Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

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RUNNING BACKS 1997

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 12/18/2009

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, 45 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
T.Davis DEN 478 1 450 1 21.3% 2 19.6% 369 1,743 2,148 15 4 56% 2
B.Sanders DET 390 2 398 2 21.0% 3 21.6% 335 2,053 1,766 11 2 46% 16
C.Dillon CIN 246 3 216 5 16.2% 4 13.1% 233 1,129 1,254 10 1 51% 10
J.Bettis PIT 223 4 250 3 5.3% 10 7.0% 375 1,665 1,739 7 6 54% 4
M.Allen KC 215 5 190 6 26.4% 1 22.4% 124 505 876 11 4 61% 1
R.Smith MIN 207 6 231 4 13.5% 6 15.9% 232 1,266 1,147 6 0 48% 12
J.Stewart JAC 134 7 125 7 13.1% 7 11.5% 136 555 753 8 0 49% 11
S.Davis WAS 115 8 113 9 11.2% 8 10.8% 141 567 686 3 0 55% 3
C.Garner PHI 113 9 122 8 13.9% 5 15.7% 116 547 618 3 1 53% 6
F.Lane CAR 110 10 109 11 5.5% 9 5.6% 182 810 839 7 4 53% 7
G.Hearst SF 98 11 113 10 2.0% 12 3.8% 234 1,019 941 4 2 45% 20
R.Harris CHI 92 12 89 14 -0.4% 15 -0.7% 275 1,033 1,124 10 0 43% 29
C.Warren SEA 92 13 64 16 2.4% 11 -0.9% 199 836 864 4 1 48% 13
D.Levens GB 82 14 101 12 -2.4% 16 -1.0% 329 1,428 1,281 7 5 44% 23
M.Faulk IND 61 15 40 19 -3.6% 17 -5.3% 264 1,054 1,128 7 5 48% 14
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
C.Way NYG 55 16 100 13 0.1% 14 7.2% 152 689 637 4 3 54% 5
T.Thomas BUF 53 17 55 18 0.4% 13 0.6% 154 643 598 1 2 42% 32
E.Smith DAL 40 18 73 15 -4.7% 19 -1.6% 261 1,074 969 4 1 46% 18
R.Watters PHI 39 19 57 17 -5.4% 20 -3.9% 285 1,108 1,101 7 3 44% 24
N.Means JAC 34 20 -6 29 -5.5% 21 -9.1% 244 823 974 9 4 51% 9
A.Smith BUF 34 21 37 21 -4.5% 18 -4.2% 194 851 772 8 4 45% 21
E.George TEN 30 22 39 20 -6.6% 25 -6.0% 357 1,399 1,312 6 4 47% 15
K.Abdul-Jabbar MIA 27 23 10 25 -6.5% 24 -7.8% 283 892 1,159 15 3 46% 17
M.Alstott TB 22 24 15 24 -5.8% 22 -6.7% 176 669 714 7 4 42% 33
B.Morris BAL 16 25 19 23 -6.7% 26 -6.5% 204 774 787 4 4 51% 8
C.Martin NE 15 26 30 22 -7.3% 27 -5.9% 274 1,164 985 4 3 44% 25
K.Carter CIN 11 27 -5 28 -6.4% 23 -9.6% 128 464 485 7 2 41% 38
G.Brown SD -3 28 2 27 -8.8% 28 -8.4% 253 945 922 4 2 43% 28
W.Dunn TB -10 29 -6 30 -9.8% 29 -9.4% 225 971 695 4 3 37% 43
T.Barber NYG -19 30 10 26 -11.8% 33 -6.9% 136 511 451 3 2 43% 30
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
A.Murrell NYJ -19 31 -8 31 -10.2% 30 -9.2% 300 1,079 1,010 7 4 43% 27
T.Kirby SF -20 32 -16 34 -12.5% 35 -11.9% 125 418 395 6 2 42% 34
S.Williams DAL -22 33 -14 32 -12.7% 36 -11.3% 121 469 419 2 2 45% 19
L.Phillips MIA -23 34 -47 37 -11.2% 31 -13.8% 201 677 726 8 3 41% 36
M.Bates NO -29 35 -45 36 -14.4% 37 -17.5% 119 440 385 4 2 39% 39
N.Kaufman OAK -38 36 -58 38 -12.0% 34 -13.9% 272 1,294 882 6 6 39% 40
J.Anderson ATL -38 37 -27 35 -11.4% 32 -10.7% 288 989 1,023 7 2 45% 22
T.Wheatley NYG -47 38 -15 33 -15.7% 38 -10.9% 152 584 491 4 3 44% 26
G.Hill KC -47 39 -71 41 -16.1% 39 -20.0% 157 550 458 0 1 38% 42
L.McElroy ARI -88 40 -80 42 -25.7% 42 -23.9% 135 423 303 2 3 39% 41
J.Moore STL -89 41 -69 39 -27.6% 43 -23.5% 104 380 256 3 4 42% 31
T.Allen WAS -89 42 -69 40 -18.5% 40 -16.3% 210 724 626 4 1 41% 37
L.Centers ARI -91 43 -85 43 -29.3% 44 -28.4% 101 276 226 1 1 34% 45
R.Zellars NO -99 44 -97 44 -23.3% 41 -23.1% 157 554 418 4 6 41% 35
D.Autry CHI -118 45 -116 45 -35.6% 45 -35.3% 112 319 184 1 2 34% 44

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
S.Broussard SEA 116 110 28.5% 26.6% 70 418 458 5 0
D.Bennett KC 89 74 15.3% 11.2% 94 369 464 1 0
R.Thomas TEN 76 77 21.3% 21.8% 67 310 340 3 0
K.Anders KC 63 61 12.8% 12.2% 79 397 356 0 1
D.Holmes BUF 55 56 46.2% 47.4% 22 106 176 2 0
C.Evans MIN 41 34 12.3% 8.5% 43 157 238 2 0
D.Loville DEN 41 37 33.6% 29.1% 25 124 150 1 0
R.Rivers DET 38 40 23.1% 25.1% 29 166 163 1 0
V.Hebron DEN 37 21 8.1% 0.8% 49 222 248 1 0
T.Hall OAK 35 34 24.5% 23.6% 23 120 148 0 0
T.Vardell DET 35 35 8.7% 9.1% 32 121 228 6 1
E.Byner BAL 34 30 0.6% -0.7% 84 313 376 0 1
L.Smith SEA 32 31 -0.9% -1.0% 91 392 406 2 0
A.Hayden GB 29 30 15.8% 16.5% 32 148 148 1 0
D.Cullors NE 27 22 21.7% 15.4% 22 101 122 0 0
T.Biakabutuka CAR 23 15 -1.0% -3.7% 75 302 301 2 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
S.Greene CAR 23 24 1.3% 2.1% 45 157 233 1 1
W.Henderson GB 12 17 -1.0% 1.7% 31 113 157 0 0
L.Warren IND 8 2 -2.8% -7.0% 28 80 134 2 0
B.Hanspard ATL 6 0 -5.7% -8.5% 53 335 166 0 2
E.Rhett TB 4 10 -5.5% -1.8% 31 96 132 3 0
L.Johnson ARI 3 2 -5.8% -7.0% 23 81 91 0 0
J.Graham BAL 0 21 -8.4% -3.1% 81 299 326 2 0
M.Williams MIN 0 -2 -8.7% -10.6% 22 59 90 1 0
R.Hampton NYG 0 9 -9.6% -0.6% 23 81 91 1 0
L.Bowie WAS -1 2 -9.0% -7.5% 28 100 131 2 1
D.Meggett NE -2 -3 -11.4% -12.0% 20 60 61 1 0
E.Pegram NYG -6 2 -13.5% -7.0% 28 95 87 2 0
B.Mitchell WAS -6 -5 -16.4% -15.5% 23 108 56 1 1
A.Craver SD -6 -11 -16.8% -22.5% 20 71 56 0 0
A.Johnson CAR -7 -15 -10.4% -12.9% 97 358 291 0 1
K.Bynum SD -8 -19 -15.1% -24.3% 30 97 89 0 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
L.Hoard MIN -8 -11 -10.9% -11.7% 80 235 290 4 0
E.Bieniemy CIN -11 -11 -24.0% -24.0% 21 97 45 1 1
L.Johnson NYJ -11 -21 -13.9% -18.2% 47 158 168 2 1
A.Lee STL -13 -14 -22.1% -23.3% 28 104 62 0 0
R.Anderson NYJ -19 -18 -34.0% -32.4% 21 70 34 0 1
M.Grier NE -23 -33 -26.0% -33.6% 33 75 77 1 0
Z.Crockett IND -27 -33 -14.8% -16.2% 95 300 324 1 1
R.Moore ARI -33 -40 -19.2% -21.7% 81 278 212 1 0
R.Salaam CHI -34 -33 -39.6% -39.0% 31 115 39 0 2
I.Spikes MIA -34 -35 -21.1% -21.3% 63 180 181 2 0
T.Fletcher SD -44 -51 -33.5% -37.4% 51 161 81 0 2
C.Heyward STL -46 -41 -35.3% -32.4% 34 84 74 1 1
W.Floyd SF -49 -42 -22.7% -20.5% 78 231 224 3 2
G.Jones PIT -56 -62 -29.4% -31.5% 72 235 141 1 2
T.Davis NO -61 -59 -27.9% -27.3% 75 271 172 0 2
H.Green ATL -74 -66 -50.8% -47.2% 36 78 30 1 0

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
A.Lee STL 268 1 273 1 41.0% 7 42.0% 93 825 903 3 66%
B.Mitchell WAS 190 2 184 2 63.7% 2 61.1% 50 438 568 1 72%
L.Bowie WAS 173 3 167 3 61.3% 3 58.4% 40 388 523 2 85%
B.Parmalee MIA 147 4 148 4 59.2% 4 59.7% 35 301 448 1 80%
J.Anderson ATL 144 5 139 5 68.4% 1 65.3% 37 284 424 3 78%
K.Turner PHI 139 6 137 6 23.1% 14 22.7% 62 443 555 3 77%
W.Henderson GB 135 7 124 9 35.2% 9 31.3% 49 367 475 1 84%
D.Levens GB 126 8 110 12 17.9% 18 13.9% 67 370 542 5 79%
W.Dunn TB 124 9 118 10 27.6% 11 25.6% 56 464 469 3 70%
J.Stewart JAC 123 10 128 8 34.3% 10 36.3% 49 336 438 1 84%
H.Green ATL 123 11 114 11 55.6% 5 50.7% 36 360 386 0 81%
K.Anders KC 117 12 129 7 16.6% 21 19.8% 72 453 517 2 82%
C.Dillon CIN 98 13 103 13 42.6% 6 45.2% 33 259 328 0 82%
R.Watters PHI 98 14 94 14 11.5% 26 10.6% 73 440 477 0 66%
N.Kaufman OAK 78 15 90 15 16.9% 20 21.9% 50 403 341 2 80%
S.Gash NE 75 16 74 20 25.3% 12 24.6% 29 154 292 3 76%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
E.Bieniemy CIN 74 17 81 16 24.0% 13 27.9% 37 249 291 0 84%
W.Floyd SF 72 18 76 18 11.5% 27 12.9% 53 321 353 1 70%
L.Centers ARI 72 19 76 17 4.1% 34 5.2% 75 409 435 1 72%
J.McPhail MIA 70 20 64 25 15.0% 23 12.3% 48 262 319 1 71%
C.Martin NE 69 21 74 19 11.2% 28 13.2% 51 296 337 1 80%
C.Way NYG 68 22 64 24 8.8% 31 7.4% 51 304 357 1 73%
L.Warren IND 68 23 68 21 35.4% 8 35.4% 26 192 238 0 77%
M.Alstott TB 66 24 60 26 17.9% 19 15.0% 33 178 284 3 70%
C.Garner PHI 63 25 67 22 19.0% 15 20.8% 34 225 269 0 71%
M.Faulk IND 63 26 65 23 3.6% 35 4.3% 72 471 387 1 65%
B.Sanders DET 59 27 56 27 10.3% 29 8.9% 50 305 298 3 66%
D.Johnston DAL 58 28 55 28 18.6% 16 17.0% 29 166 247 1 62%
T.Barber NYG 56 29 54 29 6.6% 33 5.9% 54 299 314 1 63%
G.Hearst SF 49 30 48 32 16.1% 22 15.3% 27 194 219 2 78%
T.Kirby SF 49 31 49 31 14.3% 24 14.1% 34 279 226 1 68%
L.Smith SEA 48 32 51 30 18.1% 17 20.0% 28 183 209 0 82%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
T.Vardell DET 44 33 43 33 12.6% 25 12.1% 30 218 212 0 53%
C.Evans MIN 41 34 38 35 8.6% 32 6.8% 30 152 215 0 70%
K.Abdul-Jabbar MIA 38 35 37 36 1.0% 37 0.6% 49 261 264 1 59%
T.Allen WAS 37 36 38 34 9.3% 30 9.6% 28 172 192 1 71%
T.Fletcher SD 34 37 34 37 -0.3% 38 -0.2% 48 292 252 0 81%
S.Greene CAR 33 38 28 39 -4.5% 41 -5.7% 57 277 317 1 70%
R.Zellars NO 32 39 31 38 1.8% 36 1.3% 43 263 212 0 72%
T.Thomas BUF 27 40 27 40 -2.1% 40 -2.1% 40 208 218 0 75%
R.Smith MIN 23 41 15 41 -4.6% 42 -7.8% 44 197 224 1 84%
T.Wheatley NYG 17 42 15 43 -2.1% 39 -3.7% 25 140 138 0 64%
B.Christian ATL 11 43 6 45 -7.3% 43 -10.0% 31 154 140 1 71%
C.Warren SEA 5 44 15 42 -12.0% 45 -8.4% 53 257 200 0 85%
G.Brown SD 3 45 4 46 -12.0% 44 -11.8% 30 137 132 0 70%
B.Morris BAL -2 46 11 44 -15.0% 46 -8.4% 38 176 145 0 76%
K.Byars NE -3 47 -1 49 -15.1% 47 -14.1% 40 189 172 3 50%
E.Smith DAL -4 48 -3 50 -15.7% 48 -15.1% 48 234 163 0 83%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
T.Carter CHI -6 49 -7 51 -16.3% 49 -16.7% 38 152 153 0 63%
A.Johnson CAR -8 50 -10 53 -18.7% 52 -19.8% 33 161 99 1 64%
S.Broussard SEA -8 51 0 48 -18.5% 51 -14.0% 30 143 106 1 80%
T.Davis DEN -9 52 1 47 -16.7% 50 -13.6% 57 287 208 0 74%
R.Anderson NYJ -11 53 -9 52 -20.1% 53 -18.7% 34 150 107 1 76%
A.Smith BUF -17 54 -13 55 -20.2% 54 -18.9% 47 177 154 0 60%
K.Carter CIN -20 55 -13 54 -26.1% 55 -21.8% 31 157 73 0 68%
B.Milne CIN -22 56 -20 57 -26.7% 56 -25.1% 32 138 78 0 72%
S.Williams DAL -25 57 -18 56 -29.2% 57 -25.3% 28 159 63 0 75%
E.Byner BAL -29 58 -21 58 -30.9% 59 -25.9% 31 128 62 0 68%
H.Williams OAK -35 59 -24 59 -29.7% 58 -24.6% 38 147 87 2 42%
E.Pegram NYG -51 60 -44 60 -47.4% 61 -43.0% 29 90 3 0 72%
R.Harris CHI -76 61 -84 61 -45.4% 60 -48.5% 41 115 15 0 68%
A.Murrell NYJ -93 62 -92 62 -56.3% 62 -55.8% 42 106 -36 0 64%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
R.Harmon CHI 74 74 47.9% 48.1% 21 167 237 0 86%
D.Meggett NE 68 72 39.3% 42.0% 24 203 232 1 79%
L.Johnson NYJ 54 51 31.9% 29.3% 21 142 197 0 76%
M.Allen KC 30 30 17.3% 17.4% 14 86 131 0 79%
T.Hallock JAC 29 28 7.3% 6.5% 23 131 158 1 78%
I.Spikes MIA 29 32 41.1% 48.4% 10 70 96 0 70%
H.Walker DAL 29 35 6.3% 10.7% 23 149 160 2 61%
M.Strong SEA 28 32 9.0% 11.9% 21 91 147 2 62%
J.Moore STL 25 21 29.8% 22.1% 12 69 93 0 67%
J.Bettis PIT 25 25 4.8% 4.8% 24 110 146 2 63%
G.Milburn DET 21 19 34.2% 28.6% 10 77 73 0 50%
R.Thomas TEN 20 21 8.2% 8.6% 18 111 108 0 78%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
C.Heyward STL 16 15 7.2% 5.7% 13 77 90 0 62%
S.Davis WAS 16 22 -0.6% 3.8% 24 134 123 0 75%
L.Hoard MIN 15 8 6.6% -2.6% 15 84 83 0 73%
D.Holmes BUF 15 13 -1.9% -3.0% 20 106 119 0 65%
T.Hughes CHI 11 9 -0.5% -2.1% 16 68 79 0 50%
G.Jones PIT 7 6 -6.1% -7.0% 18 96 80 1 89%
E.George TEN 7 7 -2.9% -2.8% 12 44 58 1 58%
G.Hill KC 3 7 -11.7% -8.7% 24 126 103 0 50%
D.Fenner OAK 1 1 -12.5% -11.8% 17 92 49 0 82%
M.Bates NO -3 -6 -19.7% -26.0% 11 42 32 0 45%
M.Edwards SF -4 -7 -20.5% -25.1% 10 48 35 0 60%
D.Autry CHI -6 -5 -22.2% -20.6% 14 59 40 0 64%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
T.Davis NO -6 1 -20.8% -12.3% 18 85 53 0 72%
T.Lester PIT -9 -9 -24.4% -24.8% 15 51 43 0 67%
N.Means JAC -12 -13 -24.1% -25.3% 20 104 57 0 75%
L.Neal NYJ -15 -13 -31.2% -29.1% 13 40 30 1 62%
J.Graham BAL -22 -22 -43.8% -44.1% 14 51 7 0 86%
L.McElroy ARI -26 -28 -52.4% -55.3% 12 32 -5 0 58%
F.Lane CAR -27 -29 -52.4% -54.0% 13 27 -6 0 62%
H.Griffith DEN -28 -25 -41.0% -37.9% 17 55 16 0 65%
Z.Crockett IND -32 -31 -38.6% -37.7% 24 112 27 0 63%
L.Phillips MIA -55 -54 -65.3% -65.0% 18 39 -37 0 61%