Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

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RUNNING BACKS 2004

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 8/31/2012

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.

The simple version: DYAR means a running back with more total value. DVOA means a running back with more value per play.

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.

  • 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.

Clicking on a player's name will bring you to his FO player page with advanced stats through the most recent season.

RUSHING: Minimum 100 rushes, 43 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
C.Martin NYJ 398 1 371 1 17.2% 5 15.6% 370 1,685 1,956 12 2 53% 8
C.Dillon NE 319 2 317 2 14.1% 7 13.0% 345 1,636 1,803 12 4 54% 5
E.James IND 293 3 279 3 11.1% 8 10.6% 334 1,551 1,714 9 5 57% 3
P.Holmes KC 248 4 217 5 22.1% 2 16.9% 196 892 1,156 14 4 54% 6
Sh.Alexander SEA 220 5 258 4 6.5% 10 9.6% 353 1,696 1,567 16 5 46% 19
T.Barber NYG 214 6 210 6 6.4% 13 6.8% 322 1,520 1,503 13 5 48% 13
L.Johnson KC 192 7 178 7 29.0% 1 24.9% 120 581 781 9 0 53% 7
R.Johnson CIN 163 8 92 19 1.4% 17 -2.6% 362 1,462 1,578 12 4 46% 20
D.Blaylock KC 156 9 162 8 20.5% 3 22.0% 118 539 706 8 0 57% 4
S.Jackson STL 139 10 158 9 14.7% 6 17.9% 134 673 736 4 1 57% 2
J.Bettis PIT 135 11 140 11 6.4% 12 4.6% 250 941 1,175 13 1 52% 10
J.Lewis BAL 135 12 105 15 6.5% 11 2.6% 235 1,011 1,036 7 2 46% 18
D.Davis HOU 133 13 149 10 2.5% 16 3.5% 301 1,185 1,289 13 2 43% 30
T.J.Duckett ATL 130 14 138 12 19.6% 4 20.5% 104 509 627 8 2 62% 1
R.Droughns DEN 119 15 132 13 0.9% 18 2.5% 275 1,240 1,209 6 5 52% 9
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
W.McGahee BUF 110 16 101 18 -0.6% 20 -0.1% 284 1,131 1,180 13 3 47% 16
D.Staley PIT 100 17 80 20 3.9% 14 1.7% 192 834 831 1 3 49% 12
A.Green GB 92 18 105 14 -1.1% 23 1.2% 259 1,164 1,059 7 6 50% 11
T.Jones CHI 84 19 77 21 -1.0% 22 -0.8% 240 949 974 7 2 47% 15
S.Morris MIA 82 20 76 22 6.9% 9 5.3% 132 524 605 6 1 45% 22
W.Dunn ATL 77 21 102 16 -1.5% 25 1.3% 265 1,103 1,008 9 3 42% 36
K.Jones DET 71 22 101 17 -1.7% 26 1.6% 241 1,138 969 5 2 46% 17
C.Taylor BAL 68 23 66 25 3.2% 15 1.6% 160 714 683 2 1 41% 37
C.Brown TEN 62 24 74 23 -2.2% 27 0.0% 220 1,072 827 6 6 43% 31
B.Westbrook PHI 60 25 59 27 0.6% 19 0.0% 177 812 688 3 0 43% 33
F.Taylor JAC 54 26 65 26 -3.6% 29 -2.1% 260 1,224 954 2 3 45% 26
J.Jones DAL 50 27 47 28 -1.0% 21 -2.8% 197 819 793 7 3 43% 32
L.Tomlinson SD 50 28 69 24 -3.5% 28 -3.8% 340 1,336 1,360 17 5 45% 23
O.Smith MIN 31 29 33 30 -1.4% 24 -1.7% 124 544 470 2 2 46% 21
D.McAllister NO 27 30 36 29 -6.0% 30 -5.3% 269 1,074 987 9 5 43% 29
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
N.Goings CAR 9 31 23 31 -8.1% 32 -6.0% 217 821 779 6 1 44% 27
A.Zereoue OAK 2 32 6 33 -7.6% 31 -7.2% 112 430 395 3 1 43% 35
M.Faulk STL 1 33 8 32 -8.4% 34 -7.7% 195 774 732 3 1 47% 14
T.Minor MIA -2 34 -1 35 -8.1% 33 -8.9% 110 395 381 3 0 37% 42
A.Smith TEN -8 35 -24 36 -10.7% 37 -12.9% 137 509 454 4 2 40% 39
L.Suggs CLE -17 36 -81 43 -9.0% 35 -18.4% 199 755 701 2 6 45% 25
M.Pittman TB -17 37 4 34 -10.6% 36 -8.1% 219 925 728 7 5 43% 34
E.George DAL -24 38 -32 37 -14.1% 39 -14.1% 131 433 440 4 2 44% 28
C.Portis WAS -51 39 -38 38 -12.0% 38 -11.2% 343 1,319 1,165 5 5 45% 24
K.Barlow SF -58 40 -67 40 -14.3% 40 -15.1% 244 822 790 7 2 38% 41
W.Green CLE -66 41 -73 41 -17.2% 42 -20.2% 163 594 453 2 3 36% 43
E.Smith ARI -80 42 -57 39 -16.4% 41 -14.0% 267 937 769 9 4 39% 40
A.Thomas CHI -113 43 -75 42 -31.8% 43 -24.1% 122 404 233 2 1 40% 38

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
D.Levens PHI 122 117 22.1% 21.4% 94 410 532 4 0
L.Jordan NYJ 111 119 20.3% 22.0% 93 479 518 2 0
T.Bell DEN 100 102 20.9% 22.8% 75 396 437 3 0
M.Williams MIN 71 72 34.1% 35.2% 30 161 256 3 0
K.Faulk NE 70 70 27.3% 25.6% 54 255 297 2 0
M.Moore MIN 68 80 17.6% 22.9% 65 379 327 0 0
J.Chatman SD 65 71 14.8% 17.3% 65 392 339 3 1
V.Haynes PIT 62 55 21.3% 16.5% 55 272 293 0 0
S.Bryson DET 59 63 24.2% 24.7% 50 264 262 0 0
T.Wheatley OAK 58 34 4.1% -0.3% 85 327 441 4 0
N.Davenport GB 58 65 10.7% 13.7% 71 359 343 2 0
Z.Crockett OAK 45 54 17.7% 14.3% 49 232 307 2 0
R.Lee DAL 36 39 25.9% 27.4% 27 128 154 1 0
O.Ayanbadejo ARI 34 38 11.2% 15.2% 30 122 186 3 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
M.Cloud NYG 33 43 21.9% 34.4% 21 90 134 3 0
G.Hearst DEN 33 36 27.2% 31.9% 20 81 127 1 0
K.Watson CIN 27 20 17.6% 11.7% 25 158 126 0 2
W.Parker PIT 26 22 11.7% 8.0% 32 186 155 0 0
C.Fuamatu-Ma'afala JAC 23 21 13.5% 12.2% 20 69 125 1 0
D.Rhodes IND 22 15 1.3% -1.9% 53 254 227 1 1
M.Morris SEA 19 24 9.4% 11.4% 30 126 136 0 0
J.Fargas OAK 14 19 0.2% 4.1% 35 126 147 1 0
T.Henry BUF 14 -2 -4.2% -9.2% 94 326 344 0 0
L.Betts WAS 12 25 -6.4% -2.0% 90 371 342 1 0
D.Foster CAR 11 21 -4.7% 0.0% 59 255 225 2 0
C.Garner TB 10 2 -0.6% -6.8% 30 111 113 0 0
S.Davis CAR 9 16 7.9% 9.3% 24 92 103 0 0
R.Anderson DAL 6 4 -6.2% -6.8% 57 246 183 1 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
M.Bennett MIN 6 -3 -6.1% -9.7% 70 276 244 1 1
M.Turner SD 3 11 -6.4% 5.6% 20 104 68 0 0
J.R.Redmond OAK 3 0 -6.2% -8.8% 21 119 75 0 2
T.Fisher GB 1 7 -8.9% -5.8% 65 224 223 0 0
B.Hoover CAR -1 3 -8.4% -7.7% 68 246 246 0 0
J.Wells HOU -2 9 -8.7% -6.1% 82 299 305 3 1
T.Hambrick ARI -4 6 -9.4% -6.5% 63 283 228 1 0
A.Pinner DET -4 -2 -7.2% -9.3% 57 174 228 2 0
M.Alstott TB -4 -2 -12.3% -9.1% 67 232 282 2 1
P.Pass NE -4 -13 -11.7% -16.3% 39 141 134 0 0
R.Dayne NYG -6 -11 -13.5% -13.0% 52 179 196 1 0
S.Williams BUF -7 8 -9.7% -3.6% 42 167 142 2 0
J.Scobey ARI -12 -6 -19.4% -14.0% 27 89 80 0 0
R.Mahe PHI -13 -13 -22.3% -21.4% 23 91 66 0 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
A.Harris STL -14 -9 -21.8% -19.9% 20 63 52 0 0
M.Hicks SF -18 -42 -13.8% -19.4% 96 362 304 2 3
A.Stecker NO -19 -7 -19.2% -12.0% 58 230 146 2 1
L.Croom ARI -19 -29 -26.5% -33.0% 29 76 67 0 0
M.Strong SEA -21 -21 -19.4% -19.7% 36 131 128 0 2
J.Burns BUF -21 -19 -39.5% -33.5% 20 73 27 0 0
L.Toefield JAC -24 -22 -19.1% -18.7% 51 169 152 0 0
G.Jones JAC -31 -35 -19.8% -20.4% 62 162 203 3 1
J.White BAL -35 -33 -40.5% -41.2% 27 82 34 0 0
C.Cobbs NE -40 -31 -57.3% -44.4% 22 50 6 0 1
L.Henry MIA -45 -60 -35.3% -43.9% 45 132 73 0 1
Q.Griffin DEN -51 -55 -24.0% -24.5% 85 311 211 2 2
T.Jackson SF -57 -51 -59.6% -54.7% 26 101 4 0 2
L.Gordon MIA -75 -69 -71.9% -65.0% 35 64 -20 0 1

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 58 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
B.Westbrook PHI 212 1 257 1 29.1% 6 38.2% 87 703 793 6 84%
E.James IND 176 2 165 4 41.3% 4 38.1% 60 483 590 0 85%
O.Smith MIN 173 3 181 2 47.4% 2 50.2% 45 394 560 2 80%
D.Davis HOU 168 4 174 3 23.4% 8 24.8% 85 596 670 1 81%
L.Johnson KC 141 5 143 5 69.8% 1 71.0% 28 278 411 2 79%
T.Barber NYG 132 6 135 6 17.5% 14 18.1% 79 578 574 2 66%
N.Goings CAR 106 7 113 7 17.9% 11 20.1% 60 381 455 1 75%
J.Sowell NYJ 94 8 64 17 11.7% 20 3.7% 59 342 458 1 76%
K.Faulk NE 90 9 90 9 42.6% 3 42.8% 30 248 299 1 87%
A.Zereoue OAK 84 10 76 13 17.5% 13 14.5% 47 284 364 0 83%
W.Henderson GB 83 11 94 8 21.2% 9 25.9% 40 239 342 3 85%
L.Tomlinson SD 80 12 72 14 9.3% 22 6.9% 66 450 411 1 80%
M.Williams MIN 79 13 85 10 40.3% 5 44.2% 27 233 269 1 78%
T.Jones CHI 75 14 79 11 5.9% 26 6.7% 72 427 430 0 78%
T.Fisher GB 74 15 78 12 19.2% 10 20.6% 44 277 315 2 86%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
C.Martin NYJ 61 16 38 28 8.8% 23 0.3% 50 248 318 2 84%
R.Droughns DEN 59 17 67 15 8.6% 24 11.8% 44 241 308 2 73%
J.Griffith ATL 57 18 58 19 17.7% 12 18.6% 31 220 247 1 71%
D.Blaylock KC 56 19 56 21 16.1% 15 15.8% 36 244 248 1 69%
W.Dunn ATL 54 20 56 20 12.5% 18 13.6% 39 293 256 0 74%
P.Holmes KC 54 21 53 22 26.4% 7 25.7% 25 190 206 1 76%
F.Taylor JAC 51 22 62 18 2.1% 29 5.7% 58 345 333 1 62%
K.Watson CIN 48 23 18 36 12.8% 17 -3.6% 35 171 225 1 71%
M.Moore MIN 47 24 41 27 11.1% 21 7.9% 33 238 232 0 82%
O.Ayanbadejo ARI 43 25 46 23 15.0% 16 17.2% 25 171 193 1 76%
K.Barlow SF 42 26 45 24 2.5% 28 3.5% 45 212 273 0 78%
M.Pittman TB 42 27 65 16 -1.2% 32 5.6% 64 391 328 3 64%
A.Smith TEN 36 28 41 26 11.8% 19 15.6% 26 169 174 0 85%
M.Hicks SF 33 29 31 31 8.2% 25 6.7% 25 154 178 0 64%
L.Toefield JAC 33 30 33 29 3.8% 27 3.8% 34 151 203 1 82%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
R.Anderson DAL 29 31 44 25 -0.5% 31 6.3% 41 207 217 0 63%
Sh.Alexander SEA 26 32 31 30 -2.7% 33 -0.3% 38 170 219 4 61%
P.Pass NE 24 33 19 35 1.2% 30 -1.5% 32 215 161 0 88%
T.Fleming TEN 17 34 29 33 -4.5% 34 2.5% 28 164 161 2 68%
C.Taylor BAL 13 35 29 32 -7.5% 35 0.5% 38 184 173 0 79%
B.Hoover CAR 8 36 23 34 -9.8% 37 -1.7% 31 161 151 2 68%
L.Betts WAS 6 37 -18 48 -9.2% 36 -28.0% 25 108 102 0 60%
K.Jones DET 1 38 -2 40 -13.3% 38 -14.7% 41 180 174 1 68%
L.Suggs CLE -1 39 -3 41 -14.2% 40 -15.7% 35 178 124 1 57%
A.Green GB -1 40 -2 39 -14.1% 39 -14.5% 51 275 212 1 78%
W.McGahee BUF -2 41 -8 43 -15.0% 41 -17.9% 36 167 129 0 61%
S.Bryson DET -5 42 9 37 -15.7% 42 -10.7% 56 297 191 0 79%
T.Richardson KC -6 43 -5 42 -18.1% 44 -17.5% 26 118 92 0 73%
C.Portis WAS -7 44 1 38 -16.1% 43 -13.5% 57 235 198 2 70%
T.Jackson SF -8 45 -10 46 -20.4% 47 -21.7% 29 136 74 0 72%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Jones DAL -13 46 -20 49 -22.8% 49 -27.6% 26 109 75 0 65%
A.Stecker NO -13 47 -10 45 -20.3% 46 -18.6% 38 174 121 0 76%
M.Strong SEA -17 48 -20 50 -23.2% 51 -24.9% 31 99 94 0 68%
T.Minor MIA -17 49 -42 54 -25.7% 52 -44.0% 27 75 66 0 48%
D.McAllister NO -21 50 -51 57 -22.7% 48 -35.4% 48 228 128 0 71%
M.Alstott TB -22 51 -9 44 -22.9% 50 -17.7% 41 202 126 0 71%
M.Faulk STL -22 52 -29 51 -20.0% 45 -21.8% 65 310 236 1 77%
C.Brown TEN -22 53 -15 47 -26.3% 54 -22.1% 33 147 82 0 61%
S.Morris MIA -24 54 -29 52 -29.0% 55 -31.7% 28 124 65 0 79%
J.R.Redmond OAK -32 55 -30 53 -26.0% 53 -25.3% 50 233 121 0 64%
R.Johnson CIN -42 56 -48 56 -44.0% 57 -48.1% 28 84 11 0 54%
B.Johnson CHI -43 57 -45 55 -41.4% 56 -42.7% 25 55 23 2 56%
F.Beasley SF -71 58 -79 58 -62.4% 58 -67.8% 25 44 -42 0 40%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
M.Bennett MIN 79 87 49.9% 56.2% 23 207 252 1 91%
K.Johnson DEN 71 64 66.1% 58.2% 13 126 210 2 69%
J.Scobey ARI 51 67 36.5% 53.0% 21 191 176 0 86%
V.Haynes PIT 46 39 24.6% 18.4% 23 142 182 2 78%
L.Jordan NYJ 46 42 34.3% 30.4% 16 112 163 0 94%
C.Schlesinger DET 41 46 24.3% 28.8% 16 91 163 3 63%
S.Jackson STL 41 34 21.2% 15.4% 24 189 166 0 79%
D.Kreider PIT 35 31 28.2% 23.1% 14 75 133 1 71%
J.McKie CHI 33 33 19.9% 20.4% 17 70 137 2 76%
J.Lewis BAL 30 36 30.8% 38.4% 12 116 111 0 83%
R.Mahe PHI 27 32 17.8% 23.2% 16 123 117 0 88%
J.Finn NYG 26 28 11.9% 13.9% 18 112 128 0 83%
D.Levens PHI 25 27 17.6% 19.4% 14 92 109 0 64%
A.Thomas CHI 25 16 8.0% 0.6% 23 132 131 0 74%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Wells HOU 24 30 11.7% 19.0% 16 79 115 2 69%
T.Wheatley OAK 19 10 10.2% -1.6% 15 78 97 0 100%
E.Smith ARI 15 11 0.0% -3.4% 20 105 106 0 75%
A.Pinner DET 14 17 12.6% 17.4% 11 72 69 0 100%
Z.Crockett OAK 13 12 -3.3% -4.1% 20 87 119 0 80%
R.Konrad MIA 10 2 -5.4% -11.8% 18 69 102 1 44%
D.Barnes DAL 6 5 -6.9% -7.4% 14 59 72 1 71%
T.Henry BUF 6 3 -5.8% -10.0% 14 45 64 0 71%
Q.Griffin DEN 5 -5 -7.7% -19.3% 14 68 74 1 71%
D.Shelton BUF 5 -3 -10.4% -15.8% 24 114 119 0 71%
D.Staley PIT 4 4 -7.9% -7.6% 12 55 55 0 50%
J.Cook TB 4 17 -8.8% 9.1% 12 44 60 1 58%
C.Dillon NE 3 -9 -11.8% -20.8% 21 103 100 1 71%
E.George DAL 1 -3 -12.7% -17.7% 13 83 51 0 69%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Goodspeed STL -9 -18 -23.2% -33.1% 16 71 48 0 69%
W.Green CLE -12 -15 -25.8% -28.4% 22 84 49 0 64%
J.Fargas OAK -14 -13 -32.7% -31.4% 14 68 24 0 79%
R.Holcombe TEN -15 -21 -26.0% -30.5% 21 60 58 0 52%
T.Smith CLE -16 -15 -34.4% -32.8% 12 39 23 0 58%
C.Garner TB -20 -14 -42.8% -34.4% 14 62 8 0 64%
L.Gordon MIA -20 -15 -35.3% -29.5% 19 74 25 0 68%
L.Neal SD -20 -18 -33.3% -31.1% 19 66 33 0 68%
M.Morris SEA -23 -25 -33.7% -36.2% 20 53 35 0 45%
J.Johnson CIN -23 -27 -32.3% -35.5% 18 53 42 1 89%
J.Parry PHI -26 -16 -35.5% -26.7% 18 75 33 0 50%
G.Jones JAC -27 -34 -61.3% -72.4% 10 13 -15 0 30%
A.Ricard BAL -29 -26 -46.5% -43.7% 14 39 4 0 79%