Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



RUNNING BACKS 2005

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 7/5/2009

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
L.Johnson KC 468 1 473 2 23.3% 1 23.6% 336 1,750 2,023 20 5 55% 3
S.Alexander SEA 449 2 502 1 19.3% 3 22.6% 370 1,892 2,115 27 5 54% 4
E.James IND 352 3 373 3 13.0% 8 14.3% 360 1,506 1,974 13 2 62% 1
T.Barber NYG 342 4 302 5 15.3% 7 12.5% 357 1,864 1,790 9 1 49% 8
R.Johnson CIN 340 5 332 4 16.2% 5 15.6% 337 1,458 1,734 12 1 52% 5
L.Tomlinson SD 331 6 280 6 15.8% 6 12.0% 339 1,461 1,704 18 2 47% 13
M.Anderson DEN 321 7 272 7 20.9% 2 16.4% 239 1,014 1,456 12 1 56% 2
W.Dunn ATL 290 8 264 8 18.2% 4 15.9% 280 1,416 1,398 3 1 46% 17
C.Portis WAS 287 9 212 9 11.0% 9 5.9% 352 1,516 1,722 11 3 50% 7
T.Bell DEN 144 10 103 13 11.0% 10 5.4% 173 920 863 8 3 43% 26
L.Jordan OAK 122 11 103 12 1.9% 15 0.2% 272 1,027 1,204 9 2 47% 15
R.Williams MIA 119 12 135 10 8.8% 12 11.1% 168 743 783 6 1 48% 12
J.Bettis PIT 94 13 93 16 8.9% 11 8.7% 110 368 617 9 0 51% 6
W.McGahee BUF 86 14 101 14 -2.6% 19 -1.6% 325 1,248 1,375 5 1 47% 14
C.Dillon NE 84 15 111 11 0.8% 16 3.8% 209 737 908 12 1 49% 9
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
P.Holmes KC 79 16 44 23 7.0% 13 0.1% 119 451 566 6 1 44% 21
F.Gore SF 75 17 77 18 6.6% 14 6.9% 128 602 549 3 2 45% 18
W.Parker PIT 70 18 99 15 -1.5% 17 1.5% 255 1,206 966 4 4 48% 10
D.Davis HOU 66 19 73 19 -1.5% 18 -0.7% 230 976 905 2 1 43% 23
T.Jones CHI 62 20 93 17 -3.6% 23 -1.1% 314 1,336 1,163 9 2 41% 31
J.Jones DAL 41 21 -16 36 -4.7% 24 -10.1% 257 999 982 5 3 39% 38
M.Barber DAL 31 22 -3 32 -3.2% 20 -9.0% 138 533 539 5 3 41% 35
R.Brown MIA 31 23 58 22 -4.9% 25 -1.7% 207 908 770 4 3 46% 16
M.Moore MIN 30 24 59 21 -3.6% 22 1.5% 155 664 557 1 1 43% 28
A.Pinner DET 24 25 37 26 -3.3% 21 -0.6% 105 347 438 3 0 48% 11
S.Jackson STL 21 26 20 28 -6.5% 28 -6.7% 254 1,038 922 8 3 42% 30
B.Westbrook PHI 20 27 10 29 -5.3% 26 -7.0% 156 617 569 3 0 40% 36
G.Jones JAC 17 28 28 27 -5.9% 27 -4.2% 151 575 580 4 0 45% 19
S.Gado GB 10 29 4 30 -7.0% 29 -7.9% 143 584 540 6 3 43% 27
C.Williams TB 8 30 65 20 -7.9% 30 -2.9% 290 1,178 996 6 3 43% 22
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
K.Jones DET 3 31 -24 37 -8.2% 31 -11.7% 186 664 668 5 2 43% 24
A.Smith NO 1 32 3 31 -8.4% 32 -8.0% 166 662 550 3 2 36% 44
D.Foster CAR -6 33 43 24 -9.3% 33 -3.5% 205 879 704 2 1 43% 25
S.Davis CAR -14 34 -3 33 -10.4% 34 -8.9% 180 555 655 12 2 39% 41
C.Taylor BAL -17 35 -6 34 -12.3% 39 -9.9% 117 487 365 0 1 42% 29
T.Duckett ATL -19 36 -35 38 -12.0% 38 -14.9% 121 388 439 8 2 39% 42
F.Taylor JAC -19 37 40 25 -11.2% 35 -3.0% 194 787 587 3 0 39% 39
C.Martin NYJ -24 38 -58 41 -11.2% 36 -15.0% 220 735 738 5 2 40% 37
R.Droughns CLE -39 39 -48 39 -11.6% 37 -12.3% 309 1,237 1,047 2 6 44% 20
C.Brown TEN -54 40 -12 35 -14.5% 40 -9.9% 224 855 700 5 3 41% 34
J.Arrington ARI -62 41 -55 40 -22.2% 41 -20.8% 112 370 288 2 1 38% 43
M.Bennett MIN -86 42 -92 42 -26.3% 44 -27.5% 126 474 278 3 4 39% 40
K.Barlow SF -102 43 -140 44 -23.9% 43 -29.5% 176 581 410 3 1 27% 45
J.Lewis BAL -161 44 -119 43 -23.1% 42 -19.3% 270 903 689 3 6 41% 33
M.Shipp ARI -169 45 -179 45 -34.6% 45 -36.0% 157 459 286 0 4 41% 32

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
A.Peterson CHI 77 91 15.8% 20.3% 76 391 395 2 0
M.Turner SD 74 80 24.3% 27.0% 57 335 313 3 0
R.Dayne DEN 65 47 20.1% 12.3% 53 270 299 1 0
L.Neal SD 63 57 24.5% 21.4% 29 98 264 0 0
M.Hicks SF 59 64 17.0% 19.0% 59 308 296 3 0
J.Wells HOU 59 54 6.1% 4.8% 90 325 440 4 0
C.Houston NYJ 55 45 9.3% 6.1% 81 302 357 2 0
R.Cartwright WAS 52 57 33.0% 36.9% 27 199 193 2 1
S.Bryson DET 42 37 10.7% 8.2% 64 306 258 1 0
M.Pittman TB 40 48 7.6% 10.6% 70 436 280 1 0
C.Perry CIN 37 40 6.1% 7.6% 61 279 275 0 0
L.Toefield JAC 34 38 14.7% 17.8% 36 142 180 4 0
M.Alstott TB 30 41 7.1% 12.3% 34 80 217 6 0
R.Moats PHI 25 16 3.2% -1.0% 55 281 225 3 2
T.Thompson DAL 20 7 2.5% -4.8% 46 182 190 0 0
B.Jacobs NYG 20 14 -1.3% -3.5% 38 99 264 7 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
M.Morris SEA 19 27 -1.5% 1.5% 71 288 259 1 0
D.Ward NYG 16 7 3.4% -3.0% 35 123 139 0 0
V.Morency HOU 15 26 -0.2% 5.9% 46 184 181 2 0
Z.Crockett OAK 9 -1 -5.2% -8.9% 60 208 243 1 0
D.McAllister NO 9 25 -6.4% -2.3% 93 335 358 3 0
R.Mahe PHI 7 6 1.1% -0.3% 20 87 76 0 0
D.Staley PIT 6 19 -4.6% 3.7% 38 150 143 1 1
M.Faulk STL 4 -8 -7.0% -11.8% 65 292 220 0 2
N.Davenport GB 4 8 -6.0% -3.0% 30 105 124 2 1
L.Gordon PHI -1 -6 -9.0% -11.0% 54 182 203 1 2
H.Evans MIA -1 -12 -9.0% -13.7% 52 192 192 0 0
P.Pass NE -1 5 -9.2% -6.1% 54 247 183 3 2
N.Herron GB -3 -26 -10.0% -21.2% 48 123 174 2 0
A.Pearman JAC -3 -6 -10.8% -12.4% 39 149 124 1 0
J.Payton TEN -4 6 -11.3% -4.2% 33 105 110 2 0
A.Stecker NO -9 10 -11.0% -5.8% 95 365 310 0 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
L.Betts WAS -11 -32 -11.8% -18.0% 89 342 280 1 2
W.Green CLE -13 -2 -22.7% -11.1% 20 78 58 0 0
A.Green GB -14 -19 -13.2% -14.7% 77 255 244 0 1
D.Rhodes IND -19 -1 -18.0% -9.1% 40 118 140 4 0
T.Fisher GB -23 -14 -18.3% -14.4% 60 173 164 1 0
C.Fason MIN -24 -19 -21.4% -18.6% 32 62 124 4 0
O.Ayanbadejo ARI -27 -28 -31.1% -31.6% 22 46 60 0 0
T.Henry TEN -30 -39 -17.7% -20.5% 88 335 235 0 2
N.Goings CAR -31 -28 -29.0% -26.5% 38 125 82 0 0
E.Graham TB -32 -36 -37.0% -40.3% 28 83 45 0 1
A.Thomas DAL -32 -52 -27.6% -39.0% 43 92 94 0 0
C.Benson CHI -34 -17 -21.4% -15.1% 67 277 172 0 1
S.Williams BUF -42 -33 -35.4% -30.1% 45 161 67 0 0
V.Haynes PIT -43 -26 -24.2% -18.2% 74 274 166 3 2
M.Cloud NE -45 -42 -57.2% -53.2% 24 59 7 0 0
K.Faulk NE -51 -51 -35.9% -35.7% 51 144 78 0 1

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 53 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
T.Barber NYG 209 1 205 1 43.8% 2 42.9% 70 530 690 2 77%
B.Westbrook PHI 157 2 150 3 15.9% 16 14.5% 96 616 704 4 64%
E.James IND 143 3 147 4 35.8% 6 37.2% 50 337 502 1 88%
D.Davis HOU 136 4 155 2 36.2% 4 43.0% 47 337 475 4 83%
M.Moore MIN 120 5 120 6 31.1% 7 31.5% 49 339 437 2 76%
W.Henderson GB 114 6 124 5 45.8% 1 51.1% 34 264 373 0 88%
S.Jackson STL 113 7 104 7 23.2% 9 20.2% 55 320 450 2 78%
L.Johnson KC 102 8 98 8 23.1% 10 21.7% 49 343 408 1 67%
L.Jordan OAK 95 9 98 9 3.0% 26 3.5% 103 563 600 2 68%
C.Brown TEN 94 10 97 10 36.8% 3 38.7% 36 311 325 2 69%
M.Pittman TB 88 11 82 11 24.7% 8 21.9% 46 300 346 1 78%
D.Foster CAR 80 12 77 12 18.6% 13 17.7% 48 372 340 1 71%
J.Wells HOU 72 13 66 15 35.9% 5 31.6% 27 179 252 0 81%
M.Alstott TB 68 14 67 14 18.4% 14 18.0% 38 222 290 1 66%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
M.Faulk STL 66 15 65 16 6.3% 21 6.0% 58 291 369 1 76%
C.Portis WAS 57 16 51 19 10.5% 17 8.1% 41 216 284 0 73%
R.Droughns CLE 56 17 76 13 5.2% 23 12.0% 56 369 328 0 70%
C.Dillon NE 55 18 62 17 21.7% 11 25.7% 26 181 226 1 85%
A.Stecker NO 52 19 40 24 7.5% 20 2.7% 48 281 282 0 73%
P.Pass NE 48 20 51 18 17.5% 15 19.6% 30 227 209 0 73%
A.Pinner DET 46 21 47 20 18.9% 12 19.3% 26 183 197 0 85%
K.Johnson DEN 45 22 42 21 6.3% 22 4.9% 31 160 251 5 55%
M.Shipp ARI 39 23 37 25 4.1% 24 3.2% 44 255 235 0 80%
M.Strong SEA 38 24 41 22 10.5% 18 11.8% 27 166 193 0 81%
L.Neal SD 37 25 35 27 8.1% 19 6.8% 29 145 197 1 83%
K.Faulk NE 33 26 35 26 3.2% 25 4.2% 37 260 206 0 78%
W.Dunn ATL 31 27 28 29 1.4% 29 A.Pearman 37 220 209 1 78%
A.Pearman JAC 28 A.Pearman 31 28 2.3% 27 3.6% 36 240 184 0 89%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
P.Holmes KC 27 29 24 30 1.6% 28 -0.5% 32 197 183 1 66%
W.McGahee BUF 26 30 22 31 -0.1% 30 -2.4% 37 178 189 0 76%
R.Brown MIA 24 31 16 32 -5.0% 33 -7.7% 47 236 240 1 68%
C.Taylor BAL 23 32 40 23 -4.7% 32 2.6% 52 288 222 1 79%
T.Fisher GB 18 33 14 35 -8.4% 36 -9.6% 64 347 269 1 75%
A.Green GB 16 34 15 34 -1.8% 31 -3.0% 27 147 131 0 70%
S.Bryson DET 14 35 16 33 -8.2% 35 -7.2% 47 289 205 0 79%
M.Bennett MIN 9 36 9 37 -7.5% 34 -7.5% 30 122 116 2 90%
K.Barlow SF 9 37 8 38 -9.5% 37 -10.0% 42 241 160 0 74%
J.Arrington ARI 3 38 2 41 -11.9% 38 -12.5% 33 139 123 0 76%
J.Lewis BAL 3 39 7 39 -12.5% 40 -10.9% 44 191 168 1 73%
M.Barber DAL 2 40 4 40 -12.4% 39 -11.2% 25 115 106 0 72%
O.Ayanbadejo ARI 1 41 1 42 -13.4% 41 -13.6% 45 231 178 0 76%
J.Jones DAL -1 42 -3 43 -14.1% 42 -15.1% 45 218 157 0 78%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Griffith ATL -4 43 -11 44 -15.8% 43 -19.7% 34 116 127 3 62%
C.Perry CIN -10 44 11 36 -16.6% 44 -10.8% 62 328 240 2 82%
S.Alexander SEA -11 45 -14 46 -21.3% 47 -23.1% 28 78 83 1 54%
J.Sowell NYJ -13 46 -13 45 -19.6% 45 -19.6% 38 155 137 2 74%
C.Williams TB -24 47 -27 48 -30.6% 49 -33.1% 25 81 52 0 80%
C.Martin NYJ -24 48 -32 51 -28.1% 48 -32.6% 30 118 72 0 80%
L.Tomlinson SD -25 49 -31 50 -19.7% 46 -21.1% 77 370 254 2 66%
K.Jones DET -27 50 -31 49 -31.5% 50 -34.2% 28 109 53 0 71%
T.Bell DEN -29 51 -24 47 -32.5% 51 -29.0% 28 104 51 0 64%
T.Jones CHI -42 52 -43 52 -33.8% 52 -34.0% 39 143 64 0 67%
R.Johnson CIN -62 53 -55 53 -51.9% 53 -47.8% 30 90 -12 0 77%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
W.Parker PIT 93 93 55.7% 56.2% 24 218 286 1 75%
M.Anderson DEN 70 68 45.4% 43.9% 21 212 228 1 86%
J.Parry PHI 40 39 29.3% 28.1% 16 89 149 0 81%
N.Goings CAR 38 38 24.4% 24.2% 20 151 146 0 70%
H.Evans MIA 30 25 20.7% 15.0% 17 105 125 0 82%
V.Haynes PIT 29 32 25.3% 28.7% 17 113 114 0 65%
D.McAllister NO 27 27 18.5% 19.1% 18 117 115 0 94%
M.Edwards CHI 24 25 15.4% 15.9% 13 66 110 2 77%
L.Polite DAL 21 21 9.8% 9.7% 14 72 107 1 64%
M.Hedgecock STL 21 17 16.8% 11.9% 11 69 91 0 82%
V.Morency HOU 19 15 9.2% 4.4% 15 87 100 0 67%
T.Henry TEN 18 17 4.9% 3.2% 20 117 108 0 65%
J.Cook TB 15 18 12.6% 16.6% 10 43 73 1 70%
D.Shelton BUF 14 12 -4.9% -6.2% 22 98 138 1 59%
R.Williams MIA 13 13 -2.5% -2.7% 20 93 111 0 85%
G.Jones JAC 11 13 0.6% 2.7% 15 65 80 0 67%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
T.Richardson KC 11 9 -0.7% -3.0% 16 68 82 1 56%
D.Rhodes IND 11 7 -0.3% -5.1% 15 80 78 0 80%
M.Karney NO 10 10 -0.2% -0.3% 13 61 75 0 77%
D.Kreider PIT 9 7 0.4% -3.0% 11 43 61 0 64%
T.Smith CLE 8 11 -5.9% -3.4% 16 58 90 1 75%
C.Houston NYJ 7 6 0.7% -0.5% 10 66 47 0 80%
L.Betts WAS 6 6 -6.3% -7.0% 17 78 71 1 59%
F.Taylor JAC 5 3 -8.5% -10.3% 18 83 81 0 72%
S.Gado GB 4 8 -8.8% -2.7% 12 77 62 1 83%
Z.Crockett OAK 2 3 -11.5% -11.3% 18 111 75 0 72%
B.Hoover CAR 2 -6 -12.0% -18.9% 21 87 94 0 67%
T.Fleming TEN 1 0 -13.0% -13.5% 15 69 71 1 67%
F.Gore SF -2 -6 -15.4% -18.7% 22 146 81 0 68%
S.Morris MIA -5 -4 -23.0% -22.1% 12 54 29 0 67%
S.Davis CAR -6 -6 -22.8% -22.8% 12 45 36 0 42%
C.Schlesinger DET -8 -8 -23.7% -23.2% 14 31 44 1 57%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
T.Jackson SF -9 -11 -26.4% -28.4% 18 67 33 0 56%
S.Williams BUF -10 -15 -21.9% -25.8% 23 116 69 0 74%
J.Foschi OAK -11 -8 -30.6% -26.2% 11 37 25 0 55%
D.Wimbush JAC -13 -13 -32.6% -33.3% 10 26 22 0 50%
A.Smith NO -14 -13 -29.7% -29.3% 15 46 33 0 80%
J.Payton TEN -14 -18 -39.0% -45.4% 10 30 11 0 60%
P.Smith DET -17 -11 -34.1% -26.5% 12 49 25 0 50%
M.Williams MIN -18 -21 -38.5% -41.8% 14 52 15 0 57%
R.Mahe PHI -22 -24 -35.1% -37.0% 20 68 30 0 60%
M.Hicks SF -25 -22 -41.5% -37.9% 16 47 13 0 75%
J.Finn NYG -29 -37 -35.1% -41.0% 24 98 56 0 54%
V.Leach GB -31 -34 -63.0% -68.3% 10 19 -19 0 50%
J.Johnson CIN -32 -28 -39.5% -36.0% 19 66 23 3 63%
L.Gordon PHI -38 -39 -54.3% -54.6% 17 79 -11 0 65%
A.Peterson CHI -40 -37 -71.3% -67.9% 12 48 -33 0 58%