Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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RUNNING BACKS 2001

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, 43 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
P.Holmes KC 378 1 321 1 20.1% 1 15.8% 327 1,555 1,745 8 2 51% 4
M.Faulk STL 295 2 310 2 17.1% 2 18.4% 260 1,382 1,467 12 2 56% 1
G.Hearst SF 238 3 253 3 15.1% 4 16.6% 252 1,206 1,249 4 0 50% 5
T.Barber NYG 151 4 164 5 15.7% 3 17.7% 166 868 781 4 3 48% 10
C.Martin NYJ 142 5 222 4 1.9% 13 7.8% 333 1,502 1,391 10 2 47% 15
A.Thomas CHI 140 6 153 6 4.2% 9 5.4% 278 1,183 1,169 7 0 45% 21
M.Alstott TB 138 7 147 8 11.2% 6 12.4% 165 680 824 10 0 48% 9
D.Rhodes IND 136 8 148 7 5.4% 7 6.6% 233 1,099 1,059 9 5 48% 8
S.Alexander SEA 133 9 111 9 2.3% 10 0.5% 309 1,323 1,265 14 4 46% 17
J.Bettis PIT 102 10 101 10 2.3% 11 2.2% 225 1,068 976 4 3 46% 16
T.Hambrick DAL 99 11 85 11 12.5% 5 9.6% 113 579 565 2 1 44% 25
M.Bennett MIN 71 12 40 17 2.1% 12 -2.6% 172 682 689 2 0 44% 26
K.Barlow SF 71 13 71 13 5.0% 8 5.1% 125 512 564 4 1 53% 3
C.Garner OAK 56 14 24 21 -2.1% 16 -5.8% 211 843 832 1 2 49% 7
J.White CLE 54 15 30 20 1.3% 14 -3.0% 126 446 552 5 1 44% 23
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
S.Davis WAS 52 16 11 28 -5.2% 22 -7.9% 356 1,433 1,399 5 6 47% 13
C.Buckhalter PHI 50 17 51 15 1.2% 15 1.4% 129 586 522 2 2 44% 27
S.Mack JAC 44 18 48 16 -4.1% 18 -3.6% 213 877 900 9 2 48% 11
A.Smith NE 42 19 75 12 -5.2% 23 -2.5% 286 1,157 1,137 12 4 48% 12
A.Green GB 37 20 32 19 -5.7% 24 -6.1% 304 1,387 1,147 9 5 44% 24
T.Allen BAL 31 21 12 26 -4.1% 19 -6.8% 168 658 647 3 1 43% 29
C.Dillon CIN 27 22 -31 33 -6.6% 28 -10.8% 340 1,316 1,247 10 5 41% 32
T.Jones ARI 24 23 12 27 -3.4% 17 -6.0% 112 380 441 5 2 44% 28
J.Stewart DET 21 24 37 18 -4.8% 21 -1.8% 143 685 506 1 0 39% 36
C.Fuamatu-Ma'afala PIT 21 25 23 23 -4.6% 20 -4.3% 120 453 492 3 0 45% 20
M.Anderson DEN 20 26 17 25 -5.9% 25 -6.3% 175 678 674 4 1 42% 31
R.Dayne NYG 18 27 1 29 -6.2% 26 -8.5% 179 690 688 7 1 41% 34
T.Davis DEN 16 28 23 22 -6.2% 27 -5.3% 167 701 628 0 2 47% 14
E.James IND 11 29 68 14 -7.0% 29 1.4% 151 664 609 3 2 54% 2
E.Smith DAL 1 30 -13 31 -8.5% 30 -9.9% 261 1,021 878 3 1 40% 35
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
J.Brookins BAL -18 31 -25 32 -11.2% 31 -12.2% 152 557 556 5 3 49% 6
J.Allen CHI -30 32 -4 30 -13.9% 34 -9.2% 135 469 433 1 1 44% 22
R.Williams NO -35 33 21 24 -11.4% 32 -6.9% 314 1,249 1,020 6 6 43% 30
M.Pittman ARI -39 34 -76 38 -12.5% 33 -16.3% 241 853 786 5 4 41% 33
D.Staley PHI -46 35 -48 34 -15.1% 36 -15.4% 166 599 528 2 2 45% 18
R.Huntley CAR -75 36 -54 35 -20.0% 38 -16.9% 166 661 444 2 3 39% 37
T.Henry BUF -83 37 -75 37 -18.4% 37 -17.4% 213 733 597 4 5 38% 39
L.Tomlinson SD -87 38 -58 36 -14.4% 35 -12.5% 339 1,242 1,139 10 5 45% 19
J.Jackson CLE -92 39 -141 40 -20.4% 39 -26.6% 195 555 523 2 1 35% 41
W.Dunn TB -108 40 -132 39 -26.5% 41 -30.4% 157 437 345 3 2 34% 42
M.Smith ATL -173 41 -161 41 -25.5% 40 -24.3% 237 760 601 5 1 36% 40
E.George TEN -242 42 -260 43 -28.5% 42 -30.0% 315 940 653 5 8 34% 43
L.Smith MIA -279 43 -211 42 -30.3% 43 -25.0% 313 968 651 6 4 39% 38

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
L.Jordan NYJ 91 101 48.1% 54.4% 39 292 285 1 0
T.Canidate STL 91 96 19.3% 20.9% 78 397 427 5 1
B.Christian ATL 90 92 40.6% 41.6% 44 284 305 2 0
M.Wiley DAL 76 80 48.4% 51.6% 34 247 238 0 0
K.Carter WAS 75 67 21.9% 18.7% 63 308 336 3 0
Z.Crockett OAK 67 35 11.8% 2.2% 57 145 389 6 1
S.Hicks TEN 47 61 13.9% 20.4% 56 341 257 1 0
T.Richardson KC 44 35 3.6% 0.9% 66 191 385 7 0
T.Jackson SF 43 47 39.0% 44.3% 22 138 146 1 1
A.Zereoue PIT 38 30 1.9% -0.3% 85 441 370 1 3
C.Schlesinger DET 37 33 7.9% 6.1% 47 154 256 3 0
L.Centers BUF 35 35 17.8% 17.5% 34 160 172 2 0
L.Johnson CHI 34 34 18.0% 18.2% 20 99 167 4 0
E.Joseph JAC 30 23 2.5% -0.3% 68 294 285 0 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
R.Watters SEA 24 15 -0.4% -3.6% 72 318 296 1 1
O.Gary DEN 23 27 0.4% 2.1% 57 228 257 1 0
B.Bennett CIN 20 9 1.4% -4.4% 50 232 210 0 1
T.Fletcher SD 18 12 7.5% 2.3% 29 107 122 0 0
O.Ayanbadejo BAL 15 7 -0.3% -4.9% 46 173 181 1 1
T.Minor MIA 11 38 -4.2% 7.4% 59 281 224 2 0
T.Wheatley OAK 10 16 -6.2% -4.7% 88 278 369 5 2
T.Biakabutuka CAR 8 7 -4.3% -5.1% 53 230 179 1 1
F.Beasley SF 4 8 -5.0% -2.0% 23 73 116 1 0
K.Faulk NE 4 14 -6.5% 0.2% 41 169 148 1 0
R.Anderson NYJ 2 8 -6.9% -1.2% 26 102 90 0 0
L.Warren DET -1 -10 -9.1% -12.2% 61 191 221 3 0
R.Thomas ATL -2 1 -9.8% -7.6% 37 126 119 0 0
A.Stecker TB -3 -6 -11.7% -14.6% 24 72 75 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
J.Kleinsasser MIN -8 -9 -15.1% -15.7% 23 72 92 1 1
F.Taylor JAC -9 -22 -16.4% -26.6% 30 116 88 0 1
J.Anderson ATL -22 -25 -18.0% -19.3% 55 190 165 1 1
J.Redmond NE -24 -22 -27.1% -25.8% 35 119 73 0 0
S.Morris BUF -24 -24 -35.6% -35.1% 20 72 38 0 1
M.Edwards NE -26 -26 -18.5% -18.7% 51 141 184 1 2
S.Bryson BUF -27 -6 -17.5% -10.6% 80 341 217 2 0
D.Washington NYG -28 -31 -33.1% -35.6% 28 89 63 0 1
D.Levens GB -32 -32 -27.1% -27.4% 44 165 96 0 0
D.Chapman MIN -35 -37 -23.0% -23.7% 63 196 153 0 1
M.Williams BAL -45 -21 -26.7% -17.0% 65 291 142 0 1
R.Droughns DET -53 -55 -50.5% -52.5% 30 72 23 0 0
B.Gay CLE -62 -82 -37.0% -46.4% 51 176 87 1 3
N.Goings CAR -108 -80 -46.4% -36.7% 66 197 71 0 1

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 59 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
M.Faulk STL 363 1 364 1 47.6% 2 47.8% 103 765 1,172 9 81%
C.Garner OAK 178 2 172 2 19.4% 13 18.2% 91 578 752 2 79%
P.Holmes KC 161 3 165 3 28.0% 8 29.1% 75 614 608 2 83%
A.Green GB 161 4 165 4 20.7% 10 21.4% 82 594 666 2 76%
L.Centers BUF 149 5 142 5 12.0% 20 10.8% 104 619 721 2 76%
D.Staley PHI 144 6 139 7 15.6% 15 14.4% 89 615 649 2 70%
J.White CLE 142 7 140 6 32.5% 6 31.8% 59 418 511 1 75%
B.Christian ATL 124 8 124 8 23.6% 9 23.5% 60 392 494 2 75%
T.Barber NYG 111 9 121 9 6.1% 26 7.9% 98 578 629 0 73%
J.Stewart DET 110 10 110 10 57.2% 1 57.1% 26 242 339 1 88%
W.Dunn TB 96 11 92 12 4.2% 32 3.5% 98 569 579 3 70%
K.Barlow SF 95 12 94 11 43.3% 3 42.7% 28 247 314 1 79%
T.Minor MIA 81 13 89 13 31.0% 7 35.1% 37 263 299 1 78%
E.Joseph JAC 79 14 75 14 41.6% 4 39.1% 24 183 264 2 75%
T.Richardson KC 75 15 73 15 20.3% 11 19.3% 40 265 312 0 75%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
M.Smith ATL 67 16 71 16 36.8% 5 40.0% 26 230 233 1 73%
G.Hearst SF 66 17 66 17 5.4% 28 5.5% 55 349 381 1 75%
M.Williams BAL 61 18 63 19 15.5% 16 16.2% 35 210 275 0 66%
S.Alexander SEA 60 19 63 18 4.7% 29 5.7% 59 343 353 2 75%
E.James IND 50 20 45 27 17.8% 14 14.4% 29 193 218 0 83%
E.George TEN 50 21 49 24 4.5% 30 3.8% 50 268 301 0 74%
W.Henderson GB 48 22 52 21 13.5% 18 16.1% 28 193 223 0 75%
J.Kleinsasser MIN 47 23 51 22 20.1% 12 22.8% 28 187 197 0 86%
M.Bennett MIN 47 24 47 25 7.9% 25 8.0% 38 226 251 1 76%
L.Smith MIA 47 25 45 28 10.0% 23 9.0% 35 234 237 2 86%
S.Davis WAS 45 26 44 29 10.3% 22 9.5% 37 205 228 0 76%
R.Williams NO 45 27 53 20 -3.2% 34 -1.3% 88 511 398 1 68%
A.Thomas CHI 44 28 47 26 12.4% 19 13.9% 30 178 212 0 73%
K.Faulk NE 38 29 50 23 4.2% 31 10.1% 36 189 227 2 83%
B.Bennett CIN 36 30 35 32 14.2% 17 13.5% 26 150 164 0 77%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
T.Henry BUF 34 31 34 33 11.8% 21 11.6% 27 179 165 0 81%
J.Ritchie OAK 33 32 37 30 8.5% 24 11.2% 27 154 175 2 70%
L.Warren DET 30 33 36 31 -4.9% 35 -3.0% 59 336 298 1 68%
A.Smith NE 29 34 31 34 5.5% 27 7.0% 28 192 162 1 68%
T.Fletcher SD 25 35 24 36 3.4% 33 2.2% 29 184 157 0 79%
C.Schlesinger DET 24 36 30 35 -8.9% 38 -7.6% 83 451 386 0 71%
J.Allen CHI 12 37 9 39 -9.4% 39 -10.5% 42 196 208 1 71%
S.Mack JAC 10 38 9 38 -8.7% 37 -9.2% 34 165 157 1 68%
D.Levens GB 10 39 10 37 -8.5% 36 -8.4% 35 159 149 1 69%
C.Dillon CIN 7 40 1 43 -11.7% 40 -13.5% 61 228 252 3 56%
R.Anderson NYJ 4 41 7 40 -12.5% 42 -11.7% 56 246 238 2 70%
M.Alstott TB 3 42 -3 46 -12.7% 44 -14.8% 50 231 197 1 70%
M.Strong SEA 3 43 2 42 -11.9% 41 -12.5% 29 141 120 0 59%
O.Ayanbadejo BAL 2 44 5 41 -12.6% 43 -11.1% 33 121 126 1 73%
L.Neal CIN 0 45 -4 47 -14.0% 45 -16.5% 27 101 117 1 70%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
C.Martin PHI -4 46 -1 44 -15.7% 46 -14.4% 34 124 134 2 71%
C.Martin NYJ -13 47 -2 45 -17.2% 47 -14.3% 63 320 239 0 84%
B.Hoover CAR -15 48 -14 49 -19.5% 48 -19.2% 47 185 156 0 55%
J.Makovicka ARI -15 49 -16 51 -23.4% 51 -23.9% 28 95 83 1 57%
D.Bennett WAS -16 50 -15 50 -24.8% 52 -24.5% 25 112 70 0 60%
M.Edwards NE -17 51 -11 48 -21.2% 50 -18.9% 39 166 127 2 64%
G.Comella NYG -22 52 -19 52 -20.5% 49 -19.6% 55 253 194 1 71%
F.Beasley SF -29 53 -27 53 -31.8% 56 -30.9% 28 98 54 0 57%
M.Wiley DAL -35 54 -29 54 -41.0% 57 -36.0% 27 99 20 1 59%
M.Pittman ARI -44 55 -43 57 -26.9% 54 -26.6% 65 264 151 0 65%
R.Huntley CAR -45 56 -47 58 -43.0% 58 -43.9% 32 101 17 1 66%
L.Tomlinson SD -46 57 -36 55 -25.1% 53 -22.7% 74 367 197 0 80%
D.Rhodes IND -48 58 -54 59 -29.7% 55 -31.8% 55 224 116 0 62%
C.Hetherington CAR -54 59 -42 56 -46.4% 59 -39.2% 35 124 7 0 66%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
D.McAllister NO 64 67 47.4% 50.9% 20 166 205 1 75%
B.Johnson WAS 64 65 83.1% 84.6% 11 129 179 0 82%
T.Jackson SF 62 58 59.5% 55.9% 14 91 187 2 86%
A.Zereoue PIT 53 55 65.5% 68.3% 14 154 156 1 93%
A.Stecker TB 47 49 49.9% 51.5% 13 101 151 1 77%
P.Hape DEN 39 41 13.4% 14.3% 19 96 185 3 79%
T.Canidate STL 36 33 13.1% 10.5% 23 154 171 0 74%
H.Morrow MIN 33 30 19.4% 16.5% 18 142 138 0 72%
T.Jones ARI 31 33 11.6% 13.3% 24 151 153 0 88%
J.Redmond NE 28 27 11.8% 10.7% 21 132 136 0 62%
S.Gash BAL 23 25 16.7% 19.9% 14 80 101 1 64%
D.Chapman MIN 22 20 10.8% 7.9% 18 126 111 1 89%
J.Jackson CLE 19 18 20.2% 19.7% 10 56 78 0 70%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
P.Pass NE 18 16 15.1% 11.5% 10 66 82 1 60%
R.Dayne NYG 18 18 14.5% 15.3% 11 67 81 0 73%
C.Fuamatu-Ma'afala PIT 16 16 1.5% 1.8% 20 127 106 1 80%
C.Buckhalter PHI 15 21 -0.1% 5.6% 21 130 111 0 62%
M.Green TEN 11 7 4.2% -2.3% 13 64 69 1 92%
R.Konrad MIA 11 11 1.5% 1.9% 13 52 74 1 38%
S.Trejo DET 10 10 1.1% 1.4% 10 61 69 0 50%
J.Bettis PIT 9 11 6.4% 11.1% 10 48 52 0 80%
E.Smith DAL 9 14 -6.5% -2.5% 21 116 107 0 81%
T.Carter DEN 2 1 -11.2% -12.7% 16 83 67 0 69%
S.Bryson BUF 1 4 -12.7% -7.3% 11 59 47 0 82%
R.Watters SEA -1 -3 -14.7% -16.0% 22 107 89 0 50%
L.Jordan NYJ -1 -2 -16.6% -18.4% 10 44 34 1 70%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Cook TB -5 -7 -18.0% -19.5% 23 89 79 0 74%
M.Anderson DEN -7 -3 -23.8% -18.4% 12 46 34 0 67%
K.Coleman DEN -7 -9 -25.2% -30.0% 11 45 28 0 55%
R.Thomas DAL -10 -8 -30.4% -27.7% 10 19 22 1 50%
T.Hambrick DAL -11 -8 -27.6% -23.3% 12 62 34 0 33%
K.Carter WAS -11 -6 -24.9% -20.0% 21 83 55 0 62%
T.Wheatley OAK -12 -7 -27.8% -21.9% 15 61 38 1 80%
T.Davis DEN -23 -25 -33.9% -35.8% 21 69 34 0 57%
T.Allen BAL -23 -25 -34.3% -35.4% 20 68 33 0 85%
R.Jordan OAK -24 -22 -45.0% -42.7% 15 63 5 0 60%
F.McCrary SD -30 -28 -37.2% -36.1% 23 71 29 0 57%
T.Biakabutuka CAR -33 -33 -52.5% -53.1% 17 121 -11 0 71%
D.Shelton CHI -38 -39 -49.3% -50.6% 18 76 -2 1 67%