Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



RUNNING BACKS 2003

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 7/7/2009

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, 45 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
P.Holmes KC 480 1 430 1 24.8% 3 21.3% 320 1,420 2,014 27 1 58% 1
L.Tomlinson SD 365 2 327 4 20.4% 4 17.4% 313 1,645 1,673 13 2 44% 32
A.Green GB 361 3 360 3 15.6% 6 15.5% 355 1,886 1,874 15 7 50% 9
C.Portis DEN 323 4 371 2 17.5% 5 21.4% 290 1,591 1,589 14 3 53% 3
J.Lewis BAL 290 5 294 5 9.8% 11 10.1% 388 2,066 1,825 15 9 46% 21
S.Alexander SEA 198 6 203 6 5.5% 16 5.8% 326 1,434 1,533 14 4 48% 12
O.Smith MIN 170 7 169 8 30.8% 1 30.5% 107 579 647 5 1 57% 2
E.James IND 167 8 149 12 3.2% 20 1.9% 309 1,260 1,492 11 5 51% 7
S.Davis CAR 161 9 202 7 3.9% 19 7.1% 318 1,444 1,369 8 3 47% 19
C.Martin NYJ 157 10 98 18 4.0% 18 -0.7% 323 1,309 1,326 2 2 45% 23
K.Barlow SF 155 11 154 11 10.8% 8 10.6% 201 1,025 941 6 4 50% 8
B.Westbrook PHI 151 12 141 13 25.9% 2 23.7% 116 605 621 7 0 45% 27
D.McAllister NO 143 13 136 14 1.4% 21 1.0% 351 1,632 1,458 8 6 41% 38
R.Johnson CIN 137 14 163 10 6.4% 14 9.2% 214 967 1,010 9 0 51% 6
M.Williams MIN 134 15 109 16 9.8% 9 6.4% 174 747 841 5 2 48% 14
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
F.Taylor JAC 127 16 167 9 0.3% 24 3.1% 345 1,574 1,437 6 5 48% 16
G.Hearst SF 119 17 71 25 8.2% 12 1.5% 178 768 803 3 2 44% 30
T.Duckett ATL 110 18 111 15 4.5% 17 4.5% 197 784 905 11 3 47% 18
C.Garner OAK 99 19 91 19 12.9% 7 11.1% 120 553 557 3 1 44% 31
R.Cartwright WAS 98 20 70 26 9.8% 10 4.5% 107 411 618 4 1 52% 5
T.Wheatley OAK 93 21 106 17 6.0% 15 8.0% 159 678 701 4 2 50% 10
M.Faulk STL 81 22 81 22 0.3% 23 0.3% 209 818 912 10 0 45% 25
W.Dunn ATL 81 23 87 20 8.0% 13 9.2% 125 668 550 3 1 42% 37
A.Thomas CHI 71 24 83 21 -1.7% 25 -0.5% 244 1,024 1,008 6 1 45% 28
C.Buckhalter PHI 52 25 59 27 1.0% 22 2.3% 126 543 550 8 3 48% 15
M.Pittman TB 43 26 53 28 -2.8% 27 -1.6% 186 748 716 0 2 49% 11
D.Davis HOU 40 27 75 24 -4.4% 29 -0.6% 238 1,032 882 8 2 41% 39
T.Henry BUF 38 28 79 23 -5.8% 30 -2.8% 332 1,363 1,242 10 8 45% 26
T.Canidate WAS 37 29 47 29 -2.1% 26 -0.5% 142 597 557 1 1 44% 33
C.Dillon CIN 30 30 14 32 -3.3% 28 -6.1% 138 541 549 2 0 43% 36
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
S.Bryson DET 13 31 -3 35 -6.5% 31 -9.0% 158 610 574 3 3 41% 40
J.Jackson CLE 3 32 -3 34 -8.0% 32 -9.2% 102 379 418 3 3 53% 4
T.Barber NYG 1 33 26 30 -8.5% 33 -6.3% 278 1,217 990 2 7 47% 17
A.Smith NE -4 34 -6 36 -9.0% 34 -9.3% 182 642 668 3 0 45% 24
T.Jones TB -15 35 20 31 -11.2% 35 -5.0% 137 628 465 3 3 45% 29
O.Gary DET -15 36 -25 37 -11.9% 37 -14.1% 113 383 364 2 1 38% 44
W.Green CLE -23 37 -32 38 -12.6% 38 -14.2% 142 559 460 1 5 46% 20
J.Bettis PIT -34 38 -1 33 -11.9% 36 -8.7% 246 811 848 7 4 48% 13
M.Shipp ARI -40 39 -55 40 -13.0% 39 -14.7% 226 832 712 0 3 43% 35
K.Faulk NE -41 40 -34 39 -14.5% 42 -13.6% 178 643 526 0 3 46% 22
D.Foster CAR -73 41 -74 44 -24.7% 45 -24.8% 113 429 271 0 2 36% 45
E.George TEN -74 42 -57 41 -14.5% 41 -13.2% 312 1,031 958 5 0 39% 41
R.Williams MIA -76 43 -85 45 -13.5% 40 -14.1% 392 1,371 1,214 9 4 39% 43
A.Zereoue PIT -81 44 -66 43 -23.3% 44 -20.5% 132 433 344 2 0 39% 42
T.Hambrick DAL -93 45 -59 42 -16.2% 43 -13.4% 275 971 899 5 4 44% 34

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
D.Staley PHI 122 125 22.9% 23.7% 96 463 532 5 1
J.Griffith ATL 64 61 31.4% 29.1% 38 168 243 0 0
M.Bennett MIN 60 49 7.8% 4.7% 90 447 414 1 2
M.Cloud NE 59 52 33.8% 28.3% 27 118 217 5 0
T.Minor MIA 58 53 24.7% 21.9% 41 193 243 1 0
M.Strong SEA 56 57 20.9% 21.2% 37 174 256 1 1
B.Forsey CHI 51 37 14.9% 8.3% 50 191 272 2 0
R.Anderson DAL 49 49 9.9% 10.0% 70 306 309 1 0
L.Suggs CLE 40 39 8.9% 8.5% 56 289 263 2 2
T.Fisher GB 37 37 18.8% 18.2% 40 200 177 1 0
M.Morris SEA 36 35 17.8% 17.1% 38 239 176 0 1
C.Fuamatu-Ma'afala JAC 34 26 10.4% 5.8% 35 144 210 1 0
C.Morton WAS 30 17 7.3% 0.7% 47 213 208 0 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
D.Blaylock KC 29 29 19.8% 19.7% 22 112 136 2 0
S.Pritchett CHI 29 30 18.8% 19.9% 21 93 136 2 0
L.Jordan NYJ 28 34 3.5% 6.2% 46 190 243 4 0
L.Gordon STL 25 35 -0.5% 2.8% 71 298 303 1 1
L.Johnson KC 23 18 19.4% 14.0% 20 85 106 1 0
Z.Crockett OAK 18 14 -2.5% -3.7% 48 145 283 7 1
A.Murrell DAL 16 14 6.5% 4.6% 28 107 120 0 0
N.Davenport GB 14 7 -4.3% -6.3% 77 412 307 2 4
J.Fargas OAK 14 26 0.5% 8.8% 39 196 152 0 1
L.Toefield JAC 10 13 -4.0% -2.9% 53 212 211 2 0
J.Robertson SF 9 9 -0.8% -0.8% 32 136 116 0 0
J.White CLE 7 -2 -6.3% -9.1% 70 276 254 1 1
A.Peterson CHI 2 -1 -5.9% -9.4% 22 70 80 0 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
A.Cason DAL 1 4 -7.8% -5.7% 40 220 118 2 1
L.Betts WAS -1 8 -8.9% -6.1% 77 255 281 2 0
D.Rhodes IND -1 10 -9.5% -1.7% 37 157 122 0 0
J.Mungro IND -4 -5 -11.9% -12.9% 24 60 92 2 0
M.Alstott TB -6 5 -12.9% -5.1% 27 77 113 2 0
T.Richardson KC -8 -11 -16.6% -20.0% 24 59 73 0 0
C.Taylor BAL -10 11 -12.6% -4.1% 63 276 197 2 1
L.Centers NE -11 -7 -21.5% -17.0% 21 82 53 0 0
R.Williams IND -11 -15 -14.2% -16.1% 48 155 155 2 1
A.Harris STL -14 -36 -12.6% -18.9% 85 252 278 4 1
A.Stecker TB -14 -11 -19.0% -16.7% 37 125 92 0 0
R.Smart CAR -15 -18 -26.4% -30.4% 20 49 48 0 0
V.Haynes PIT -27 -32 -48.3% -57.1% 20 63 14 0 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
S.Mack HOU -29 -45 -16.4% -20.6% 93 253 272 4 1
D.Levens NYG -30 -11 -18.3% -12.1% 68 197 220 3 0
B.Bennett CIN -38 -45 -24.9% -27.9% 56 173 138 0 1
M.Anderson DEN -40 -25 -20.7% -16.2% 70 257 219 3 2
T.Hollings HOU -44 -53 -41.9% -48.5% 38 102 42 0 1
J.Burns BUF -44 -45 -37.8% -38.6% 39 113 59 0 1
C.Brown TEN -46 -53 -28.0% -30.9% 56 221 129 1 1
Q.Griffin DEN -54 -54 -23.1% -23.1% 94 354 233 0 3
A.Pinner DET -56 -51 -42.1% -38.9% 39 99 53 0 0
R.Holcombe TEN -58 -67 -34.0% -38.2% 63 204 101 1 2
E.Smith ARI -58 -78 -24.1% -29.5% 90 244 228 2 2

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 51 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.Williams MIN 254 1 253 2 38.8% 3 38.7% 85 616 869 2 76%
P.Holmes KC 254 2 258 1 35.1% 6 36.0% 90 690 894 0 82%
J.Sowell NYJ 165 3 166 3 28.6% 8 28.7% 60 436 620 1 78%
B.Westbrook PHI 150 4 147 4 39.6% 2 38.2% 49 340 512 4 78%
A.Green GB 142 5 143 5 28.9% 7 29.4% 60 366 530 5 83%
D.Staley PHI 142 6 141 6 36.9% 5 36.7% 48 376 492 2 77%
D.McAllister NO 135 7 130 7 15.7% 13 14.6% 86 511 606 0 80%
K.Faulk NE 116 8 115 8 17.2% 12 16.8% 66 434 508 0 73%
R.Anderson DAL 113 9 107 9 9.3% 16 8.2% 87 493 581 4 79%
T.Fisher GB 94 10 94 10 67.0% 1 67.2% 25 206 276 2 84%
W.Henderson GB 89 11 89 11 27.9% 9 27.8% 34 214 335 3 71%
C.Morton WAS 70 12 66 13 37.1% 4 34.4% 27 190 242 1 59%
L.Tomlinson SD 67 13 61 15 -4.3% 30 -5.2% 137 725 639 4 73%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
K.Barlow SF 64 14 74 12 13.0% 15 17.0% 44 307 304 1 80%
M.Strong SEA 63 15 63 14 23.9% 10 24.3% 33 216 248 0 88%
S.Alexander SEA 50 16 58 16 0.8% 25 3.1% 59 295 349 2 71%
B.Bennett CIN 47 17 41 20 20.4% 11 16.0% 32 176 196 1 78%
A.Zereoue PIT 45 18 53 17 3.3% 20 6.6% 52 317 279 0 79%
W.Dunn ATL 41 19 43 18 1.5% 23 2.0% 52 336 279 2 71%
C.Schlesinger DET 40 20 39 21 0.2% 26 -0.5% 49 247 289 2 69%
J.Lewis BAL 38 21 41 19 4.4% 19 6.2% 38 205 225 0 68%
F.Beasley SF 36 22 36 23 8.3% 17 8.5% 28 184 190 1 68%
R.Williams IND 34 23 24 28 7.0% 18 1.3% 29 157 185 1 76%
R.Holcombe TEN 33 24 23 29 13.6% 14 5.7% 25 121 152 1 76%
G.Hearst SF 30 25 22 31 1.4% 24 -2.8% 38 211 201 1 66%
C.Garner OAK 29 26 37 22 -5.8% 31 -3.8% 69 386 323 1 70%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
F.Taylor JAC 29 27 30 24 -6.8% 33 -6.6% 73 370 355 1 66%
J.Ritchie PHI 29 28 25 27 2.4% 22 0.3% 26 86 187 3 65%
M.Edwards JAC 25 29 26 26 -3.8% 29 -3.3% 43 226 232 0 72%
T.Barber NYG 23 30 18 32 -9.6% 36 -10.4% 98 473 449 1 70%
D.Davis HOU 21 31 28 25 -7.6% 34 -5.7% 67 351 291 0 70%
R.Cartwright WAS 21 32 18 33 2.6% 21 0.3% 27 176 135 0 67%
T.Jones TB 18 33 16 35 -3.3% 28 -4.8% 31 180 160 0 77%
C.Taylor BAL 17 34 14 36 -0.1% 27 -3.1% 27 132 127 0 74%
D.Foster CAR 14 35 16 34 -6.4% 32 -5.5% 35 207 169 2 74%
C.Portis DEN 13 36 23 30 -9.5% 35 -6.0% 51 314 232 0 75%
E.George TEN 0 37 -6 41 -14.1% 37 -17.5% 31 163 116 0 71%
M.Shipp ARI -2 38 1 37 -14.7% 38 -13.3% 37 184 128 0 81%
J.Griffith ATL -4 39 -2 39 -16.0% 41 -14.7% 34 122 133 2 62%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
R.Williams MIA -4 40 -10 43 -15.2% 39 -16.9% 62 354 219 1 81%
M.Faulk STL -6 41 0 38 -15.8% 40 -13.9% 61 290 222 1 74%
J.Cook TB -8 42 -12 44 -18.2% 44 -20.1% 30 120 119 1 67%
C.Martin NYJ -9 43 -17 45 -17.0% 43 -19.9% 53 262 186 0 79%
T.Henry BUF -10 44 -3 40 -18.5% 45 -15.0% 40 158 136 1 70%
J.White CLE -11 45 -8 42 -16.8% 42 -16.1% 69 303 236 1 67%
L.Centers NE -13 46 -25 47 -20.7% 48 -26.4% 34 106 112 1 56%
E.James IND -22 47 -23 46 -19.5% 46 -19.9% 71 292 226 0 72%
S.Pritchett CHI -31 48 -30 48 -33.3% 50 -33.0% 27 83 49 0 67%
M.Pittman TB -41 49 -36 49 -20.2% 47 -19.4% 120 596 377 2 63%
S.Bryson DET -44 50 -39 50 -25.7% 49 -24.5% 72 340 172 0 75%
L.Neal SD -63 51 -63 51 -57.5% 51 -57.8% 25 62 -27 0 64%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
R.Konrad MIA 90 90 60.4% 60.3% 19 166 274 0 84%
R.Droughns DEN 73 71 81.4% 78.8% 12 87 204 2 75%
S.Davis CAR 71 78 63.7% 70.5% 17 159 214 0 82%
L.Toefield JAC 59 56 54.3% 50.3% 16 105 184 1 88%
C.Buckhalter PHI 57 55 49.2% 47.8% 14 133 181 1 71%
L.Betts WAS 53 54 30.2% 30.6% 23 167 196 0 65%
M.Bennett MIN 52 50 60.1% 58.4% 14 132 156 0 86%
N.Goings CAR 48 53 36.6% 41.4% 14 97 168 1 86%
R.Johnson CIN 45 47 21.8% 23.9% 23 146 181 0 91%
O.Smith MIN 39 42 18.8% 20.6% 20 129 167 0 75%
M.Alstott TB 34 35 35.7% 36.1% 12 83 120 0 83%
T.Wheatley OAK 30 30 20.6% 20.3% 18 120 125 0 67%
T.Duckett ATL 30 28 31.2% 28.5% 13 94 108 0 85%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Jackson CLE 29 30 16.7% 17.8% 18 114 128 0 78%
Q.Griffin DEN 27 28 28.2% 28.3% 11 61 103 0 73%
L.Jordan NYJ 27 25 26.0% 23.2% 13 101 104 0 85%
D.Blaylock KC 24 22 6.0% 4.1% 22 181 138 1 68%
B.Johnson WAS 20 17 14.0% 10.3% 12 71 90 0 75%
J.Finn NYG 18 9 2.3% -5.5% 19 88 114 0 68%
T.Richardson KC 17 11 6.0% -1.0% 16 76 98 0 75%
E.Smith ARI 17 15 2.3% 0.5% 19 107 109 0 74%
A.Cason DAL 16 8 4.5% -4.9% 20 142 95 0 85%
M.Anderson DEN 12 12 -1.1% -0.2% 15 53 89 2 80%
C.Dillon CIN 10 9 -3.4% -4.7% 18 71 88 0 61%
A.Stecker TB 5 10 -5.8% 2.6% 12 48 54 1 75%
T.Canidate WAS 4 3 -9.4% -10.0% 15 71 69 1 67%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Johnson CIN 3 1 -11.6% -12.8% 20 82 99 1 75%
S.Gash BUF 1 5 -12.5% -7.8% 13 83 57 0 85%
S.Morris BUF -3 3 -17.2% -10.5% 17 100 50 0 82%
N.Davenport GB -4 -7 -20.2% -25.9% 10 38 36 0 60%
Z.Crockett OAK -4 -2 -20.7% -18.0% 12 53 33 0 58%
T.Hambrick DAL -7 -10 -19.7% -22.3% 24 99 67 0 71%
A.Harris STL -7 -3 -20.3% -16.7% 19 102 63 0 79%
A.Smith NE -7 -5 -23.0% -19.9% 16 92 40 0 88%
B.Hoover CAR -8 -6 -20.9% -18.9% 20 72 64 1 60%
D.Anderson ARI -11 -10 -29.2% -27.9% 12 36 30 0 50%
A.Ricard BAL -12 -11 -27.0% -26.0% 15 62 39 0 60%
L.Gordon STL -12 -8 -30.9% -25.4% 13 59 25 0 62%
T.Smith NO -13 -18 -37.1% -46.1% 10 28 13 0 60%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
W.Green CLE -14 -12 -29.8% -27.7% 14 50 34 0 71%
M.Norris HOU -14 -14 -36.0% -35.1% 10 40 17 0 70%
S.Mack HOU -15 -12 -35.8% -31.9% 12 55 18 0 75%
D.Kreider PIT -15 -15 -24.9% -24.7% 24 107 67 0 38%
V.Haynes PIT -16 -19 -44.9% -51.4% 10 57 4 0 70%
A.Thomas CHI -24 -22 -50.6% -47.6% 14 36 -3 0 64%
J.Hodgins ARI -26 -29 -35.5% -37.4% 19 58 32 2 74%
J.Bettis PIT -30 -27 -40.3% -37.2% 22 86 19 0 59%
O.Ayanbadejo MIA -34 -35 -58.2% -59.9% 13 53 -15 0 92%
O.Gary DET -36 -33 -43.3% -41.1% 22 69 13 0 59%