Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

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RUNNING BACKS 2009

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, 50 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
C.Johnson TEN 328 1 307 1 14.0% 6 12.7% 358 2,006 1,764 14 3 45% 32
J.Charles KC 233 2 250 2 19.3% 2 22.5% 191 1,117 1,058 7 3 53% 7
R.Rice BAL 227 3 228 3 12.9% 7 14.7% 254 1,348 1,186 7 3 51% 14
R.Grant GB 217 4 228 4 10.9% 11 10.9% 282 1,252 1,375 12 0 49% 18
P.Thomas NO 208 5 197 5 24.8% 1 22.4% 147 793 893 6 1 56% 3
J.Stewart CAR 184 6 188 6 12.8% 8 12.2% 221 1,132 1,094 10 3 50% 16
S.Jackson STL 178 7 128 15 6.5% 16 1.6% 324 1,420 1,395 4 2 45% 31
D.Williams CAR 172 8 159 9 11.3% 10 10.6% 216 1,118 976 7 3 45% 30
R.Williams MIA 168 9 176 8 7.1% 15 8.7% 241 1,121 1,132 11 4 55% 5
A.Peterson MIN 150 10 108 20 1.8% 23 -0.9% 314 1,379 1,434 18 6 46% 29
M.Barber DAL 147 11 138 12 7.2% 14 5.8% 213 930 1,075 7 1 53% 9
M.Jones-Drew JAC 147 12 185 7 2.0% 22 4.9% 312 1,391 1,422 15 2 49% 17
J.Addai IND 139 13 116 19 5.6% 17 3.9% 219 831 1,015 10 1 53% 10
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
M.Turner ATL 132 14 138 14 9.1% 12 10.3% 178 875 836 10 4 49% 19
C.Benson CIN 128 15 103 22 2.3% 21 -0.2% 301 1,253 1,270 6 1 44% 37
A.Bradshaw NYG 127 16 123 16 8.5% 13 8.8% 163 778 803 7 3 52% 12
W.McGahee BAL 127 17 148 10 18.0% 3 23.4% 109 544 597 12 1 55% 4
R.Brown MIA 126 18 145 11 12.8% 9 14.4% 147 648 760 8 1 51% 13
J.Forsett SEA 106 19 117 18 17.0% 4 17.2% 114 619 579 4 2 46% 28
F.Jones DAL 101 20 105 21 14.9% 5 14.8% 116 685 558 3 2 46% 27
F.Gore SF 97 21 89 23 2.9% 20 1.3% 228 1,121 942 10 4 42% 41
F.Jackson BUF 88 22 119 17 1.5% 24 4.1% 237 1,067 967 3 2 48% 21
T.Jones NYJ 83 23 138 13 -2.6% 31 1.4% 331 1,402 1,324 14 2 44% 38
C.Buckhalter DEN 72 24 88 24 4.7% 18 8.9% 120 642 544 1 3 58% 1
J.Snelling ATL 62 25 73 28 0.5% 26 2.6% 142 613 663 4 1 46% 24
L.Maroney NE 61 26 86 25 -0.6% 27 1.4% 194 757 853 9 3 52% 11
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
S.Greene NYJ 61 27 67 30 4.0% 19 7.1% 108 542 453 2 3 48% 20
J.Harrison CLE 53 28 76 27 -1.1% 30 1.4% 194 869 747 5 2 48% 22
R.Mendenhall PIT 52 29 83 26 -3.2% 32 -0.6% 242 1,108 989 7 3 46% 25
M.Bush OAK 46 30 71 29 1.0% 25 5.9% 123 591 499 3 1 47% 23
C.Wells ARI 45 31 36 33 -0.6% 29 -3.8% 178 784 751 7 6 53% 8
C.Williams TB 37 32 26 35 -4.4% 33 -5.5% 210 821 774 5 1 38% 44
K.Moreno DEN 34 33 44 32 -6.6% 37 -4.6% 247 947 984 7 2 50% 15
M.Bell NO 34 34 36 34 -4.9% 34 -3.8% 172 654 693 5 2 54% 6
R.Moats HOU 33 35 49 31 -0.6% 28 2.4% 101 390 438 4 2 57% 2
J.Jones SEA 17 36 7 36 -5.2% 35 -7.7% 177 663 675 2 0 44% 35
L.McCoy PHI 13 37 2 37 -6.4% 36 -8.3% 155 637 565 4 2 46% 26
T.Hightower ARI 1 38 -7 38 -9.5% 39 -9.8% 143 592 519 8 5 44% 36
B.Jacobs NYG -5 39 -8 39 -9.5% 40 -9.4% 224 838 816 5 2 45% 33
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
J.Fargas OAK -7 40 -10 40 -9.4% 38 -10.5% 129 491 445 4 1 38% 46
L.Tomlinson SD -21 41 -12 41 -11.9% 41 -9.8% 223 733 776 12 1 43% 39
J.Lewis CLE -22 42 -28 43 -12.7% 43 -13.6% 142 499 444 0 0 38% 45
K.Smith DET -36 43 -73 46 -12.4% 42 -16.8% 217 750 706 4 3 44% 34
D.Ward TB -56 44 -66 45 -20.8% 47 -23.1% 114 409 299 1 0 36% 49
M.Lynch BUF -57 45 -42 44 -18.8% 46 -17.9% 120 450 316 2 3 38% 47
C.Portis WAS -62 46 -17 42 -18.7% 45 -12.1% 124 494 344 2 1 40% 42
L.Johnson 2TM -82 47 -93 48 -21.6% 48 -22.2% 178 581 445 0 2 38% 43
D.McFadden OAK -91 48 -74 47 -32.7% 49 -27.5% 104 366 185 1 4 38% 48
M.Forte CHI -98 49 -146 50 -17.0% 44 -21.9% 258 929 790 4 5 42% 40
S.Slaton HOU -122 50 -133 49 -32.9% 50 -34.2% 131 448 242 3 5 35% 50

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
J.Cribbs CLE 124 121 47.7% 42.9% 56 383 418 1 1
K.Faulk NE 106 109 35.6% 36.6% 62 335 381 2 0
R.Bush NO 97 92 29.2% 26.4% 70 396 385 5 2
T.Choice DAL 93 100 24.6% 27.6% 64 349 387 3 0
L.Weaver PHI 93 73 22.6% 15.7% 70 323 413 2 0
F.Taylor NE 87 60 22.5% 13.2% 63 269 375 4 1
A.Foster HOU 71 74 22.4% 23.6% 54 257 315 3 0
L.McClain BAL 56 62 13.1% 13.9% 46 180 334 2 0
M.Tolbert SD 48 57 32.5% 37.6% 25 148 188 1 0
G.Wolfe CHI 40 38 37.4% 34.1% 22 120 142 1 0
K.Bell CHI 37 40 17.6% 16.1% 40 220 209 0 0
B.Westbrook PHI 36 50 5.8% 10.7% 61 274 282 1 0
K.Darby STL 31 30 25.6% 22.3% 26 153 138 0 0
R.Jennings JAC 30 34 8.6% 10.5% 39 202 205 1 0
L.Polite MIA 26 29 6.6% 5.0% 37 123 236 0 1
A.Green GB 22 11 2.7% -2.0% 41 160 181 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
A.Brown DET 21 16 16.0% 9.2% 27 131 113 0 0
L.White TEN 15 7 -2.3% -6.2% 64 222 264 2 1
L.Hilliard MIA 13 8 -2.3% -0.2% 23 89 97 1 0
L.Betts WAS 7 7 -4.3% -5.6% 56 210 212 2 0
L.Hamilton NO 6 16 -3.2% 0.0% 35 125 179 2 0
Q.Ganther WAS 4 9 -7.4% -5.2% 62 201 241 3 0
B.Green-Ellis NE 2 13 -2.5% 3.1% 26 114 105 0 0
M.Morris DET -3 -11 -7.0% -11.5% 93 386 329 2 1
S.Morris NE -3 1 -7.7% -8.4% 73 319 298 2 2
C.Jennings CLE -5 -14 -10.0% -13.8% 63 220 224 1 0
B.Hoover CAR -5 -4 -12.1% -12.6% 20 52 76 1 1
D.Brown IND -7 -26 -14.3% -16.5% 78 281 248 3 1
B.Scott CIN -9 -5 -10.1% -10.4% 74 321 243 0 1
B.Jackson GB -11 -9 -16.2% -15.4% 37 112 102 2 1
M.Mason WAS -13 -3 -16.9% -10.7% 32 127 94 0 0
M.Hart IND -14 -14 -18.8% -20.9% 26 70 78 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
B.Leonard CIN -14 -18 -24.5% -23.1% 27 84 76 0 0
J.Norwood ATL -15 -13 -12.3% -12.9% 76 252 235 0 0
L.Jordan DEN -15 -11 -24.5% -18.2% 25 86 67 0 0
C.Brown HOU -16 -7 -10.3% -10.6% 79 267 298 3 1
L.Washington NYJ -16 -3 -16.8% -9.9% 72 331 176 0 1
D.Sproles SD -19 -5 -15.3% -10.0% 93 343 289 3 0
M.Moore PIT -24 -23 -27.2% -24.7% 35 118 80 0 0
M.Bennett SD -29 -29 -36.4% -38.8% 23 65 40 0 0
J.Hester SD -33 -26 -38.0% -31.7% 21 74 43 0 1
R.Cartwright WAS -34 -34 -20.2% -20.5% 64 228 191 0 0
E.James SEA -40 -48 -32.6% -33.9% 46 125 90 0 1
W.Parker PIT -41 -24 -17.6% -14.3% 98 387 298 0 2
M.Goodson CAR -60 -54 -77.5% -71.0% 22 50 -22 0 1
C.Taylor MIN -83 -89 -31.5% -33.5% 94 338 174 1 2
G.Coffee SF -89 -100 -36.9% -39.8% 83 226 129 1 0

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 52 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
D.Sproles SD 173 1 160 1 41.8% 2 37.7% 57 497 579 4 79% 0
S.Slaton HOU 156 2 157 2 37.9% 3 38.1% 55 419 537 4 80% 2
F.Jackson BUF 117 3 102 6 23.5% 8 18.9% 60 368 464 2 77% 0
R.Mendenhall PIT 115 4 106 5 54.2% 1 48.9% 32 261 358 1 78% 0
K.Smith DET 113 5 113 3 21.4% 9 21.5% 57 415 463 1 72% 0
C.Johnson TEN 102 6 86 7 13.9% 13 9.6% 71 503 474 2 70% 0
J.Addai IND 86 7 63 15 8.2% 18 2.3% 63 336 455 3 81% 0
D.Williams CAR 83 8 75 10 21.0% 10 17.4% 41 252 342 0 71% 0
J.Snelling ATL 83 9 62 17 26.5% 7 16.3% 39 259 318 1 77% 1
R.Rice BAL 78 10 106 4 0.5% 27 5.6% 102 695 554 1 77% 1
A.Peterson MIN 74 11 81 8 10.4% 15 12.7% 57 436 371 0 75% 1
T.Hightower ARI 74 12 72 13 3.2% 24 2.8% 80 428 465 0 79% 0
P.Thomas NO 71 13 69 14 16.1% 11 15.3% 45 302 316 2 87% 1
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
R.Cartwright WAS 70 14 73 12 26.7% 6 28.6% 32 242 266 1 84% 0
S.Morris NE 69 15 52 20 32.3% 5 21.3% 27 180 249 0 70% 0
B.Jackson GB 68 16 73 11 34.3% 4 37.6% 26 187 242 1 81% 0
M.Jones-Drew JAC 66 17 55 19 2.2% 26 -0.6% 71 374 431 1 75% 0
K.Faulk NE 59 18 34 28 5.5% 20 -2.9% 53 301 341 1 70% 0
C.Williams TB 59 19 63 16 14.7% 12 16.7% 40 219 268 3 73% 0
F.Gore SF 58 20 58 18 0.0% 28 -0.2% 76 406 422 3 70% 0
C.Taylor MIN 51 21 81 9 3.1% 25 12.8% 59 389 323 1 75% 0
R.Bush NO 50 22 47 21 -1.2% 29 -2.1% 68 335 389 3 69% 0
M.Moore PIT 39 23 45 23 10.3% 16 13.6% 31 153 199 2 68% 0
V.Leach HOU 38 24 34 29 10.6% 14 7.5% 26 155 192 1 77% 0
M.Morris DET 37 25 34 27 4.8% 22 3.3% 38 210 217 0 68% 0
B.Leonard CIN 33 26 46 22 3.7% 23 10.8% 35 219 201 0 86% 1
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
R.Grant GB 32 27 40 25 5.7% 19 11.2% 30 204 181 0 83% 1
J.Stewart CAR 32 28 32 30 10.2% 17 10.6% 26 139 159 1 69% 0
M.Sellers WAS 29 29 37 26 5.4% 21 11.1% 26 178 167 2 65% 1
C.Buckhalter DEN 22 30 32 31 -2.8% 30 2.1% 38 240 187 0 82% 0
J.Forsett SEA 16 31 4 37 -8.3% 35 -12.3% 57 350 241 1 72% 1
A.Bradshaw NYG 14 32 23 33 -3.5% 31 3.0% 30 207 129 0 70% 0
B.Westbrook PHI 14 33 12 35 -6.6% 33 -7.7% 34 181 170 1 74% 0
L.McClain BAL 13 34 28 32 -5.7% 32 3.9% 27 141 139 0 78% 0
L.Weaver PHI 10 35 12 36 -7.8% 34 -6.4% 26 140 132 2 58% 0
M.Forte CHI 8 36 44 24 -11.6% 40 -1.3% 72 471 265 0 79% 1
D.McFadden OAK 7 37 23 34 -10.5% 38 -2.2% 35 245 156 0 60% 1
B.Jacobs NYG 6 38 3 39 -10.0% 37 -12.0% 31 184 132 1 58% 0
J.Jones SEA 6 39 -4 46 -11.4% 39 -15.5% 43 232 187 2 81% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
L.Washington NYJ 6 40 -7 47 -9.2% 36 -19.2% 26 131 98 0 58% 0
R.Williams MIA 3 41 0 42 -12.7% 41 -13.9% 53 264 220 2 66% 1
M.Barber DAL 1 42 2 41 -13.3% 42 -13.1% 37 223 154 0 73% 1
J.Charles KC -2 43 4 38 -14.4% 43 -12.6% 55 297 219 1 73% 0
L.McCoy PHI -4 44 2 40 -15.1% 44 -13.2% 55 308 214 0 73% 0
C.Benson CIN -9 45 -2 43 -19.8% 47 -15.0% 24 111 89 0 71% 0
K.Darby STL -12 46 -9 48 -24.0% 49 -21.8% 25 95 59 0 76% 0
K.Moreno DEN -14 47 -4 45 -19.7% 46 -15.5% 41 217 137 2 68% 2
J.Harrison CLE -15 48 -3 44 -19.5% 45 -14.9% 50 220 161 2 68% 0
J.Griffith SEA -21 49 -10 49 -27.9% 51 -20.4% 26 118 64 1 73% 1
M.Lynch BUF -25 50 -38 52 -26.5% 50 -33.3% 37 179 89 0 76% 0
S.Jackson STL -26 51 -37 51 -20.0% 48 -22.9% 75 322 243 0 68% 0
L.Tomlinson SD -40 52 -27 50 -38.1% 52 -30.6% 30 154 35 0 67% 1

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
L.Hilliard MIA 92 84 93.1% 84.0% 20 158 250 2 100% 0
J.Norwood ATL 86 71 57.1% 45.2% 22 190 263 1 86% 1
D.Ward TB 75 68 49.6% 44.2% 24 150 239 2 83% 0
L.Betts WAS 73 71 55.8% 53.7% 20 170 226 0 85% 0
D.Brown IND 63 65 70.1% 72.3% 14 169 184 0 79% 0
M.Tolbert SD 47 54 19.4% 24.1% 22 192 199 3 77% 1
J.Lewis CLE 47 37 74.5% 56.1% 11 88 135 0 73% 0
C.Wells ARI 44 52 29.8% 37.3% 16 143 163 0 75% 0
J.Wright ARI 43 41 71.7% 68.8% 10 53 125 2 90% 0
H.Evans NO 43 44 43.4% 45.0% 13 70 141 2 77% 0
J.Felton DET 40 45 34.1% 39.3% 16 133 143 0 81% 0
T.Choice DAL 38 33 21.7% 17.1% 22 132 154 0 68% 0
R.Moats HOU 30 34 23.1% 27.1% 15 106 122 1 87% 1
N.Tahi MIN 26 23 19.7% 15.0% 12 67 111 1 83% 0
G.Russell OAK 26 26 16.0% 16.0% 15 96 117 0 80% 0
Q.Ganther WAS 26 27 32.2% 34.8% 10 99 94 0 90% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
O.Mughelli ATL 22 19 20.4% 15.1% 10 51 92 1 70% 0
A.Brown DET 19 25 6.1% 12.9% 15 84 106 1 60% 0
C.Portis WAS 18 20 15.7% 18.5% 12 57 81 1 75% 0
T.Sutton CAR 16 12 16.7% 9.7% 11 62 69 0 55% 0
D.Woodhead NYJ 15 14 7.5% 5.8% 14 87 82 0 57% 0
M.Cox KC 15 22 5.5% 13.8% 13 79 87 0 77% 0
R.Brown MIA 8 9 -7.2% -5.8% 20 98 100 0 70% 0
D.Savage KC 7 4 -4.1% -7.5% 11 51 63 0 64% 0
L.Maroney NE 6 4 -7.2% -9.0% 17 99 77 0 82% 1
M.Bush OAK 5 3 -8.9% -10.6% 19 107 81 0 89% 1
J.Fargas OAK -1 1 -14.7% -13.4% 21 113 85 0 81% 0
W.McGahee BAL -3 1 -16.3% -13.0% 22 85 88 2 68% 0
R.Jennings JAC -3 6 -17.5% -7.2% 18 101 61 0 89% 0
E.Graham TB -3 -3 -16.6% -16.0% 22 109 84 0 64% 0
F.Jones DAL -5 -3 -17.9% -16.0% 22 119 75 0 86% 0
C.Jennings CLE -10 -4 -27.2% -18.8% 13 56 34 0 69% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
J.Johnson CIN -11 -14 -28.3% -32.1% 12 41 33 0 50% 0
A.Hall TEN -13 -17 -26.4% -30.9% 16 79 45 0 75% 1
L.Stephens-Howling ARI -14 -15 -28.0% -29.8% 18 83 41 1 56% 1
L.Johnson 2TM -15 -18 -27.1% -29.8% 21 80 51 0 71% 0
L.Lawton OAK -18 -19 -43.0% -44.6% 10 31 7 0 70% 0
C.Brown HOU -18 -29 -29.2% -37.9% 21 74 48 0 76% 0
O.Schmitt SEA -21 -26 -38.6% -44.5% 11 21 17 1 55% 0
M.Norris SF -24 -19 -50.6% -43.5% 11 31 -3 0 64% 0
J.Hester SD -25 -32 -57.3% -68.4% 11 24 -11 0 82% 0
G.Jones JAC -27 -28 -63.3% -65.6% 10 14 -17 0 50% 0
T.Jones NYJ -27 -27 -39.7% -39.8% 18 58 19 0 56% 0
M.Robinson SF -28 -31 -59.4% -65.6% 11 24 -14 0 55% 0
G.Coffee SF -41 -37 -55.3% -51.4% 18 76 -14 0 61% 0
J.McKie CHI -54 -51 -81.4% -78.5% 10 13 -54 0 50% 0
L.Vickers CLE -54 -62 -64.2% -71.4% 18 27 -35 1 44% 1
L.Polite MIA -56 -52 -57.4% -53.9% 23 51 -24 0 48% 0