Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



RUNNING BACKS 1996

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 8/23/2009

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 quarterback 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, 44 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
J.Bettis PIT 313 1 250 3 15.0% 4 10.2% 320 1,431 1,650 11 6 53% 3
B.Sanders DET 306 2 300 1 16.6% 2 16.1% 307 1,553 1,541 11 3 51% 10
T.Davis DEN 296 3 251 2 10.8% 7 7.8% 340 1,529 1,796 12 5 52% 6
M.Allen KC 202 4 172 4 13.5% 5 10.2% 206 830 1,114 9 2 53% 4
B.Morris BAL 186 5 159 6 15.6% 3 12.1% 172 737 962 4 0 55% 2
G.Hill KC 154 6 149 7 21.5% 1 20.5% 135 645 690 4 1 52% 8
T.Allen WAS 140 7 164 5 1.1% 13 2.7% 348 1,353 1,475 21 3 45% 27
J.Anderson ATL 138 8 131 9 6.8% 10 6.0% 231 1,052 996 5 3 48% 16
E.George HOU 127 9 98 13 0.4% 14 -1.7% 332 1,363 1,432 7 3 48% 14
E.Byner BAL 125 10 101 11 8.5% 9 5.2% 159 634 831 4 1 55% 1
D.Levens GB 115 11 127 10 13.3% 6 15.6% 121 566 638 5 2 53% 5
N.Kaufman OAK 100 12 96 14 9.1% 8 8.4% 150 874 646 1 3 48% 19
L.Smith SEA 94 13 81 17 6.1% 11 4.0% 153 682 702 8 3 47% 23
C.Martin NE 88 14 93 15 -2.4% 17 -2.0% 316 1,152 1,370 14 3 48% 15
R.Watters PHI 83 15 131 8 -3.1% 20 0.1% 349 1,401 1,425 13 5 49% 12
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
J.Stewart JAC 82 16 61 20 2.1% 12 -0.7% 190 723 796 8 2 46% 25
G.Hearst CIN 76 17 34 23 -0.5% 15 -5.0% 225 847 931 0 1 52% 7
A.Johnson CAR 74 18 77 18 -2.8% 18 -2.5% 300 1,120 1,210 6 2 47% 21
E.Smith DAL 61 19 99 12 -4.5% 22 -2.0% 327 1,208 1,390 12 2 48% 13
E.Bennett GB 52 20 81 16 -2.9% 19 0.2% 222 893 883 2 2 50% 11
A.Murrell NYJ 49 21 57 21 -4.6% 23 -4.0% 299 1,230 1,148 6 5 45% 28
T.Thomas BUF 47 22 72 19 -4.8% 24 -2.7% 281 1,033 1,143 8 1 47% 24
H.Green STL 35 23 38 22 -2.2% 16 -1.8% 127 523 533 4 2 48% 17
K.Abdul-Jabbar MIA 29 24 9 28 -6.4% 26 -7.9% 305 1,107 1,176 10 4 48% 20
R.Zellars NO 25 25 19 24 -3.6% 21 -4.7% 121 472 470 4 3 47% 22
L.Hoard BAL 19 26 18 25 -5.0% 25 -5.2% 125 492 487 3 3 48% 18
C.Warren SEA 7 27 -61 36 -7.8% 27 -16.2% 204 853 708 5 3 39% 40
T.Kirby SF 0 28 6 29 -8.5% 28 -7.6% 134 559 529 3 1 43% 32
R.Smith MIN -2 29 14 26 -8.9% 29 -6.5% 162 693 588 3 2 51% 9
R.Harris CHI -4 30 11 27 -9.0% 30 -7.2% 194 754 683 4 3 45% 26
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
M.Bates NO -50 31 -53 33 -16.0% 31 -16.4% 164 584 498 4 4 38% 41
R.Salaam CHI -53 32 -57 35 -17.4% 34 -18.0% 143 496 429 3 2 37% 43
H.Williams OAK -53 33 -95 40 -20.3% 36 -29.7% 121 431 303 0 3 38% 42
N.Means JAC -54 34 -55 34 -17.1% 33 -17.3% 145 484 456 2 3 44% 30
L.Centers ARI -65 35 -37 30 -21.3% 38 -15.9% 113 417 331 2 1 39% 38
R.Brooks TB -67 36 -45 31 -22.5% 39 -17.9% 112 368 302 2 1 40% 37
M.Faulk IND -70 37 -85 38 -16.5% 32 -18.2% 198 587 648 7 1 41% 33
L.Johnson ARI -87 38 -47 32 -23.1% 40 -16.5% 142 628 372 3 4 39% 39
L.Phillips STL -101 39 -94 39 -21.1% 37 -20.3% 193 632 530 4 2 36% 44
L.Russell SD -102 40 -131 44 -19.4% 35 -22.5% 219 706 644 7 6 40% 36
E.Rhett TB -116 41 -113 41 -23.3% 41 -22.8% 176 539 493 3 3 44% 31
D.Holmes BUF -122 42 -78 37 -23.8% 42 -18.3% 189 569 491 4 2 44% 29
T.Wheatley NYG -143 43 -115 43 -38.2% 44 -32.4% 112 392 184 1 5 41% 34
R.Hampton NYG -172 44 -115 42 -24.5% 43 -19.2% 254 827 652 1 3 41% 35

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
E.Pegram PIT 162 133 29.5% 22.6% 97 509 628 1 1
D.Fenner OAK 71 69 12.7% 12.2% 67 245 399 4 0
S.Davis WAS 68 65 63.7% 61.2% 23 139 190 2 0
C.Heyward ATL 67 61 13.7% 11.6% 72 321 368 3 0
C.Garner PHI 67 86 15.5% 22.1% 66 346 349 1 0
E.Bieniemy CIN 55 47 14.7% 11.3% 56 270 291 2 1
V.Hebron DEN 46 36 15.9% 10.3% 49 262 238 0 1
A.Lynn SF 29 33 22.7% 27.1% 24 164 127 0 0
D.Bennett KC 22 16 10.0% 4.8% 36 166 138 0 0
R.Harmon HOU 20 21 9.9% 11.0% 29 131 124 1 0
M.Grier NE 19 14 9.0% 4.2% 27 105 127 1 0
C.Gardner BAL 19 16 7.7% 4.6% 26 108 134 0 0
K.Anders KC 18 9 -0.3% -4.3% 54 201 219 2 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
R.Anderson NYJ 15 15 -2.3% -2.3% 45 141 228 1 0
W.Henderson GB 13 17 -1.7% 0.4% 39 130 185 0 0
M.Logan WAS 10 14 0.5% 3.4% 20 111 116 2 1
W.Floyd SF 10 17 -4.1% -1.2% 47 186 210 2 2
R.Cobb NYJ 10 17 -0.2% 6.3% 25 85 117 1 0
B.Mitchell WAS 10 4 -2.7% -5.9% 40 186 158 0 0
G.Robinson STL 8 15 -2.4% 2.2% 32 134 129 1 1
C.Way NYG 7 10 -1.4% 1.5% 22 79 94 1 0
Z.Crockett IND 6 7 -4.1% -3.4% 31 165 132 0 2
M.Alstott TB 6 10 -7.2% -6.2% 96 377 386 3 2
K.Carter CIN 6 -8 -7.1% -10.6% 91 264 354 8 1
L.Neal NO 4 1 -5.1% -7.3% 21 58 98 1 0
C.Groce IND -4 -14 -10.5% -16.2% 46 186 154 0 2
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
J.Aska OAK -5 11 -10.3% -4.5% 62 326 217 1 0
A.Craver DEN -14 -11 -13.5% -12.7% 57 225 215 2 1
D.Loville SF -16 -3 -14.0% -9.8% 70 229 223 2 0
B.Parmalee MIA -16 -16 -24.1% -24.1% 25 80 61 0 0
T.Vardell SF -16 -8 -14.3% -11.5% 58 192 215 2 0
F.Bradley SD -17 -14 -21.8% -19.3% 32 109 82 0 0
A.Lee MIN -17 -20 -17.8% -19.7% 51 161 131 0 0
V.Workman IND -18 -17 -25.6% -24.9% 24 70 61 0 0
G.Downs NYG -19 -18 -22.8% -22.7% 29 94 82 0 0
T.Jervey GB -22 -23 -31.3% -32.4% 26 106 48 0 2
D.Meggett NE -23 -27 -22.8% -25.4% 40 122 102 0 0
J.Ellison TB -24 -26 -25.2% -26.2% 35 106 86 0 1
R.Thomas HOU -24 -31 -20.6% -23.6% 49 151 136 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
M.Hicks CHI -25 -23 -29.3% -27.5% 27 92 63 0 1
A.Hayden SD -27 -33 -19.6% -22.4% 55 166 165 0 1
D.Johnston DAL -27 -28 -30.1% -30.8% 22 48 64 0 0
T.Fletcher SD -28 -26 -18.4% -17.6% 77 282 201 0 0
T.Biakabutuka CAR -29 -26 -18.2% -17.1% 71 229 214 0 0
R.Whittle NO -34 -34 -59.7% -59.9% 20 57 2 0 1
W.Oliver CAR -41 -36 -35.3% -31.8% 47 183 66 0 1
S.Williams DAL -43 -17 -24.4% -15.0% 69 279 163 0 2
L.McElroy ARI -54 -29 -25.2% -17.5% 85 307 191 1 2
S.Graham MIN -70 -78 -38.1% -41.6% 57 138 90 0 0
I.Spikes MIA -75 -70 -27.8% -26.7% 83 292 213 3 2
R.Green CHI -75 -50 -42.1% -30.7% 60 249 71 0 3
L.Warren IND -106 -101 -40.4% -38.9% 67 230 115 1 3

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 62 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 287 1 262 1 24.3% 14 21.1% 130 766 1,126 7 76%
R.Harmon HOU 209 2 217 2 51.5% 3 54.3% 59 488 659 2 71%
M.Alstott TB 202 3 198 3 28.4% 12 27.5% 81 557 760 3 80%
C.Way NYG 140 4 141 4 39.8% 5 40.2% 45 328 476 1 71%
D.Levens GB 133 5 130 6 51.6% 2 50.0% 33 226 420 5 94%
K.Turner PHI 133 6 140 5 26.4% 13 28.8% 56 409 510 1 77%
R.Watters PHI 127 7 120 8 19.0% 18 17.2% 70 444 538 0 73%
J.McPhail MIA 119 8 111 10 67.7% 1 62.5% 29 282 350 0 69%
S.Gash NE 116 9 123 7 30.8% 9 33.8% 44 276 424 2 75%
J.Anderson ATL 115 10 106 12 15.5% 22 13.2% 67 473 519 1 73%
K.Anders KC 111 11 115 9 8.8% 28 9.4% 88 529 583 2 68%
A.Lee MIN 103 12 95 15 12.6% 25 10.7% 71 432 490 2 76%
T.Davis DEN 102 13 108 11 19.4% 17 21.4% 52 310 431 2 69%
D.Fenner OAK 99 14 106 13 24.2% 15 26.7% 45 252 391 4 69%
C.Martin NE 90 15 93 16 16.4% 20 17.6% 52 335 397 3 88%
K.Byars MIA 89 16 87 18 16.3% 21 15.8% 48 289 393 2 67%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
B.Mitchell WAS 88 17 82 19 30.8% 8 28.1% 40 286 322 0 80%
M.Logan WAS 87 18 98 14 33.7% 6 39.8% 32 269 311 0 72%
M.Allen KC 86 19 89 17 30.6% 10 32.3% 35 270 316 0 77%
T.Fletcher SD 85 20 77 22 5.0% 31 3.3% 86 476 495 2 71%
B.Morris BAL 78 21 79 20 30.5% 11 30.7% 31 242 288 1 81%
T.McNair KC 75 22 78 21 32.4% 7 34.7% 28 181 270 1 75%
R.Harris CHI 74 23 66 25 15.3% 23 12.3% 44 296 335 1 73%
T.Kirby SF 74 24 65 26 4.6% 32 2.4% 69 439 438 1 75%
J.Ellison TB 71 25 73 24 45.8% 4 47.9% 25 208 231 0 72%
A.Craver DEN 64 26 64 27 5.9% 30 6.2% 51 297 361 1 76%
E.Bieniemy CIN 58 27 75 23 8.8% 27 15.8% 46 272 300 0 70%
E.George HOU 54 28 62 28 20.0% 16 24.8% 28 182 227 0 82%
M.Faulk IND 51 29 46 31 -2.1% 38 -3.3% 80 428 415 0 70%
S.Pritchett MIA 49 30 52 29 4.3% 33 5.6% 50 354 294 3 66%
B.Parmalee MIA 45 31 42 33 17.5% 19 15.9% 27 189 194 0 78%
W.Henderson GB 45 32 44 32 6.7% 29 6.6% 33 203 247 1 82%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
E.Byner BAL 42 33 49 30 3.1% 34 5.7% 44 270 265 1 68%
C.Evans MIN 40 34 39 34 15.1% 24 14.6% 25 135 181 0 88%
N.Kaufman OAK 36 35 36 35 10.6% 26 10.5% 26 143 179 1 85%
T.Thomas BUF 33 36 33 37 -0.8% 37 -0.8% 42 254 247 0 62%
H.Green STL 32 37 18 42 -3.0% 40 -7.7% 58 246 278 1 64%
J.Stewart JAC 31 38 34 36 1.7% 36 3.5% 40 177 204 2 75%
H.Williams OAK 23 39 22 40 2.1% 35 1.0% 29 143 152 0 76%
L.Warren IND 21 40 24 39 -2.3% 39 -0.3% 35 174 167 0 63%
E.Bennett GB 19 41 18 41 -4.7% 43 -5.2% 39 176 193 1 79%
A.Johnson CAR 18 42 13 44 -4.3% 42 -6.7% 33 192 169 0 79%
B.Sanders DET 16 43 8 47 -3.9% 41 -8.6% 32 147 147 0 75%
W.Floyd SF 14 44 8 48 -6.7% 44 -9.8% 36 198 171 1 72%
R.Anderson NYJ 11 45 25 38 -10.9% 47 -7.1% 70 385 285 0 63%
D.Loville SF 9 46 11 45 -8.1% 45 -7.2% 26 138 133 2 62%
E.Pegram PIT 6 47 9 46 -10.2% 46 -8.1% 27 112 120 0 63%
D.Meggett NE 4 48 4 50 -12.4% 48 -12.6% 57 292 227 0 58%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
K.Carter CIN 3 49 14 43 -12.5% 49 -7.0% 35 169 149 1 63%
H.Griffith CAR -1 50 4 49 -14.2% 50 -12.3% 48 223 200 1 56%
C.Warren SEA -2 51 -4 52 -14.6% 51 -15.5% 46 273 159 0 87%
D.Johnston DAL -10 52 -14 54 -17.0% 52 -18.3% 55 278 203 1 78%
L.Neal NO -12 53 -1 51 -18.3% 53 -14.2% 42 194 164 1 74%
T.Vardell SF -14 54 -5 53 -19.6% 54 -15.8% 38 179 145 0 74%
R.Whittle NO -29 55 -18 55 -30.7% 57 -24.6% 34 162 63 0 76%
T.Allen WAS -36 56 -31 56 -30.8% 58 -28.6% 42 194 77 0 76%
E.Smith DAL -37 57 -41 57 -25.4% 55 -26.8% 57 251 152 3 82%
T.Carter CHI -46 58 -54 59 -26.3% 56 -28.7% 59 233 167 0 69%
J.Bettis PIT -58 59 -49 58 -46.5% 61 -41.7% 32 122 7 0 69%
C.Groce IND -61 60 -55 60 -42.7% 60 -40.1% 32 106 25 0 41%
K.Abdul-Jabbar MIA -63 61 -58 61 -39.0% 59 -36.8% 45 139 49 0 51%
A.Murrell NYJ -83 62 -76 62 -57.8% 62 -54.1% 34 81 -37 1 50%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
H.Walker DAL 68 68 78.1% 78.3% 10 89 193 0 70%
C.Heyward ATL 63 67 46.2% 49.4% 19 168 206 0 84%
L.Johnson ARI 63 65 38.9% 40.2% 20 176 216 1 75%
L.Russell SD 63 64 59.3% 60.5% 18 180 190 0 72%
I.Spikes MIA 41 45 52.5% 59.2% 11 81 129 1 73%
L.Hoard BAL 38 39 26.7% 27.0% 16 133 147 0 69%
Z.Crockett IND 37 41 27.0% 30.7% 15 96 142 1 73%
G.Hearst CIN 31 33 10.4% 12.1% 22 131 154 1 55%
T.Wheatley NYG 25 21 15.8% 10.9% 17 51 113 2 71%
W.Oliver CAR 19 24 2.6% 7.0% 22 144 123 0 68%
E.Hunter BAL 19 26 1.8% 7.6% 23 163 127 0 78%
R.Thomas HOU 18 17 8.7% 8.0% 17 128 92 0 76%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
D.Holmes BUF 17 23 2.8% 8.9% 20 102 105 1 80%
M.Strong SEA 16 19 5.8% 9.8% 13 78 89 0 69%
V.Hebron DEN 15 17 11.5% 14.0% 11 43 76 0 64%
L.McElroy ARI 14 11 10.7% 5.6% 10 41 68 1 50%
J.Cothran CIN 13 15 11.4% 15.1% 10 49 64 0 70%
C.Garner PHI 10 7 -4.0% -7.4% 17 92 93 0 82%
T.Lester PIT 8 12 -5.6% -0.9% 14 70 81 0 50%
L.Maston JAC 5 7 -6.6% -3.0% 11 54 59 0 55%
K.Elias NYG -2 -5 -18.3% -23.3% 11 51 32 0 73%
S.Williams DAL -6 -7 -22.6% -25.1% 12 41 34 0 42%
L.Thompson TB -10 -3 -30.7% -19.5% 13 36 21 0 38%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
L.Phillips STL -10 -10 -29.2% -29.2% 12 28 27 1 67%
J.Aska OAK -11 -7 -31.6% -25.2% 11 68 22 0 73%
R.Hampton NYG -17 -15 -27.6% -25.5% 22 82 54 0 68%
C.Gardner BAL -25 -24 -63.1% -61.9% 10 28 -15 0 70%
R.Zellars NO -25 -26 -42.7% -44.6% 15 45 10 0 60%
R.Smith MIN -30 -27 -56.6% -52.8% 13 39 -12 0 54%
M.Bates NO -32 -31 -48.7% -47.8% 16 44 -1 0 81%
R.Green CHI -32 -40 -41.1% -47.7% 24 78 18 0 54%
D.Brown NO -41 -47 -54.0% -60.3% 20 54 -12 0 40%
D.Bennett KC -45 -45 -74.6% -74.2% 14 21 -40 0 57%
L.Smith SEA -48 -42 -79.8% -72.4% 16 58 -47 0 56%