Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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RUNNING BACKS 2010

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 8/29/2012

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, 46 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
J.Charles KC 382 1 402 1 32.9% 1 35.3% 231 1,466 1,403 5 3 56% 3
A.Foster HOU 372 2 373 2 18.0% 4 17.7% 325 1,617 1,832 16 3 52% 9
B.Green-Ellis NE 335 3 304 3 26.7% 2 21.4% 229 1,008 1,451 13 0 57% 2
L.McCoy PHI 227 4 205 6 17.5% 5 15.7% 207 1,080 1,083 7 1 49% 14
M.Jones-Drew JAC 223 5 222 5 9.3% 8 8.2% 300 1,324 1,517 5 3 51% 10
A.Peterson MIN 217 6 224 4 10.7% 7 10.2% 284 1,295 1,401 12 2 45% 22
B.Jacobs NYG 183 7 189 7 18.8% 3 20.9% 148 824 835 9 3 54% 6
P.Hillis CLE 151 8 152 9 5.0% 13 5.0% 270 1,178 1,211 11 8 53% 7
C.Ivory NO 139 9 165 8 13.1% 6 18.0% 137 717 753 5 4 59% 1
F.Jones DAL 115 10 112 14 7.6% 10 6.5% 184 790 828 1 1 50% 12
S.Greene NYJ 115 11 125 11 7.3% 11 7.9% 185 767 843 2 2 55% 4
A.Bradshaw NYG 110 12 95 19 2.2% 17 0.0% 275 1,243 1,137 8 7 46% 20
L.Blount TB 109 13 101 16 3.9% 14 4.2% 201 1,007 837 6 3 45% 23
M.Bush OAK 108 14 108 15 6.4% 12 7.5% 157 631 740 8 0 45% 24
L.Tomlinson NYJ 107 15 98 18 3.1% 16 2.3% 220 908 945 6 3 44% 29
D.McFadden OAK 105 16 112 13 3.4% 15 4.6% 223 1,150 902 7 3 42% 37
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
R.Rice BAL 97 17 124 12 0.4% 19 1.5% 307 1,220 1,234 5 0 46% 19
M.Turner ATL 96 18 128 10 -1.3% 22 0.2% 334 1,371 1,419 12 2 46% 18
J.Addai IND 91 19 99 17 8.8% 9 11.0% 116 495 576 4 2 54% 5
M.Forte CHI 88 20 66 22 0.0% 20 -1.6% 236 1,060 952 6 0 41% 38
F.Jackson BUF 78 21 68 21 -0.4% 21 -1.2% 222 929 915 5 4 47% 17
R.Mendenhall PIT 71 22 79 20 -3.0% 25 -2.7% 324 1,279 1,281 13 2 44% 28
R.Mathews SD 61 23 66 23 1.2% 18 2.1% 158 678 626 7 4 46% 21
T.Hightower ARI 49 24 49 25 -1.4% 23 -0.3% 153 747 582 5 4 42% 36
M.Tolbert SD 46 25 66 24 -2.0% 24 -0.3% 181 725 769 11 5 51% 11
K.Moreno DEN 34 26 44 26 -4.6% 27 -2.9% 183 777 709 5 4 43% 33
R.Williams MIA 32 27 29 28 -3.1% 26 -3.9% 159 673 593 2 4 53% 8
R.Brown MIA 20 28 7 33 -4.6% 28 -7.7% 200 735 766 5 3 43% 35
D.Brown IND 19 29 14 30 -4.8% 29 -6.0% 129 497 513 2 0 44% 27
C.Johnson TEN 18 30 14 31 -7.5% 33 -7.5% 316 1,365 1,095 11 2 39% 40
J.Forsett SEA 7 31 8 32 -7.2% 32 -7.0% 118 523 434 2 0 38% 41
W.McGahee BAL 6 32 0 34 -6.6% 31 -8.5% 100 382 389 5 2 49% 13
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
F.Gore SF -3 33 25 29 -9.3% 34 -5.5% 203 853 705 3 3 48% 15
R.Torain WAS -6 34 31 27 -5.9% 30 -3.8% 164 742 595 4 2 44% 30
B.Jackson GB -8 35 -38 41 -10.3% 35 -13.6% 190 703 636 3 1 43% 34
M.Barber DAL -15 36 -12 36 -11.2% 36 -10.9% 113 374 444 4 0 48% 16
J.Stewart CAR -18 37 -14 37 -12.2% 37 -10.7% 178 769 542 2 4 36% 45
M.Goodson CAR -22 38 -6 35 -15.3% 42 -10.1% 103 437 289 3 4 38% 42
C.Wells ARI -23 39 -20 38 -13.8% 40 -12.7% 116 397 370 2 1 45% 25
S.Jackson STL -45 40 -28 39 -12.5% 39 -10.7% 330 1,241 1,066 6 1 40% 39
M.Lynch BUF -51 41 -36 40 -14.3% 41 -12.7% 201 737 659 6 2 44% 31
C.Williams TB -65 42 -71 42 -22.4% 45 -22.6% 125 437 321 2 1 36% 44
C.Benson CIN -67 43 -82 44 -12.5% 38 -14.6% 321 1,121 1,084 7 7 45% 26
J.Best DET -77 44 -77 43 -18.6% 44 -20.4% 171 557 457 4 1 37% 43
T.Jones KC -90 45 -85 45 -17.5% 43 -16.7% 246 903 749 6 3 43% 32
C.Taylor CHI -115 46 -113 46 -31.2% 46 -32.4% 112 267 234 3 0 36% 46

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
D.Woodhead NE 190 188 40.4% 42.1% 97 547 613 5 1
R.Jennings JAC 140 138 29.5% 29.9% 84 459 531 4 0
D.Ward HOU 107 101 40.6% 34.1% 51 312 391 4 1
B.Westbrook SF 79 92 16.3% 22.7% 76 337 371 4 0
B.Smith NYJ 76 80 43.2% 47.8% 38 299 241 1 1
B.Scott CIN 69 70 17.6% 17.9% 61 299 342 1 0
J.Kuhn GB 55 41 3.2% 0.9% 84 279 462 4 1
K.Williams WAS 52 36 12.7% 5.3% 65 261 318 3 0
C.Portis WAS 46 40 6.7% 9.4% 54 227 246 2 0
M.Morris DET 45 44 4.9% 2.7% 90 336 418 5 1
L.Polite MIA 39 40 17.6% 18.2% 26 62 194 1 0
P.Thomas NO 36 24 0.6% -2.0% 82 269 367 2 0
J.McKnight NYJ 30 49 11.5% 22.7% 39 189 185 0 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
J.James IND 27 24 4.4% 3.0% 46 112 224 6 0
J.Snelling ATL 26 27 -3.8% -1.2% 87 325 345 2 1
I.Redman PIT 25 21 1.7% -1.0% 53 241 283 0 2
L.McClain BAL 24 23 3.4% 3.7% 28 85 197 0 0
L.Stephens-Howling ARI 17 20 8.9% 10.5% 24 118 122 1 0
J.Ringer TEN 17 20 1.7% 2.4% 51 239 189 2 0
T.Gerhart MIN 15 15 -3.3% -3.8% 81 322 296 1 1
M.Hart IND 14 20 -2.1% 2.0% 43 185 179 1 0
J.Starks GB 14 3 6.2% -6.4% 29 101 126 0 0
D.Rhodes IND 13 5 -3.1% -5.2% 37 172 150 0 1
L.Washington SEA 13 4 0.9% -5.4% 27 100 128 1 0
D.J.Ware NYG 11 14 3.8% 7.5% 20 73 90 0 0
T.Choice DAL 8 18 -4.3% -3.1% 66 243 299 3 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
S.Morris NE 7 6 0.5% -3.0% 20 56 102 0 0
D.Karim JAC 4 7 -6.2% -3.1% 35 160 119 0 1
J.Battle KC 3 8 -3.6% -1.2% 20 50 98 1 0
K.Darby STL 0 6 -9.6% -3.9% 34 107 107 2 0
M.Reece OAK -2 7 -8.0% -3.9% 30 124 128 1 1
L.Betts NO -2 1 -9.5% -7.9% 45 148 172 2 1
R.Bush NO -3 0 -10.8% -8.4% 36 150 117 0 0
E.Graham TB -7 -9 -18.2% -17.8% 20 99 67 1 1
F.Taylor NE -8 -14 -13.3% -16.0% 43 155 147 0 0
J.Felton DET -8 -13 -13.8% -22.5% 22 76 75 0 1
C.J.Spiller BUF -11 -22 -11.3% -16.4% 74 288 233 0 2
J.Hester SD -14 -11 -18.2% -16.7% 26 60 100 0 0
A.Dixon SF -14 -9 -14.2% -11.4% 70 237 230 2 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
E.Buckley PHI -16 -17 -25.7% -27.1% 21 67 54 0 0
D.Williams CAR -16 -18 -17.2% -14.4% 87 369 227 1 1
J.Jones NO -17 -26 -16.4% -19.2% 60 223 183 0 1
D.Sproles SD -20 -9 -20.1% -13.4% 50 270 124 0 1
J.Cribbs CLE -20 -17 -31.2% -27.5% 20 67 43 0 1
K.Smith DET -23 -25 -26.4% -28.2% 35 131 72 0 1
L.Ball DEN -25 -22 -24.1% -22.5% 41 158 96 0 1
D.Nance GB -30 -35 -28.7% -31.3% 36 95 82 0 0
M.Moore PIT -36 -36 -38.2% -37.3% 33 99 48 0 0
J.Harrison CLE -39 -33 -21.9% -20.1% 71 330 183 1 2
C.Buckhalter DEN -63 -68 -33.7% -37.3% 59 147 107 2 1
M.Bell CLE -71 -81 -44.8% -50.2% 47 101 53 0 1
L.Maroney DEN -87 -100 -62.0% -71.0% 36 74 -1 0 1

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 54 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
A.Foster HOU 180 1 171 1 22.2% 10 20.4% 86 603 728 2 79% 0
L.McCoy PHI 158 2 155 3 16.0% 15 15.5% 90 577 701 2 87% 1
D.McFadden OAK 151 3 164 2 34.0% 5 38.1% 61 507 537 3 77% 1
D.Woodhead NE 151 4 133 6 53.8% 1 45.7% 44 379 471 1 77% 0
B.Jackson GB 150 5 131 7 39.8% 3 32.8% 50 342 511 1 86% 0
D.Sproles SD 146 6 155 4 21.9% 11 24.1% 75 520 592 2 79% 0
F.Jones DAL 135 7 123 9 34.3% 4 30.0% 53 460 479 1 92% 1
J.Charles KC 132 8 136 5 25.7% 8 27.1% 64 471 501 3 70% 1
P.Hillis CLE 126 9 115 10 15.9% 16 13.4% 77 477 563 2 79% 0
K.Moreno DEN 114 10 124 8 29.4% 7 33.2% 48 372 425 3 77% 0
M.Forte CHI 91 11 88 13 10.3% 21 9.6% 70 551 456 3 73% 3
M.Jones-Drew JAC 87 12 90 12 24.5% 9 26.0% 44 317 341 2 77% 0
A.Peterson MIN 87 13 75 17 17.6% 12 13.2% 50 341 372 1 72% 0
M.Bush OAK 83 14 86 14 47.8% 2 50.7% 25 218 266 0 76% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
R.Rice BAL 82 15 112 11 5.5% 25 12.5% 83 556 474 1 76% 0
M.Tolbert SD 76 16 83 15 32.3% 6 36.6% 30 229 275 0 87% 0
M.Reece OAK 72 17 77 16 16.8% 14 19.0% 43 333 317 3 58% 0
C.Williams TB 58 18 48 22 2.5% 28 -0.4% 64 355 376 1 72% 0
P.Thomas NO 56 19 48 21 17.0% 13 12.9% 30 201 245 0 100% 0
C.Buckhalter DEN 54 20 61 19 15.2% 18 18.9% 38 240 245 2 74% 0
A.Bradshaw NYG 51 21 48 23 4.0% 26 2.8% 59 316 312 0 81% 0
D.Brown IND 47 22 61 18 15.8% 17 24.8% 28 205 210 0 71% 0
M.Moore PIT 44 23 40 26 12.0% 20 9.7% 31 205 210 0 84% 0
J.Hester SD 43 24 53 20 13.3% 19 20.2% 26 145 200 1 85% 0
J.Best DET 41 25 18 36 -4.6% 36 -9.7% 80 487 399 2 73% 0
J.Snelling ATL 39 26 36 28 1.1% 31 -0.1% 51 303 268 3 86% 1
M.Morris DET 38 27 35 29 8.3% 24 6.3% 31 170 203 0 81% 0
R.Brown MIA 38 28 34 30 2.0% 29 0.6% 42 242 249 0 79% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
B.Leonard CIN 36 29 37 27 9.2% 22 9.7% 26 137 187 1 77% 0
R.Torain WAS 34 30 28 32 9.1% 23 5.0% 27 125 177 2 67% 0
S.Jackson STL 29 31 31 31 -5.6% 38 -4.9% 61 374 307 0 75% 0
F.Gore SF 27 32 43 24 -7.2% 39 -2.9% 72 452 339 2 64% 1
R.Bush NO 25 33 18 34 -3.2% 33 -6.1% 42 208 222 1 81% 0
J.Forsett SEA 25 34 14 39 -3.7% 34 -8.1% 51 252 230 0 65% 0
C.J.Spiller BUF 25 35 26 33 3.1% 27 3.8% 30 157 159 1 80% 0
C.Taylor CHI 21 36 18 35 1.5% 30 -0.5% 26 139 141 0 77% 0
R.Mendenhall PIT 20 37 11 40 -3.9% 35 -8.1% 34 167 184 0 68% 0
B.Westbrook SF 19 38 17 37 -0.1% 32 -1.3% 25 153 136 1 68% 0
R.Jennings JAC 15 39 42 25 -5.1% 37 11.1% 34 222 152 0 76% 0
C.Benson CIN 13 40 17 38 -7.8% 40 -5.7% 37 178 175 1 76% 0
M.Lynch 2TM 9 41 8 43 -8.0% 41 -8.8% 26 154 127 0 85% 2
M.Goodson CAR 6 42 8 42 -11.8% 42 -11.1% 57 310 228 0 70% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
R.Williams MIA 2 43 5 45 -12.7% 43 -10.9% 30 141 118 1 63% 0
L.McClain BAL 2 44 4 46 -12.8% 44 -11.4% 26 134 117 0 81% 0
M.Sellers WAS 1 45 3 47 -13.6% 45 -12.6% 40 224 172 0 50% 0
J.Addai IND -1 46 10 41 -14.6% 46 -6.7% 26 124 98 0 73% 0
K.Williams WAS -4 47 5 44 -15.1% 47 -12.1% 58 309 206 2 67% 1
R.Mathews SD -13 48 -12 48 -22.2% 49 -21.5% 26 145 81 0 85% 1
L.Betts NO -23 49 -16 49 -27.5% 50 -23.0% 31 141 68 0 74% 0
T.Gerhart MIN -27 50 -28 51 -31.5% 51 -31.7% 29 168 54 0 72% 2
L.Tomlinson NYJ -35 51 -17 50 -21.8% 48 -17.6% 79 366 243 0 66% 1
F.Jackson BUF -64 52 -84 53 -35.2% 52 -42.0% 54 215 82 2 57% 1
C.Johnson TEN -70 53 -47 52 -36.9% 53 -29.3% 57 245 72 1 77% 1
T.Hightower ARI -114 54 -122 54 -61.4% 54 -64.9% 42 136 -64 0 50% 1

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
I.Redman PIT 54 53 98.7% 97.5% 10 72 145 2 90% 0
K.Smith DET 50 45 38.4% 33.1% 16 123 171 0 69% 0
J.Kuhn GB 47 39 31.1% 23.5% 18 97 174 2 83% 0
O.Schmitt PHI 43 36 16.5% 11.3% 24 136 192 1 79% 0
B.Green-Ellis NE 32 26 18.3% 13.0% 16 85 135 0 75% 0
E.Graham TB 29 29 12.7% 12.3% 19 130 140 1 84% 0
J.Stewart CAR 28 25 21.8% 18.4% 14 103 113 1 57% 0
J.Harrison 2TM 23 17 20.1% 11.0% 13 85 94 0 92% 0
K.Faulk NE 22 10 26.3% 5.4% 10 62 83 0 60% 0
L.Washington SEA 21 13 14.6% 3.6% 13 79 95 0 69% 0
S.Greene NYJ 20 17 -0.6% -2.1% 24 120 146 0 67% 1
T.Jones KC 19 25 3.8% 9.0% 20 122 117 0 70% 0
C.Portis WAS 13 20 18.4% 35.7% 9 55 56 0 56% 0
O.Mughelli ATL 13 27 0.7% 17.8% 18 126 88 1 72% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
P.Cobbs MIA 12 9 -1.3% -4.8% 19 91 97 2 42% 0
A.Hall TEN 10 11 -4.7% -3.7% 20 100 103 0 75% 0
L.Stephens-Howling ARI 10 10 -6.0% -6.0% 22 106 115 0 68% 0
D.Williams CAR 8 3 -2.6% -9.4% 13 61 70 0 85% 0
T.Sutton CAR 8 14 -2.1% 6.8% 12 70 66 0 100% 0
S.Morris NE 8 5 -3.8% -6.9% 12 77 72 0 58% 0
V.Leach HOU 7 8 -6.9% -5.8% 15 91 82 0 53% 0
H.Evans NO 4 7 -9.0% -5.9% 11 41 68 1 64% 0
G.Jones JAC 3 2 -9.0% -10.8% 11 47 55 0 100% 0
B.Scott CIN 2 6 -10.6% -6.1% 13 60 58 0 85% 0
K.Darby STL 2 -1 -10.0% -15.1% 13 61 44 1 77% 0
M.Bell 2TM 1 -3 -11.7% -18.5% 10 66 42 0 70% 1
C.Gronkowski DAL 0 -6 -14.1% -21.5% 14 35 58 1 50% 0
D.Ward HOU -1 3 -15.9% -8.7% 11 61 37 0 64% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
B.Jacobs NYG -3 -5 -18.4% -20.3% 13 59 47 0 54% 0
J.Felton DET -4 -12 -18.9% -27.4% 15 54 52 0 53% 0
T.Fiammetta CAR -8 -2 -26.8% -16.6% 10 34 29 0 50% 0
L.Polite MIA -11 -21 -25.1% -36.1% 17 61 45 0 71% 0
T.Choice DAL -12 -14 -24.5% -26.0% 22 114 55 0 77% 1
J.James IND -15 -12 -35.9% -31.4% 11 63 17 0 82% 1
M.Turner ATL -16 -17 -28.4% -29.1% 20 85 45 0 60% 0
T.Castille KC -18 -16 -36.6% -34.7% 12 43 19 0 83% 0
A.Brown DET -19 -8 -35.8% -22.9% 13 45 22 0 62% 0
M.Barber DAL -27 -32 -47.9% -54.7% 15 49 1 0 73% 0
M.Robinson SEA -29 -33 -53.5% -58.1% 13 37 -8 0 62% 0
W.McGahee BAL -30 -33 -45.9% -48.8% 17 55 5 1 82% 0
J.Wright ARI -36 -35 -53.2% -51.8% 16 42 -9 0 50% 0
J.Jones NO -43 -46 -52.0% -54.5% 22 59 -8 0 77% 0