Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics

Need Help with KUBIAK or Premium?

blog advertising is good for you


RUNNING BACKS 2005

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, 45 players ranked

td align = "Right">29
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
L.Johnson KC 488 1 483 2 24.1% 1 24.4% 335 1,741 2,037 20 5 55% 3
Sh.Alexander SEA 453 2 504 1 19.5% 3 22.7% 370 1,892 2,121 27 5 54% 4
E.James IND 384 3 384 3 13.9% 8 14.9% 360 1,506 1,999 13 2 62% 1
T.Barber NYG 365 4 326 5 17.1% 7 14.1% 357 1,864 1,833 9 1 49% 8
L.Tomlinson SD 358 5 305 6 17.8% 5 14.0% 337 1,467 1,741 18 2 47% 13
R.Johnson CIN 354 6 348 4 17.4% 6 16.7% 337 1,458 1,763 12 1 52% 5
M.Anderson DEN 322 7 276 8 21.1% 2 16.8% 239 1,014 1,461 12 1 56% 2
W.Dunn ATL 304 8 280 7 19.5% 4 17.3% 280 1,416 1,420 3 1 46% 17
C.Portis WAS 272 9 222 9 11.9% 10 6.7% 351 1,511 1,733 11 3 50% 7
T.Bell DEN 145 10 113 15 12.4% 9 6.8% 173 920 880 8 3 43% 26
L.Jordan OAK 142 11 115 13 3.0% 15 1.3% 271 1,022 1,223 9 2 47% 15
R.Williams MIA 129 12 144 10 10.1% 11 12.4% 168 743 797 6 1 48% 12
W.McGahee BUF 120 13 114 14 -1.7% 19 -0.6% 324 1,246 1,392 5 1 47% 14
W.Parker PIT 96 14 115 12 0.2% 18 3.1% 255 1,206 994 4 4 48% 10
C.Dillon NE 96 15 116 11 1.1% 16 4.3% 209 737 913 12 1 49% 9
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
T.Jones CHI 91 16 103 16 -2.8% 23 -0.2% 314 1,336 1,177 9 2 41% 31
D.Davis HOU 90 17 88 18 0.3% 17 0.9% 230 976 932 2 1 43% 23
J.Bettis PIT 81 18 90 17 8.5% 13 8.1% 110 368 613 9 0 51% 6
P.Holmes KC 79 19 52 24 8.5% 12 1.6% 119 451 578 6 1 44% 21
F.Gore SF 75 20 85 20 8.4% 14 8.6% 128 602 563 3 2 45% 18
M.Moore MIN 47 21 69 21 -2.1% 21 3.1% 155 664 570 1 1 43% 28
R.Brown MIA 39 22 66 22 -4.1% 26 -0.7% 207 908 781 4 3 46% 16
J.Jones DAL 38 23 -3 35 -3.5% 24 -8.8% 256 996 1,001 5 3 39% 38
G.Jones JAC 34 24 36 27 -4.4% 27 -2.9% 151 575 595 4 0 45% 19
B.Westbrook PHI 30 25 19 29 -3.8% 25 -5.5% 156 617 584 3 0 40% 36
C.Williams TB 29 26 86 19 -6.3% 30 -1.1% 290 1,178 1,025 6 3 43% 22
A.Pinner DET 28 27 42 26 -2.5% 22 0.4% 105 347 444 3 0 48% 11
M.Barber DAL 26 28 5 32 -1.8% 20 -7.6% 138 533 552 5 3 41% 35
S.Jackson STL 23 29 34 28 -5.0% 28 -5.3% 254 1,038 948 8 3 42% 30
S.Gado GB 21 30 11 30 -5.9% 29 -6.7% 143 584 552 6 3 43% 27
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
D.Foster CAR 10 31 53 23 -8.2% 33 -2.1% 205 879 719 2 1 43% 25
K.Jones DET 6 32 -20 38 -7.8% 32 -11.2% 186 664 672 5 2 43% 24
A.Smith NO 2 33 10 31 -7.6% 31 -7.0% 166 662 559 3 2 36% 44
F.Taylor JAC -1 34 51 25 -9.6% 35 -1.5% 193 786 604 3 0 39% 39
R.Droughns CLE -2 35 -18 37 -9.3% 34 -10.0% 308 1,241 1,092 2 6 44% 20
C.Taylor BAL -9 36 3 33 -10.3% 36 -8.0% 117 487 380 0 1 42%
S.Davis CAR -13 37 -10 36 -11.6% 38 -9.9% 180 555 639 12 2 39% 41
C.Martin NYJ -17 38 -50 41 -10.5% 37 -14.1% 220 735 749 5 2 40% 37
C.Brown TEN -22 39 -2 34 -13.2% 39 -8.8% 224 855 718 5 3 41% 34
T.J.Duckett ATL -28 40 -40 39 -13.3% 40 -16.0% 121 388 427 8 2 39% 42
J.J.Arrington ARI -53 41 -50 40 -21.0% 41 -19.6% 112 370 297 2 1 38% 43
M.Bennett MIN -81 42 -83 42 -24.7% 44 -25.7% 126 474 290 3 4 39% 40
K.Barlow SF -97 43 -133 44 -22.8% 43 -28.5% 176 581 422 3 1 27% 45
J.Lewis BAL -143 44 -103 43 -21.8% 42 -17.9% 270 903 713 3 6 41% 33
M.Shipp ARI -166 45 -172 45 -33.4% 45 -34.9% 157 459 298 0 4 41% 32

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
M.Turner SD 84 85 26.4% 29.2% 57 335 320 3 0
A.Peterson CHI 84 97 17.5% 22.1% 76 391 404 2 0
L.Neal SD 67 61 26.6% 23.6% 29 98 271 0 0
R.Dayne DEN 66 51 21.6% 13.8% 53 270 305 1 0
J.Wells HOU 65 59 7.5% 6.1% 90 325 450 4 0
C.Houston NYJ 59 52 10.7% 8.2% 80 301 363 2 0
R.Cartwright WAS 55 59 34.9% 38.8% 27 199 196 2 1
M.Pittman TB 47 53 9.6% 12.8% 70 436 288 1 0
S.Bryson DET 47 42 12.9% 10.5% 64 306 265 1 0
M.Hicks SF 46 66 17.8% 19.7% 59 308 299 3 0
C.Perry CIN 40 41 7.0% 8.1% 60 274 275 0 0
L.Toefield JAC 40 37 14.1% 16.6% 36 142 179 4 0
M.Alstott TB 33 42 7.9% 13.0% 34 80 219 6 0
M.Morris SEA 29 32 0.4% 3.4% 71 288 267 1 0
T.Thompson DAL 26 10 4.3% -3.1% 46 182 195 0 0
R.Moats PHI 25 20 5.2% 0.9% 55 281 232 3 2
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
D.McAllister NO 18 29 -5.7% -1.3% 93 335 362 3 0
V.Morency HOU 18 29 1.7% 7.9% 45 181 183 2 0
D.Ward NYG 16 10 5.7% -1.0% 35 123 144 0 0
D.Staley PIT 14 22 -3.3% 5.3% 38 150 147 1 1
Z.Crockett OAK 10 1 -4.3% -8.0% 60 208 247 1 0
R.Mahe PHI 8 6 0.3% -1.1% 20 87 75 0 0
B.Jacobs NYG 7 9 -2.6% -5.1% 38 99 259 7 1
N.Davenport GB 4 8 -5.8% -2.8% 30 105 124 2 1
P.Pass NE 4 10 -7.1% -3.7% 54 247 190 3 2
M.Faulk STL 4 -3 -4.9% -9.8% 65 292 228 0 2
H.Evans MIA 2 -10 -8.5% -13.2% 52 192 194 0 0
A.Pearman JAC 0 -4 -9.1% -11.0% 39 149 128 1 0
L.Gordon PHI -2 -4 -8.4% -10.4% 54 182 205 1 2
A.Stecker NO -3 17 -9.5% -4.2% 95 365 319 0 1
J.Payton TEN -4 8 -9.3% -2.4% 33 105 114 2 0
L.Betts WAS -4 -28 -10.5% -16.7% 89 342 287 1 2
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
W.Green CLE -6 -1 -21.1% -9.8% 20 78 61 0 0
A.Green GB -7 -14 -11.9% -13.1% 77 255 251 0 1
D.Rhodes IND -7 1 -16.8% -8.0% 40 118 143 4 0
N.Herron GB -11 -24 -8.9% -20.4% 48 123 177 2 0
T.Fisher GB -15 -9 -16.1% -12.3% 60 173 172 1 0
O.Ayanbadejo ARI -25 -26 -29.6% -30.1% 22 46 63 0 0
T.Henry TEN -25 -34 -16.2% -18.9% 88 335 243 0 2
C.Fason MIN -27 -24 -24.0% -21.0% 32 62 116 4 0
C.Benson CHI -27 -12 -19.4% -13.1% 67 277 180 0 1
E.Graham TB -28 -34 -36.0% -39.1% 28 83 47 0 1
N.Goings CAR -31 -24 -26.5% -23.8% 38 125 88 0 0
A.Thomas DAL -32 -51 -27.1% -38.7% 43 92 95 0 0
S.Williams BUF -38 -29 -32.9% -27.4% 45 161 73 0 0
V.Haynes PIT -39 -20 -21.8% -15.8% 74 274 177 3 2
K.Faulk NE -41 -46 -33.7% -33.3% 51 144 84 0 1
M.Cloud NE -46 -40 -55.9% -51.7% 24 59 9 0 0

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		 FUM
T.Barber NYG 214 1 209 1 45.3% 1 44.0% 70 530 701 2 77% 0
B.Westbrook PHI 161 2 158 2 16.6% 15 16.0% 96 616 712 4 64% 0
E.James IND 142 3 151 4 35.3% 5 38.5% 50 337 499 1 88% 0
S.Jackson STL 123 4 110 8 26.6% 9 22.2% 55 320 472 2 78% 0
D.Davis HOU 121 5 158 3 30.8% 7 44.1% 47 337 445 4 83% 0
M.Moore MIN 120 6 124 6 31.2% 6 32.8% 49 339 437 2 76% 0
L.Johnson KC 117 7 112 7 27.7% 8 25.9% 50 352 445 1 68% 0
W.Henderson GB 109 8 126 5 43.2% 2 51.9% 34 264 363 0 88% 0
L.Jordan OAK 97 9 104 9 3.1% 27 4.5% 104 568 607 2 68% 0
M.Pittman TB 92 10 84 11 26.4% 10 22.8% 46 300 354 1 78% 1
C.Brown TEN 92 11 100 10 35.7% 4 40.3% 36 311 321 2 69% 1
D.Foster CAR 79 12 78 12 18.4% 13 18.1% 48 372 339 1 71% 1
J.Wells HOU 78 13 69 16 39.8% 3 33.6% 27 179 264 0 81% 0
M.Faulk STL 78 14 73 13 10.3% 20 9.0% 57 289 390 1 75% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
C.Portis WAS 73 15 61 18 16.3% 16 11.1% 42 221 325 0 74% 0
M.Alstott TB 67 16 69 15 18.0% 14 19.1% 38 222 288 1 66% 0
A.Stecker NO 62 17 43 23 11.5% 19 3.7% 48 281 303 0 73% 1
C.Dillon NE 51 18 64 17 18.8% 11 27.0% 26 181 217 1 85% 0
K.Johnson DEN 51 19 46 21 8.9% 22 7.1% 31 160 263 5 55% 0
A.Pinner DET 48 20 48 20 18.6% 12 18.5% 27 185 204 0 85% 0
P.Pass NE 46 21 54 19 16.1% 17 21.4% 30 227 204 0 73% 0
M.Shipp ARI 41 22 36 27 5.3% 23 2.8% 44 255 241 0 80% 0
M.Strong SEA 41 23 45 22 11.9% 18 14.4% 27 166 197 0 81% 0
L.Neal SD 40 24 38 25 9.8% 21 8.5% 29 145 203 1 83% 0
W.Dunn ATL 37 25 32 29 4.2% 25 1.7% 37 220 221 1 78% 2
K.Faulk NE 33 26 37 26 3.3% 26 5.1% 37 260 207 0 78% 2
P.Holmes KC 33 27 28 30 4.9% 24 1.8% 32 197 195 1 66% 0
R.Droughns CLE 32 28 70 14 -3.0% 31 9.5% 57 365 282 0 70% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
A.Pearman JAC 29 29 32 28 2.8% 28 4.3% 36 240 186 0 89% 2
W.McGahee BUF 28 30 21 32 0.4% 30 -3.0% 38 180 197 0 76% 0
R.Brown MIA 25 31 20 33 -4.5% 32 -6.3% 47 236 243 1 68% 1
T.Fisher GB 20 32 14 36 -7.6% 35 -9.3% 63 340 269 1 75% 2
A.Green GB 20 33 16 35 0.6% 29 -1.8% 27 147 138 0 70% 0
K.Barlow SF 13 34 11 38 -7.2% 34 -8.5% 42 241 170 0 74% 1
C.Taylor BAL 13 35 43 24 -8.5% 37 3.5% 52 288 203 1 79% 1
S.Bryson DET 12 36 20 34 -8.9% 38 -5.7% 47 289 201 0 79% 1
M.Bennett MIN 11 37 11 37 -6.0% 33 -6.1% 30 122 120 2 90% 1
M.Barber DAL 8 38 7 40 -8.0% 36 -9.0% 25 115 118 0 72% 0
J.Griffith ATL 6 39 -9 45 -10.5% 39 -18.7% 34 116 148 3 62% 1
O.Ayanbadejo ARI 6 40 2 41 -11.4% 41 -12.9% 45 231 189 0 76% 1
J.J.Arrington ARI 5 41 2 42 -10.6% 40 -12.8% 33 139 127 0 76% 0
J.Lewis BAL 1 42 9 39 -13.4% 42 -9.9% 44 191 164 1 73% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
J.Jones DAL -1 43 -5 43 -14.2% 43 -15.9% 46 221 160 0 78% 0
Sh.Alexander SEA -6 44 -13 46 -17.9% 44 -22.7% 28 78 94 1 54% 0
J.Sowell NYJ -10 45 -8 44 -18.0% 45 -17.1% 38 155 145 2 74% 1
C.Perry CIN -17 46 22 31 -18.3% 46 -7.8% 63 333 231 2 83% 2
C.Martin NYJ -17 47 -28 49 -23.8% 48 -30.0% 30 118 87 0 80% 0
C.Williams TB -20 48 -23 48 -27.7% 49 -30.2% 25 81 61 0 80% 0
K.Jones DET -21 49 -31 50 -27.8% 50 -34.0% 28 109 65 0 71% 0
L.Tomlinson SD -29 50 -38 51 -20.5% 47 -22.5% 79 364 253 2 67% 1
T.Bell DEN -33 51 -20 47 -35.1% 52 -26.7% 28 104 43 0 64% 0
T.Jones CHI -39 52 -40 52 -32.2% 51 -32.8% 39 143 71 0 67% 0
R.Johnson CIN -65 53 -54 53 -54.2% 53 -47.3% 30 90 -19 0 77% 0

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
W.Parker PIT 94 94 56.5% 56.7% 24 218 288 1 75% 0
M.Anderson DEN 72 71 47.4% 46.2% 21 212 233 1 86% 1
J.Parry PHI 41 41 30.2% 30.8% 16 89 151 0 81% 0
N.Goings CAR 40 40 26.7% 26.6% 20 151 151 0 70% 0
H.Evans 2TM 35 27 26.5% 16.6% 17 105 135 0 82% 0
L.Polite DAL 27 26 15.0% 14.0% 15 78 125 1 67% 0
D.McAllister NO 26 27 17.2% 18.8% 18 117 113 0 94% 0
V.Haynes PIT 25 32 20.2% 28.4% 17 113 106 0 65% 0
M.Hedgecock STL 25 19 22.6% 13.9% 11 69 99 0 82% 0
M.Edwards CHI 24 26 15.0% 17.1% 13 66 109 2 77% 0
V.Morency HOU 23 16 12.0% 4.4% 16 90 112 0 69% 0
T.Henry TEN 19 17 5.5% 3.1% 20 117 110 0 65% 0
D.Rhodes IND 16 9 6.0% -2.1% 15 80 88 0 80% 0
D.Shelton BUF 15 13 -4.4% -5.3% 22 98 140 1 59% 1
R.Williams MIA 14 14 -2.0% -1.6% 20 93 113 0 85% 0
J.Cook TB 13 19 9.2% 18.3% 10 43 69 1 70% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
T.Richardson KC 13 10 1.7% -1.5% 16 68 86 1 56% 0
M.Karney NO 12 11 2.3% 1.3% 13 61 79 0 77% 0
D.Kreider PIT 11 8 5.1% -0.9% 11 43 67 0 64% 0
G.Jones JAC 10 13 -1.1% 2.7% 15 65 77 0 67% 0
L.Betts WAS 9 7 -2.3% -5.7% 17 78 78 1 59% 0
T.Smith CLE 8 13 -6.2% -1.6% 16 58 90 1 75% 0
C.Houston NYJ 7 7 1.8% 0.8% 10 66 48 0 80% 1
B.Hoover CAR 7 -5 -8.4% -17.8% 21 87 103 0 67% 0
F.Taylor JAC 4 -1 -10.0% -14.4% 19 84 84 0 74% 0
F.Gore SF 4 -5 -10.6% -18.2% 22 146 92 0 68% 1
Z.Crockett OAK 4 5 -10.1% -8.8% 18 111 78 0 72% 1
T.Fleming TEN 2 3 -11.4% -11.2% 15 69 74 1 67% 0
S.Gado GB 2 9 -11.7% -1.5% 12 77 58 1 83% 1
S.Williams BUF -2 -12 -15.7% -23.3% 23 116 85 0 74% 0
S.Davis CAR -4 -4 -19.1% -19.1% 12 45 41 0 42% 0
S.Morris MIA -5 -3 -22.6% -19.0% 12 54 29 0 67% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
T.Jackson SF -6 -11 -22.5% -28.2% 18 67 39 0 56% 0
C.Schlesinger DET -7 -7 -21.7% -22.0% 14 31 48 1 57% 0
D.Wimbush JAC -9 -12 -27.8% -31.3% 10 26 28 0 50% 0
J.Payton TEN -10 -17 -31.4% -43.4% 10 30 20 0 60% 0
A.Smith NO -12 -12 -28.0% -28.4% 15 46 36 0 80% 0
J.P.Foschi OAK -12 -7 -31.9% -23.9% 11 37 23 0 55% 0
M.Williams MIN -15 -19 -34.0% -39.9% 14 52 22 0 57% 0
P.Smith DET -18 -9 -35.8% -25.0% 12 49 22 0 50% 1
R.Mahe PHI -18 -23 -31.4% -36.0% 20 68 38 0 60% 0
J.Finn NYG -20 -36 -28.5% -40.5% 24 98 73 0 54% 1
M.Hicks SF -26 -19 -43.2% -35.1% 16 47 10 0 75% 0
V.Leach GB -27 -33 -56.7% -67.1% 10 19 -11 0 50% 0
J.Johnson CIN -35 -25 -41.6% -34.0% 19 66 18 3 63% 1
L.Gordon PHI -36 -36 -52.4% -52.5% 17 79 -7 0 65% 1
A.Peterson CHI -39 -36 -70.4% -66.5% 12 48 -31 0 58% 1