Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



RUNNING BACKS 2006

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 7/3/2009

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, 47 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
L.Tomlinson SD 453 1 498 1 23.4% 3 26.6% 348 1,815 1,952 28 2 49% 9
B.Westbrook PHI 314 2 299 2 23.9% 2 22.4% 240 1,217 1,341 7 1 48% 12
T.Barber NYG 309 3 280 4 15.1% 6 12.9% 327 1,665 1,623 5 3 50% 8
J.Addai IND 276 4 286 3 18.4% 5 19.3% 226 1,074 1,330 7 2 62% 1
L.Johnson KC 257 5 266 5 6.5% 15 7.1% 416 1,789 1,880 17 2 45% 27
M.Barber DAL 257 6 250 8 30.5% 1 29.4% 135 654 982 14 0 56% 2
S.Jackson STL 243 7 238 9 8.0% 13 7.7% 346 1,528 1,655 13 2 48% 13
F.Gore SF 242 8 261 7 10.1% 12 11.5% 312 1,696 1,510 8 5 47% 15
D.McAllister NO 221 9 190 11 11.4% 10 8.6% 245 1,061 1,308 11 2 54% 3
M.Jones-Drew JAC 217 10 263 6 22.0% 4 28.6% 166 941 961 13 1 51% 6
L.Betts WAS 194 11 178 12 11.6% 9 9.9% 245 1,157 1,142 4 4 46% 20
F.Taylor JAC 172 12 192 10 11.1% 11 13.4% 231 1,146 1,031 5 2 44% 30
W.Parker PIT 165 13 133 15 3.3% 18 0.9% 337 1,495 1,467 13 6 45% 28
T.Jones CHI 147 14 146 14 3.2% 19 3.1% 296 1,210 1,315 6 1 48% 14
L.Washington NYJ 133 15 129 16 14.0% 7 13.4% 151 650 722 4 1 49% 10
A.Green GB 116 16 85 23 2.4% 20 -0.6% 266 1,063 1,103 5 2 43% 35
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
C.Dillon NE 114 17 159 13 4.7% 17 10.0% 199 812 920 13 2 52% 5
J.Jones DAL 112 18 95 21 2.0% 22 0.4% 267 1,084 1,096 4 1 45% 23
C.Portis WAS 111 19 86 22 11.6% 8 7.1% 127 523 651 7 0 44% 31
C.Benson CHI 104 20 122 17 7.9% 14 10.9% 157 647 710 6 0 47% 16
T.Henry TEN 99 21 105 20 0.9% 23 1.4% 270 1,211 1,067 7 3 43% 33
R.Johnson CIN 97 22 78 24 -1.5% 24 -2.9% 341 1,309 1,334 12 6 44% 29
R.Dayne HOU 91 23 120 18 5.0% 16 9.2% 151 612 728 5 1 54% 4
M.Bell DEN 77 24 108 19 2.3% 21 6.7% 157 677 735 8 1 51% 7
W.Dunn ATL 66 25 -1 36 -2.9% 28 -8.6% 286 1,140 1,097 4 1 39% 45
D.Foster CAR 63 26 14 32 -2.0% 26 -7.1% 227 900 933 3 3 45% 22
W.McGahee BUF 57 27 29 29 -3.3% 29 -5.9% 259 996 1,009 6 4 45% 24
R.Bush NO 38 28 8 33 -2.4% 27 -7.2% 154 559 597 6 2 44% 32
D.Williams CAR 36 29 30 28 -1.5% 25 -2.7% 121 501 500 1 1 47% 17
T.Bell DEN 36 30 52 26 -4.3% 31 -2.4% 233 1,031 794 2 3 41% 39
L.Maroney NE 31 31 58 25 -4.5% 32 -1.1% 175 749 716 6 1 46% 19
W.Lundy HOU 25 32 24 30 -3.6% 30 -3.8% 124 476 479 4 1 40% 42
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
C.Taylor MIN 10 33 5 34 -7.8% 33 -8.2% 303 1,219 1,130 6 4 46% 18
R.Brown MIA 3 34 41 27 -8.3% 35 -4.6% 241 995 873 5 4 46% 21
L.Jordan OAK 2 35 -4 37 -8.2% 34 -9.5% 114 434 366 2 0 34% 47
C.Houston NYJ 0 36 -8 40 -8.6% 36 -10.2% 113 374 434 5 0 45% 25
D.Rhodes IND -4 37 3 35 -9.1% 37 -8.2% 187 641 686 5 2 49% 11
J.Lewis BAL -13 38 -5 38 -9.6% 38 -9.0% 314 1,130 1,074 9 4 42% 38
M.Morris SEA -17 39 -23 41 -11.3% 40 -12.2% 161 604 520 0 1 39% 44
J.Fargas OAK -24 40 -6 39 -12.0% 42 -9.4% 178 652 566 1 1 40% 40
K.Barlow NYJ -28 41 -31 44 -13.6% 43 -14.2% 131 368 427 6 1 42% 37
C.Williams TB -28 42 -69 46 -11.8% 41 -16.4% 226 799 707 1 3 39% 43
E.James ARI -29 43 15 31 -10.6% 39 -7.5% 337 1,162 1,174 6 3 45% 26
R.Droughns CLE -45 44 -26 42 -13.8% 45 -11.5% 219 761 678 4 5 42% 36
S.Alexander SEA -53 45 -37 45 -13.8% 44 -12.2% 252 901 788 7 5 43% 34
A.Thomas BUF -67 46 -31 43 -25.1% 47 -16.2% 107 378 240 2 1 37% 46
K.Jones DET -109 47 -86 47 -22.1% 46 -19.3% 181 688 517 6 4 40% 41

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
J.Norwood ATL 170 150 35.1% 29.9% 99 633 612 2 0
M.Turner SD 142 137 34.7% 33.0% 80 502 513 2 0
B.Jacobs NYG 125 115 16.4% 14.2% 96 424 635 9 2
V.Morency GB 56 54 5.6% 5.2% 96 434 427 2 2
L.Neal SD 50 48 16.0% 15.3% 29 140 256 1 1
C.Buckhalter PHI 49 41 5.2% 3.0% 83 345 383 2 1
K.Watson CIN 41 42 35.4% 36.1% 25 138 148 1 0
M.Strong SEA 38 38 18.5% 18.9% 33 149 181 1 0
M.Bennett KC 36 34 19.2% 17.7% 36 200 171 0 1
M.Moore MIN 32 28 40.3% 33.9% 24 131 109 0 0
M.Pittman TB 32 32 8.8% 8.5% 49 242 213 1 1
A.Pinner MIN 28 39 6.0% 11.5% 43 190 214 3 1
K.Faulk NE 28 27 19.7% 19.4% 25 123 128 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
S.Davis STL 22 22 5.4% 5.1% 40 177 175 0 1
M.Anderson BAL 20 13 3.0% -1.0% 39 183 181 1 0
C.Taylor HOU 18 31 7.1% 18.7% 28 123 125 1 0
L.White TEN 15 21 -2.3% 0.2% 62 244 233 0 1
Z.Crockett OAK 11 17 -3.1% -0.2% 39 158 190 0 2
B.Hoover CAR 6 8 -3.9% -1.5% 22 73 112 1 1
A.Cason DET 4 -4 -4.9% -12.6% 24 94 90 0 0
N.Herron GB 3 15 -6.8% 1.1% 37 150 135 1 0
R.Moats PHI -3 -2 -11.7% -10.8% 22 69 75 0 0
H.Evans NE -6 -6 -12.7% -13.1% 27 117 112 0 1
M.Smith BAL -6 -10 -13.3% -16.0% 36 153 103 0 1
M.Alstott TB -14 -27 -12.6% -16.2% 60 171 276 3 1
R.Lee OAK -14 -10 -22.5% -18.1% 21 72 64 2 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
C.Brown TEN -15 -8 -17.5% -13.1% 41 156 119 0 1
A.Harris DET -16 -30 -15.6% -21.8% 49 158 168 1 0
T.Duckett WAS -16 -22 -18.3% -22.2% 38 133 116 2 1
S.Gado GB -21 -28 -17.7% -20.5% 56 210 168 1 1
J.Wright CLE -23 -51 -18.0% -29.4% 62 189 173 0 1
M.Hicks SF -24 -17 -28.5% -22.5% 29 82 65 0 0
J.Harrison CLE -26 -29 -46.2% -50.0% 20 60 17 0 1
M.Robinson SF -41 -36 -29.5% -26.8% 38 116 101 2 0
S.Morris MIA -46 -21 -20.0% -13.9% 92 403 271 1 2
D.Blaylock NYJ -49 -43 -62.0% -55.4% 25 44 -1 0 0
N.Davenport PIT -71 -76 -34.5% -36.6% 60 221 120 1 1

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 56 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
R.Bush NO 272 1 269 1 22.4% 8 22.1% 122 748 1,097 2 68%
S.Jackson STL 151 2 138 7 7.4% 25 5.6% 110 806 821 3 63%
D.Williams CAR 148 3 151 3 48.9% 1 50.3% 36 313 474 1 86%
K.Jones DET 147 4 147 5 17.2% 14 17.0% 78 520 645 2 74%
B.Westbrook PHI 147 5 152 2 5.2% 27 5.9% 109 700 853 4 66%
L.Tomlinson SD 139 6 148 4 13.9% 17 15.6% 80 508 645 3 69%
L.Johnson KC 135 7 139 6 17.5% 12 18.5% 67 410 585 2 67%
F.Gore SF 132 8 137 8 10.5% 20 11.6% 86 485 659 1 62%
M.Jones-Drew JAC 126 9 131 9 16.7% 15 17.9% 62 436 555 2 66%
M.Moore MIN 111 10 115 10 13.4% 18 14.4% 62 468 522 1 69%
L.Betts WAS 107 11 111 11 11.6% 19 12.6% 64 445 505 1 69%
C.Taylor MIN 103 12 97 13 17.3% 13 15.4% 51 288 450 0 70%
J.Griffith ATL 103 13 102 12 44.3% 2 43.8% 28 168 339 3 79%
D.McAllister NO 95 14 91 14 25.6% 6 24.0% 36 198 369 0 75%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
K.Watson CIN 86 15 80 16 31.7% 4 28.8% 32 213 312 0 73%
T.Barber NYG 81 16 77 17 0.7% 31 0.0% 81 465 565 0 57%
L.Maroney NE 78 17 76 18 23.1% 7 22.0% 30 194 312 1 70%
T.Henry TEN 77 18 82 15 33.0% 3 36.3% 25 78 275 0 80%
C.Buckhalter PHI 70 19 70 19 26.6% 5 26.8% 28 260 267 1 71%
C.Williams TB 68 20 61 22 10.0% 21 7.7% 44 196 342 0 75%
N.Herron GB 66 21 63 21 16.4% 16 14.8% 35 211 294 2 77%
L.Washington NYJ 66 22 66 20 17.9% 11 17.8% 31 265 286 0 55%
W.Lundy HOU 56 23 51 24 8.5% 24 6.6% 39 204 297 0 62%
K.Wilson KC 55 24 52 23 21.9% 9 20.2% 24 132 223 3 71%
W.Dunn ATL 53 25 49 26 21.4% 10 19.0% 27 164 217 1 74%
K.Faulk NE 47 26 50 25 -1.4% 33 -0.5% 56 356 369 2 59%
M.Pittman TB 42 27 20 40 -5.3% 39 -9.7% 77 408 441 0 58%
R.Brown MIA 40 28 41 27 2.4% 30 2.6% 38 276 262 0 63%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
T.Tapeh PHI 40 29 40 28 9.4% 22 9.4% 25 85 205 1 64%
J.Addai IND 38 30 34 31 -2.1% 35 -3.1% 50 325 307 1 69%
M.Bell DEN 37 31 37 30 8.6% 23 8.3% 27 158 195 0 67%
C.Portis WAS 36 32 37 29 7.0% 26 7.4% 26 170 198 0 65%
F.Taylor JAC 32 33 31 33 3.6% 28 3.0% 28 242 198 1 68%
A.Stecker NO 31 34 32 32 2.5% 29 3.2% 28 190 197 0 79%
M.Alstott TB 29 35 16 41 -1.6% 34 -7.2% 38 85 227 0 58%
B.Hoover CAR 26 36 25 35 0.6% 32 -0.2% 29 122 182 0 72%
A.Green GB 24 37 23 37 -6.2% 40 -6.5% 63 375 272 1 70%
R.Droughns CLE 24 38 26 34 -2.4% 36 -1.1% 34 168 197 0 76%
W.Parker PIT 23 39 22 38 -4.5% 37 -4.9% 42 222 225 3 67%
D.Foster CAR 23 40 22 39 -5.1% 38 -5.5% 46 159 232 0 69%
E.James ARI 20 41 11 43 -7.8% 42 -10.4% 60 217 278 0 60%
M.Strong SEA 17 42 23 36 -7.7% 41 -5.4% 44 159 229 0 68%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Cook HOU 8 43 9 44 -9.6% 43 -8.9% 26 107 152 0 69%
D.Rhodes IND 7 44 14 42 -11.6% 45 -9.1% 47 251 232 0 55%
M.Smith BAL 3 45 0 46 -11.4% 44 -13.7% 25 135 97 0 76%
A.Harris DET -1 46 -2 47 -14.3% 46 -15.1% 25 132 101 0 68%
J.McKie CHI -4 47 8 45 -15.5% 47 -10.8% 38 162 175 0 79%
T.Bell DEN -6 48 -3 48 -16.9% 48 -15.4% 31 115 121 0 87%
J.Lewis BAL -7 49 -13 51 -18.1% 50 -21.9% 26 115 97 0 62%
M.Barber DAL -8 50 -12 49 -18.0% 49 -20.1% 32 196 120 2 63%
L.Neal SD -13 51 -18 53 -21.4% 51 -24.7% 26 83 94 0 65%
W.McGahee BUF -16 52 -17 52 -23.6% 53 -24.3% 28 156 83 0 61%
T.Jones CHI -23 53 -12 50 -21.4% 52 -17.9% 47 154 169 0 72%
S.Morris MIA -24 54 -20 54 -24.6% 54 -22.8% 35 162 111 0 63%
R.Lee OAK -34 55 -32 55 -34.3% 55 -33.4% 25 138 48 0 50%
R.Johnson CIN -45 56 -49 56 -37.7% 56 -39.9% 31 124 41 0 65%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
N.Davenport PIT 86 81 60.4% 55.9% 21 193 260 1 62%
M.Karney NO 83 85 48.7% 50.3% 20 96 266 2 80%
N.Goings CAR 69 73 57.8% 62.1% 15 107 210 1 67%
O.Mughelli BAL 62 58 31.7% 28.7% 24 182 227 2 79%
M.Bennett KC 52 52 51.1% 51.0% 12 77 166 0 83%
J.Fargas OAK 49 51 19.2% 20.7% 21 91 206 0 67%
J.Jones DAL 38 37 28.7% 27.2% 15 142 143 0 53%
V.Morency GB 35 33 18.1% 16.9% 18 114 150 0 78%
T.Richardson MIN 35 38 26.2% 29.8% 14 111 133 0 71%
J.Arrington ARI 32 30 48.0% 43.7% 10 58 102 0 80%
T.Fisher STL 28 31 10.6% 13.2% 18 159 138 0 67%
M.Sellers WAS 28 34 6.1% 10.6% 22 105 156 1 68%
R.Dayne HOU 24 28 5.3% 8.3% 18 77 140 0 67%
K.Barlow NYJ 24 28 22.8% 29.0% 10 21 96 0 70%
C.Dillon NE 22 23 8.4% 9.0% 16 147 117 0 63%
B.Jacobs NYG 22 19 7.1% 4.1% 14 149 119 0 57%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
B.Miree GB 20 17 8.9% 5.3% 13 57 107 0 85%
D.Shelton BUF 20 20 22.2% 23.1% 10 35 79 0 90%
C.Benson CHI 18 20 17.9% 22.6% 10 54 77 0 78%
M.Hicks SF 14 13 1.7% 1.4% 15 137 91 1 67%
C.Sapp DEN 13 14 4.5% 6.4% 10 34 76 0 70%
J.Wright CLE 8 5 -1.8% -5.5% 11 82 62 0 64%
J.Norwood ATL 5 7 -7.5% -5.4% 15 102 73 0 67%
Z.Crockett OAK 5 7 -9.3% -7.2% 17 53 88 0 53%
C.Schlesinger DET 5 6 -6.4% -3.9% 11 36 56 0 82%
J.Harrison CLE 1 2 -12.7% -11.6% 14 47 64 0 79%
V.Haynes PIT 0 1 -13.7% -13.4% 22 95 108 0 64%
L.White TEN 0 3 -13.9% -11.0% 20 60 88 0 60%
M.Shipp ARI -1 -5 -15.0% -22.2% 11 60 43 0 45%
D.Kreider PIT -1 3 -15.0% -10.4% 13 62 58 0 54%
S.Gado GB -1 -7 -14.7% -18.7% 23 85 106 0 65%
S.Davis STL -3 -7 -16.2% -19.6% 17 90 77 1 59%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
S.Alexander SEA -3 -2 -16.7% -15.5% 16 46 69 0 81%
C.Perry CIN -4 -6 -20.8% -23.9% 11 42 36 0 82%
T.Smith CLE -4 -2 -20.4% -17.2% 11 21 39 0 64%
A.Hall TEN -6 -4 -18.4% -16.6% 21 138 88 0 52%
A.Thomas BUF -7 -8 -18.6% -19.9% 24 139 84 0 83%
K.Johnson DEN -7 -7 -24.2% -23.6% 11 37 35 1 55%
M.Hedgecock STL -7 -6 -24.1% -22.5% 10 29 36 0 70%
M.Robinson SF -12 -12 -28.9% -28.6% 12 47 32 0 50%
W.Henderson GB -15 -9 -26.3% -21.1% 18 62 54 0 44%
B.Askew NYJ -21 -15 -39.0% -31.8% 12 50 16 0 50%
A.Cason DET -27 -27 -61.8% -62.3% 10 26 -15 0 50%
L.Jordan OAK -29 -30 -43.2% -44.4% 16 74 11 0 63%
M.Anderson BAL -31 -31 -55.7% -55.7% 14 54 -11 0 57%
O.Ayanbadejo ARI -37 -40 -45.4% -47.1% 19 141 7 0 58%
M.Morris SEA -38 -35 -45.9% -43.5% 20 46 6 0 55%
J.Finn NYG -51 -53 -70.5% -72.6% 14 54 -41 0 43%