,005 1,069 6 6 48% 20
R.Watters PHI 46 22 102 12 -5.4% 28 -1.6% 336 1,279 1,337 11 4 51% 12
T.Allen WAS 46 23 60 20 -5.4% 27 -4.4% 338 1,310 1,303 10 6 46% 27
G.Hill KC 46 24 71 15 -0.6% 17 3.7% 155 667 572 1 2 51% 10
D.Loville SF 39 25 68 17 -4.7% 25 -1.8% 218 723 927 10 1 49% 19
D.Holmes BUF 35 26 38 26 -3.9% 23 -3.3% 172 698 684 4 3 50% 15
A.Murrell NYJ 28 27 41 25 -5.1% 26 -3.5% 192 795 742 1 1 51% 13
T.Kirby MIA 25 28 17 28 -3.3% 21 -5.0% 108 414 453 4 2 44% 30
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
H.Green CIN 20 29 7 30 -5.7% 29 -7.6% 171 661 635 2 2 48% 22
R.Salaam CHI 8 30 -12 32 -8.0% 30 -9.5% 296 1,075 1,103 10 9 49% 18
E.Byner CLE1 3 31 7 29 -8.0% 31 -7.0% 115 432 413 2 1 40% 40
S.Graham MIN -8 32 18 27 -10.3% 33 -5.0% 110 406 414 2 0 51% 11
M.Faulk IND -21 33 -36 35 -10.1% 32 -11.3% 289 1,078 1,107 11 7 47% 24
L.Hoard CLE1 -22 34 -36 36 -12.3% 36 -14.7% 136 547 466 0 5 50% 16
D.Moore CAR -26 35 -38 37 -11.8% 34 -13.2% 195 740 671 4 4 42% 39
E.Pegram PIT -27 36 -28 33 -11.8% 35 -11.9% 213 813 685 5 6 47% 23
V.Dunbar JAC -49 37 -30 34 -18.9% 40 -14.8% 110 361 331 2 0 43% 36
J.Bettis STL -78 38 -93 40 -18.8% 39 -20.9% 183 637 527 3 4 39% 41
R.Thomas HOIL -85 39 -91 39 -16.6% 37 -17.2% 249 938 769 5 5 43% 38
E.Bennett GB -112 40 -70 38 -17.2% 38 -13.9% 316 1,067 937 3 1 43% 37
G.Hearst ARI -166 41 -145 41 -22.4% 41 -20.7% 284 1,069 765 1 10 44% 31

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
A.Craver DEN 137 125 32.2% 28.4% 73 333 512 5 1
B.Mitchell WAS 104 106 46.3% 47.1% 46 301 330 1 0
J.Ellison TB 100 107 78.8% 84.3% 26 218 261 5 0
K.Anders KC 78 90 31.7% 38.1% 58 398 292 2 1
J.Bailey STL 74 77 34.4% 35.7% 36 182 269 2 0
S.Broussard SEA 53 42 20.2% 14.3% 46 221 244 1 0
G.Milburn DEN 50 49 17.9% 17.3% 49 266 243 0 1
D.Levens GB 49 48 15.4% 15.1% 36 120 255 3 0
R.Culver SD 47 35 11.3% 6.2% 47 155 280 3 0
D.Johnston DAL 46 38 23.7% 18.3% 25 111 196 2 1
R.Potts IND 42 48 7.1% 9.1% 65 309 301 0 0
D.Meggett NE 35 30 5.8% 3.9% 60 250 264 2 1
R.Zellars NO 34 39 7.8% 9.9% 48 162 236 2 0
T.Fletcher SD 32 36 22.0% 25.3% 26 140 143 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
E.Bieniemy CIN 30 18 -1.3% -4.2% 98 381 397 3 0
A.Lee MIN 27 35 1.2% 3.9% 69 371 283 2 2
I.Spikes MIA 24 29 9.1% 12.9% 32 126 157 1 0
J.Anderson ATL 22 30 3.9% 8.6% 39 161 183 1 0
B.Thomas CAR 16 17 9.4% 9.9% 22 90 105 0 0
M.Butts HOIL 13 18 -5.2% -3.9% 71 185 351 4 0
C.Gardner BUF 12 14 3.0% 5.1% 20 77 107 0 0
B.Christian CAR 11 10 -0.9% -2.0% 40 157 145 0 0
F.McAfee PIT 8 11 -3.9% -1.7% 38 148 154 1 0
W.Floyd SF 7 23 -6.2% -0.8% 64 237 270 2 1
R.Harmon SD 7 -1 -5.2% -9.0% 51 187 192 1 0
R.Bernstine DEN 6 10 -2.3% 1.7% 23 76 94 1 0
B.Moss STL 6 7 -1.8% -0.8% 22 90 87 0 0
H.Walker NYG 5 2 -4.2% -6.7% 31 126 112 0 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
V.Workman CAR 5 5 -5.0% -5.2% 44 165 134 1 0
A.Johnson CAR 4 -2 -4.8% -10.0% 30 140 102 1 2
G.Robinson STL 4 0 -6.2% -8.9% 40 165 156 0 0
B.Baxter NYJ 3 9 -7.8% -6.2% 85 296 334 1 0
L.Tillman CHI 3 -10 -6.2% -16.7% 29 78 112 0 0
L.Smith SEA 2 7 -7.0% -4.2% 36 215 140 0 1
M.Logan WAS -6 1 -13.6% -7.4% 23 72 89 1 1
R.Ervins SF -8 -3 -16.9% -12.2% 23 88 67 0 0
S.Williams DAL -11 -23 -14.2% -20.3% 48 208 152 1 2
T.Wheatley NYG -15 -20 -13.0% -14.6% 78 245 270 3 2
L.Maston JAC -16 -10 -20.3% -16.0% 41 186 93 0 2
G.Brown HOIL -18 -14 -13.2% -12.2% 86 293 310 0 1
J.Williams PIT -20 -16 -23.7% -21.0% 29 110 81 0 1
L.White CLE1 -22 -24 -16.4% -17.4% 62 163 201 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
R.Jordan JAC -25 -16 -42.0% -29.3% 21 62 24 0 0
D.Brown NO -32 -33 -26.8% -27.2% 49 159 100 1 0
R.Baldwin CAR -33 -32 -45.6% -44.9% 23 61 23 0 1
L.Thompson KC -34 -28 -40.9% -35.5% 28 73 35 0 0
H.Griffith CAR -38 -39 -23.3% -23.6% 65 197 161 1 1
L.Warren IND -39 -38 -27.5% -26.9% 47 152 114 1 1
J.Stewart MIN -46 -39 -46.1% -40.4% 31 144 31 0 2
L.Centers ARI -51 -48 -23.0% -22.2% 78 253 220 2 2
E.Hunter CLE1 -64 -62 -64.0% -62.4% 30 100 -5 0 3
D.Fenner OAK -64 -56 -51.1% -45.7% 39 110 26 0 1
L.Russell STL -93 -89 -40.4% -39.1% 66 203 101 0 2
R.Moore NYJ -94 -93 -61.2% -60.7% 42 107 1 0 3

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 57 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
L.Centers ARI 370 1 356 1 45.9% 4 43.5% 119 962 1,198 2 85%
R.Harmon SD 295 2 293 2 52.1% 3 51.7% 89 673 919 5 71%
D.Loville SF 253 3 261 3 22.9% 13 24.1% 110 662 1,014 3 79%
T.Kirby MIA 234 4 246 4 39.0% 6 41.6% 82 614 802 3 80%
E.Bennett GB 233 5 235 5 37.2% 7 37.8% 79 652 806 4 77%
D.Levens GB 226 6 224 6 55.7% 2 55.2% 57 434 699 4 84%
C.Heyward ATL 176 7 181 7 56.5% 1 58.5% 46 350 539 2 80%
E.Byner CLE1 156 8 159 8 21.1% 15 21.8% 84 494 640 2 73%
A.Lee MIN 144 9 146 9 12.3% 25 12.7% 95 558 688 1 75%
E.Bieniemy CIN 143 10 143 11 26.0% 11 26.1% 60 424 550 0 72%
M.Faulk IND 138 11 145 10 20.8% 16 22.6% 74 475 569 3 76%
A.Craver DEN 126 12 131 12 24.2% 12 25.7% 57 369 498 1 75%
T.McNair HOIL 121 13 129 13 12.9% 22 14.5% 84 501 577 1 71%
M.Logan WAS 113 14 110 14 39.2% 5 37.6% 40 276 386 2 63%
B.Mitchell WAS 108 15 105 15 30.8% 9 29.7% 50 324 397 1 76%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
B.Christian CAR 93 16 97 16 32.2% 8 34.4% 35 255 336 1 83%
H.Williams OAK 88 17 93 17 12.6% 23 14.0% 60 375 421 0 90%
B.Parmalee MIA 86 18 89 18 17.9% 19 19.1% 46 345 372 1 85%
D.Fenner OAK 85 19 84 20 18.9% 18 18.5% 45 252 362 3 78%
T.Allen WAS 81 20 75 21 22.3% 14 19.5% 40 232 329 1 78%
S.Gash NE 73 21 75 22 14.3% 21 14.9% 43 242 338 1 60%
W.Floyd SF 72 22 88 19 5.7% 31 10.0% 62 348 414 1 76%
T.Carter CHI 71 23 70 24 5.8% 30 5.4% 57 329 406 1 70%
K.Byars MIA 66 24 74 23 2.2% 35 3.9% 70 362 433 2 73%
D.Brown NO 65 25 54 29 12.1% 26 7.6% 49 266 310 1 71%
D.Johnston DAL 64 26 65 25 10.9% 27 11.1% 46 248 319 1 65%
B.Sanders DET 63 27 56 27 3.4% 33 1.2% 70 398 395 1 69%
G.Milburn DEN 59 28 53 30 19.7% 17 16.0% 32 191 250 0 69%
R.Green CHI 59 29 54 28 17.5% 20 15.0% 38 246 255 0 74%
J.Stewart JAC 57 30 60 26 26.8% 10 29.1% 27 190 218 1 78%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
H.Walker NYG 51 31 51 32 4.8% 32 4.7% 44 234 302 1 70%
R.Potts IND 48 32 52 31 12.4% 24 14.8% 32 228 230 1 66%
T.Thomas BUF 48 33 45 33 7.7% 28 6.5% 41 220 258 2 63%
G.Hearst ARI 44 34 37 34 2.4% 34 0.0% 47 243 283 1 62%
A.Johnson CAR 37 35 33 35 6.4% 29 3.9% 34 207 208 0 85%
R.Hampton NYG 26 36 28 37 1.6% 36 2.9% 28 142 172 0 86%
D.Holmes BUF 24 37 29 36 0.9% 37 4.4% 33 214 164 0 73%
J.Joseph CIN 19 38 17 39 -0.9% 38 -2.2% 25 118 148 0 80%
C.Warren SEA 17 39 22 38 -6.9% 39 -4.9% 50 257 216 1 70%
C.Martin NE 15 40 8 42 -8.6% 42 -11.2% 51 261 237 1 59%
H.Green CIN 13 41 11 41 -8.1% 40 -8.9% 41 182 191 1 66%
C.Evans MIN 10 42 13 40 -8.2% 41 -6.8% 28 119 150 1 64%
M.Allen KC 3 43 4 43 -12.3% 43 -12.3% 42 210 168 0 64%
E.Smith DAL 3 44 -10 45 -13.0% 44 -16.3% 78 375 302 0 79%
K.Anders KC -6 45 -4 44 -15.2% 45 -14.8% 81 349 297 1 68%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Bailey STL -15 46 -14 46 -18.7% 47 -18.6% 55 269 183 0 69%
L.Maston JAC -18 47 -20 51 -29.4% 55 -31.0% 25 131 45 0 72%
T.Davis DEN -18 48 -17 48 -17.6% 46 -17.4% 82 367 308 1 60%
J.Williams PIT -20 49 -19 49 -24.3% 50 -23.9% 36 127 94 1 67%
E.Rhett TB -22 50 -23 53 -27.9% 54 -28.1% 29 110 68 0 48%
B.Baxter NYJ -25 51 -17 47 -24.8% 51 -21.3% 40 160 112 0 65%
E.Pegram PIT -25 52 -23 52 -27.4% 53 -25.9% 35 206 82 1 74%
A.Murrell NYJ -36 53 -20 50 -20.6% 48 -17.5% 100 465 316 2 71%
R.Watters PHI -38 54 -33 54 -21.3% 49 -20.3% 92 424 285 1 66%
L.Russell STL -43 55 -45 55 -44.0% 57 -45.7% 31 89 13 0 52%
D.Meggett NE -62 56 -53 56 -27.3% 52 -25.3% 84 334 201 0 62%
R.Thomas HOIL -84 57 -80 57 -39.8% 56 -38.6% 59 204 58 2 66%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
M.Strong SEA 62 66 46.1% 49.7% 16 117 202 3 75%
L.Warren IND 60 60 39.8% 40.1% 23 159 203 0 74%
L.Neal NO 49 47 39.9% 38.1% 13 123 165 1 92%
L.Hoard CLE1 32 35 19.0% 21.4% 16 103 137 0 81%
S.Avery PIT 31 35 22.8% 28.0% 14 82 124 1 79%
R.Moore NYJ 24 23 24.9% 23.3% 12 64 93 0 75%
K.Elias NYG 23 23 27.9% 26.8% 12 69 88 0 75%
S.Smith SEA 19 24 17.8% 25.1% 10 59 84 1 70%
H.Griffith CAR 16 16 4.6% 4.7% 14 63 96 1 79%
M.Bates NO 16 11 -0.9% -4.6% 21 114 118 0 86%
C.Way NYG 15 16 4.7% 5.8% 12 76 91 1 58%
R.Salaam CHI 13 15 5.6% 8.0% 12 56 77 0 58%
R.Jordan JAC 7 9 -4.2% -0.5% 12 89 65 1 42%
F.McCrary PHI 6 8 -5.8% -3.7% 13 60 68 0 69%
J.Bettis STL 6 4 -8.6% -10.5% 23 106 96 0 78%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
F.McAfee PIT -5 -6 -18.8% -19.3% 20 96 56 0 80%
B.Morris PIT -6 -8 -25.1% -30.1% 10 36 24 0 80%
S.Broussard SEA -6 -7 -20.0% -21.1% 18 94 58 0 56%
J.Ellison TB -12 -12 -29.9% -30.3% 13 44 28 0 54%
L.Thompson KC -12 -13 -28.3% -29.4% 13 37 34 0 69%
R.Smith MIN -12 -13 -33.4% -35.3% 11 35 19 0 64%
N.Kaufman OAK -13 -14 -27.2% -28.3% 16 62 43 0 56%
G.Hill KC -16 -16 -34.6% -33.8% 14 45 23 0 50%
C.Garner PHI -17 -18 -32.4% -33.6% 15 61 30 0 67%
A.Walker SF -19 -21 -28.9% -30.9% 21 78 51 0 52%
T.Vardell CLE1 -22 -26 -54.2% -60.7% 10 18 -6 0 60%
V.Workman CAR -30 -31 -39.3% -40.5% 22 74 22 0 59%
R.Zellars NO -33 -33 -60.6% -60.1% 11 33 -18 0 64%
J.Cothran CIN -37 -37 -51.6% -50.7% 18 44 -6 0 44%