Innovative Statistics
Football Outsiders exclusive statistics

1994 NFL RUNNING BACK RATINGS

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 8/19/2012

Running backs are ranked according to DYAR, orDefense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement. This gives the value of theperformance on plays where this RB carried/caught the ball compared to replacement level, adjusted for situationand 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 representsvalue, per play, over an average running back in the same gamesituations. The more positive the DVOA rating, the better the player'sperformance. Negative DVOA represents below-average offense. DVOA (and its cousin, VOA, which isn't adjusted based onopponent) is further explainedhere.

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 perattempt figure. This provides an easy comparison: in general, playerswith more Effective Yards than standard yards played better than standardstats would otherwise indicate, while players with fewer Effective Yardsthan standard yards played worse than standard stats would otherwiseindicate. Effective Yards are not the best way to measure total valuebecause 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 runningplays. A player with higher DVOA and a low success rate mixes long runswith downs getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage. A player with lowerDVOA and a high success rate generally gets the yards needed, but doesn't oftenget 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 withadvanced stats through the most recent season.

RUSHING: Minimum 100 rushes, 39 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
E.Smith DAL 461 1 468 1 19.4% 1 20.0% 368 1,484 2,154 21 1 52% 6
B.Sanders DET 348 2 352 2 18.5% 2 18.4% 331 1,883 1,698 7 0 46% 19
C.Warren SEA 300 3 278 3 12.8% 6 12.3% 333 1,545 1,605 9 6 48% 15
N.Means SD 265 4 269 4 8.6% 8 9.4% 343 1,351 1,705 12 5 52% 5
C.Heyward ATL 211 5 200 5 17.1% 3 17.0% 182 779 998 7 4 53% 3
T.Thomas BUF 193 6 186 7 6.8% 10 6.9% 287 1,093 1,331 7 1 48% 14
M.Allen KC 170 7 156 8 9.0% 7 10.3% 189 713 949 7 3 51% 7
B.Morris PIT 166 8 189 6 13.0% 5 14.2% 199 843 1,001 7 3 52% 4
B.Foster PIT 152 9 141 11 7.6% 9 6.5% 215 845 1,051 5 0 50% 9
B.Parmalee MIA 142 10 141 10 6.4% 11 5.6% 216 868 1,095 6 4 55% 2
T.Allen MIN 133 11 151 9 4.5% 13 5.4% 256 1,032 1,153 8 3 45% 25
R.Harris CHI 128 12 122 12 16.9% 4 13.6% 123 464 700 1 1 59% 1
L.White HOIL 114 13 93 15 5.4% 12 3.4% 191 757 849 3 2 46% 20
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
R.Hampton NYG 100 14 72 18 -0.7% 21 -3.4% 324 1,071 1,367 6 0 43% 30
E.Rhett TB 91 15 102 13 -2.7% 22 -0.6% 283 1,005 1,222 7 2 49% 12
L.Tillman CHI 82 16 69 19 -0.5% 20 -2.6% 275 899 1,142 7 1 43% 31
L.Hoard CLE1 80 17 99 14 2.4% 14 3.1% 209 890 883 5 7 51% 8
Ma.Bates NO 76 18 74 17 2.0% 15 2.7% 150 576 678 6 3 47% 16
H.Walker PHI 74 19 65 20 1.4% 16 5.4% 113 528 480 5 4 49% 13
M.Faulk IND 61 20 90 16 -3.0% 24 -1.9% 314 1,282 1,292 11 5 44% 29
R.Cobb GB 59 21 54 22 0.9% 18 0.3% 153 579 623 3 1 44% 27
G.Brown HOIL 57 22 32 25 -0.2% 19 -4.2% 169 640 724 4 7 50% 10
L.Russell DEN 54 23 36 24 -3.0% 25 -4.5% 189 620 835 9 2 47% 17
G.Hill KC 53 24 64 21 1.4% 17 3.9% 141 574 528 1 1 44% 28
E.Bennett GB 45 25 48 23 -3.2% 26 -2.5% 178 623 750 5 1 45% 24
R.Ervins WAS 29 26 26 26 -2.8% 23 -5.1% 184 650 700 3 1 41% 34
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
J.Johnson NYJ 25 27 23 27 -6.2% 28 -6.3% 240 934 899 3 4 45% 21
Ron.Moore ARI 17 28 11 28 -5.0% 27 -7.4% 232 780 853 4 2 41% 35
R.Watters SF -1 29 -1 29 -8.9% 29 -8.7% 239 883 868 6 8 49% 11
L.Thompson NE -19 30 -19 32 -11.9% 33 -13.2% 102 312 335 2 1 38% 39
H.Williams LARD -23 31 -4 30 -11.5% 31 -8.9% 281 990 967 4 3 47% 18
C.Garner PHI -30 32 -7 31 -10.5% 30 -10.0% 109 397 399 3 3 45% 23
De.Brown NO -37 33 -31 33 -16.9% 35 -14.0% 146 493 422 3 4 42% 32
L.Centers ARI -46 34 -39 34 -17.2% 36 -16.5% 115 332 358 5 2 39% 37
E.Pegram ATL -51 35 -47 35 -20.7% 37 -19.5% 103 358 284 1 2 41% 33
M.Butts NE -57 36 -58 36 -11.9% 32 -13.9% 241 706 882 8 1 40% 36
Reg.Brooks WAS -79 37 -62 37 -25.2% 38 -22.2% 100 297 270 2 3 45% 22
J.Bettis LARM -101 38 -79 38 -16.3% 34 -14.2% 319 1,025 1,023 3 5 45% 26
D.Fenner CIN -108 39 -107 39 -26.4% 39 -26.9% 141 468 334 1 6 38% 38

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
J.L.Williams PIT 117 113 31.2% 29.0% 67 310 452 1 0
C.Gardner BUF 77 75 23.0% 23.3% 41 135 321 4 0
I.Spikes MIA 65 62 11.8% 11.3% 70 312 369 2 1
B.Mitchell WAS 62 56 10.1% 8.0% 79 311 395 0 0
K.Anders KC 50 39 9.4% 5.9% 62 231 307 2 0
V.Hebron PHI 46 48 5.5% 4.5% 82 325 399 2 0
M.Strong SEA 44 48 33.2% 38.1% 27 114 159 2 0
A.Murrell NYJ 44 41 21.6% 20.8% 33 160 189 0 0
M.Logan SF 42 40 20.8% 19.3% 33 143 190 1 0
D.Clark DEN 42 37 4.8% 4.6% 57 174 305 3 1
W.Floyd SF 40 42 -1.6% 0.6% 87 305 446 6 0
S.Smith SEA 39 37 18.2% 17.4% 26 80 183 2 0
G.Hearst ARI 30 42 16.8% 20.5% 37 169 186 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
De.Moore DET 27 19 8.5% 3.7% 27 52 176 4 0
B.Thomas DAL 24 26 4.9% 5.2% 43 137 201 2 0
C.Jones LARD 23 25 13.4% 15.8% 22 93 123 0 0
D.Johnston DAL 23 28 3.4% 5.3% 40 138 215 2 1
R.Harmon SD 19 17 5.7% 7.5% 25 94 116 1 0
R.Green CHI 16 12 6.8% 2.2% 25 122 120 0 1
S.Graham MIN 16 30 -1.3% 2.3% 63 206 267 2 0
T.Kirby MIA 16 11 -2.3% -4.4% 60 233 266 2 2
R.Anderson NYJ 13 12 -0.6% -1.9% 43 207 181 1 1
A.Lee MIN 13 12 -1.3% -0.1% 29 104 137 0 0
R.Potts IND 13 23 -3.9% -2.2% 77 340 343 1 4
T.Rathman LARD 13 14 2.7% 3.3% 28 118 123 0 0
J.Cothran CIN 7 6 -2.7% -3.1% 26 85 100 0 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
A.McDowell TB 7 7 -4.3% -2.1% 21 58 99 0 0
R.Smith MIN 6 9 -3.9% -1.7% 31 106 117 1 0
B.Baxter NYJ 6 7 -6.7% -6.4% 60 170 275 4 0
E.Bieniemy SD 5 11 -6.9% -4.4% 73 295 244 0 1
K.Davis BUF 4 6 -6.6% -6.8% 91 381 313 2 2
D.Bennett KC 3 5 -7.1% -6.0% 46 178 172 2 2
S.Broussard CIN -5 -1 -9.9% -8.7% 94 403 302 2 4
D.Meggett NYG -5 5 -15.0% -7.2% 91 295 279 4 2
G.Milburn DEN -6 -15 -14.0% -16.3% 57 200 154 1 1
D.Loville SF -8 -3 -17.5% -11.3% 31 99 91 0 0
H.Green CIN -8 -22 -12.0% -15.7% 76 223 244 1 1
R.Baldwin CLE1 -13 -13 -24.6% -25.1% 22 69 49 0 0
LeShon.Johnson GB -18 -17 -30.6% -26.6% 26 99 46 0 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
L.Neal NO -20 -15 -24.2% -18.5% 30 90 93 1 1
E.Byner CLE1 -20 -18 -14.8% -13.8% 75 219 256 2 0
J.Joseph PHI -21 -14 -13.9% -13.5% 60 203 214 1 1
S.Gash NE -26 -25 -21.8% -28.7% 30 81 80 0 1
E.Metcalf CLE1 -29 -25 -18.8% -16.0% 93 329 233 2 1
V.Workman TB -32 -20 -19.5% -14.7% 79 290 219 0 2
J.Vaughn SEA -34 -37 -36.1% -42.2% 27 96 46 1 3
M.Higgs ARI -40 -27 -24.6% -20.1% 62 195 140 0 1
T.Montgomery LARD -41 -35 -34.0% -31.3% 36 97 69 0 1
L.Coleman DAL -50 -50 -21.6% -27.0% 64 189 175 1 2
K.Turner NE -58 -60 -38.9% -41.0% 36 108 68 1 4
R.Rivers DEN -76 -79 -41.8% -44.7% 43 83 70 2 1

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 57 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.Watters SF 239 1 266 1 34.2% 2 39.6% 89 719 850 5 74%
L.Centers ARI 202 2 202 2 25.5% 8 25.4% 96 647 786 2 80%
K.Byars MIA 187 3 157 4 36.1% 1 27.9% 65 418 655 5 75%
R.Harmon SD 187 4 170 3 28.1% 4 24.3% 89 615 708 1 65%
K.Turner NE 151 5 148 6 18.6% 11 17.8% 74 466 646 2 70%
E.Bennett GB 140 6 148 5 11.9% 16 13.3% 97 546 681 4 80%
A.Lee MIN 122 7 124 7 26.8% 7 27.5% 55 368 466 2 82%
De.Brown NO 112 8 120 8 21.6% 10 24.2% 57 428 457 1 77%
M.Faulk IND 96 9 96 11 11.3% 17 11.2% 74 522 472 1 70%
C.Heyward ATL 95 10 104 10 28.1% 5 32.2% 39 335 357 1 82%
J.Bailey LARM 92 11 115 9 14.3% 13 21.4% 66 508 424 0 88%
L.Thompson NE 87 12 68 16 3.5% 23 -0.1% 87 465 535 5 75%
L.Hoard CLE1 78 13 72 15 6.1% 21 4.6% 67 445 440 4 67%
D.Meggett NYG 74 14 72 13 23.4% 9 22.8% 40 293 293 0 80%
J.Joseph PHI 72 15 60 20 9.6% 20 5.5% 60 344 371 2 72%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
G.Milburn DEN 72 16 60 21 -2.0% 31 -4.0% 108 549 581 3 71%
B.Parmalee MIA 68 17 37 32 10.4% 19 -0.7% 50 249 340 1 68%
J.Bettis LARM 67 18 78 12 12.3% 15 16.5% 46 293 323 1 67%
A.Craver MIA 67 19 67 17 29.6% 3 29.3% 27 237 249 0 89%
H.Green CIN 61 20 57 23 11.1% 18 9.7% 41 267 300 1 66%
T.Thomas BUF 58 21 29 35 -0.7% 29 -7.3% 71 349 435 2 70%
B.Morris PIT 55 22 59 22 27.9% 6 31.1% 25 204 208 0 88%
R.Anderson NYJ 52 23 62 18 13.4% 14 19.0% 33 212 242 1 76%
H.Williams LARD 49 24 60 19 0.7% 25 3.8% 63 391 344 3 75%
K.Anders KC 49 25 72 14 -4.6% 34 -0.3% 93 525 482 1 72%
G.Brown HOIL 46 26 39 29 17.5% 12 12.5% 30 194 200 1 60%
D.Johnston DAL 43 27 48 24 -1.6% 30 -0.2% 60 328 342 2 73%
J.Johnson NYJ 43 28 47 25 -0.3% 28 1.1% 56 303 316 2 75%
R.Potts IND 38 29 32 33 2.2% 24 -0.3% 42 251 249 1 62%
L.Tillman CHI 37 30 37 30 3.7% 22 3.8% 39 222 228 0 69%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
R.Cobb GB 37 31 19 36 -0.3% 27 -6.8% 51 299 271 1 69%
H.Walker PHI 36 32 45 26 -5.6% 35 -3.7% 81 500 389 2 62%
E.Smith DAL 34 33 39 28 -3.1% 32 -1.7% 60 341 301 1 83%
N.Means SD 32 34 42 27 0.4% 26 4.7% 43 235 229 0 91%
J.L.Williams PIT 30 35 32 34 -5.6% 36 -4.9% 68 378 318 2 75%
M.Allen KC 25 36 37 31 -6.4% 37 -3.1% 60 349 298 0 70%
H.Griffith LARM 14 37 16 38 -4.6% 33 -3.7% 26 113 139 1 62%
A.McDowell TB 12 38 13 39 -8.7% 38 -8.3% 41 193 188 1 71%
J.Saxon MIA 7 39 -10 48 -10.5% 39 -18.8% 35 151 163 0 77%
R.Green CHI 3 40 0 42 -12.1% 40 -13.8% 33 199 138 2 73%
W.Floyd SF 0 41 16 37 -13.8% 41 -3.5% 26 145 113 0 73%
M.Logan SF -1 42 -6 46 -14.2% 42 -17.4% 25 97 111 1 64%
E.Metcalf CLE1 -3 43 -20 51 -14.5% 43 -17.8% 84 436 346 3 56%
D.Fenner CIN -3 44 4 40 -15.0% 44 -12.6% 50 276 206 1 72%
R.Rivers DEN -5 45 1 41 -17.8% 49 -13.4% 26 136 88 0 77%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
T.Rathman LARD -6 46 -4 45 -16.6% 45 -15.6% 43 194 139 0 60%
S.Broussard CIN -7 47 -11 49 -16.6% 46 -18.2% 47 218 163 0 72%
T.Allen MIN -8 48 -1 43 -18.8% 51 -14.3% 30 148 95 0 57%
B.Foster PIT -10 49 -8 47 -19.8% 52 -18.6% 28 124 97 0 71%
R.Ervins WAS -10 50 -16 50 -16.7% 47 -18.2% 67 293 229 1 76%
B.Sanders DET -13 51 -37 54 -17.6% 48 -24.6% 65 283 220 1 68%
C.Warren SEA -14 52 -2 44 -18.8% 50 -14.6% 60 323 171 2 68%
E.Rhett TB -22 53 -23 52 -26.5% 54 -26.6% 31 127 80 0 74%
R.Harris CHI -30 54 -32 53 -22.7% 53 -23.4% 56 236 177 0 70%
L.Russell DEN -51 55 -52 55 -31.8% 55 -32.2% 50 227 98 0 76%
L.White HOIL -58 56 -53 56 -39.7% 57 -37.5% 42 188 33 1 50%
B.Mitchell WAS -65 57 -68 57 -35.3% 56 -36.6% 53 237 82 1 49%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
T.Kirby MIA 57 47 55.6% 43.2% 19 154 177 0 74%
T.Vardell CLE1 52 48 31.7% 28.1% 19 137 191 1 84%
S.Smith SEA 40 44 22.5% 25.7% 17 142 162 1 65%
R.Bernstine DEN 32 31 35.0% 32.7% 11 70 115 0 82%
K.Rasheed NYG 32 42 29.0% 42.3% 13 97 119 0 77%
LeShon.Johnson GB 31 36 17.9% 23.7% 20 168 133 0 65%
R.Smith MIN 28 26 14.7% 12.1% 19 105 128 0 79%
B.Muster NO 25 36 22.6% 38.0% 11 88 101 0 91%
T.Montgomery LARD 24 25 30.5% 32.7% 10 126 88 1 80%
Ron.Moore ARI 20 19 13.8% 12.4% 11 52 93 1 73%
C.Garner PHI 18 18 9.8% 10.0% 13 74 90 0 62%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
E.Byner CLE1 15 14 7.7% 6.6% 15 102 81 0 73%
Ced.Smith WAS 14 15 -1.7% -0.8% 22 119 112 1 68%
C.Gardner BUF 13 7 3.7% -5.0% 14 90 81 0 79%
R.Hampton NYG 8 8 -6.7% -7.1% 20 103 96 0 70%
D.Bennett KC 6 2 -5.3% -10.5% 11 53 60 0 64%
Y.Jourdain BUF 4 -1 -6.3% -16.5% 10 56 49 0 100%
Tr.Johnson SEA 2 16 -12.0% 2.8% 15 91 71 0 67%
D.Ned NO 0 5 -13.5% -7.9% 17 86 62 0 76%
S.Gash NE -1 -3 -14.7% -18.0% 13 61 57 0 69%
V.Hebron PHI -1 5 -14.5% -10.1% 22 108 95 0 77%
V.Workman TB -11 -11 -25.0% -25.5% 20 82 47 0 55%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
M.Butts NE -12 -14 -27.4% -30.6% 14 54 37 0 64%
M.Hoge CHI -13 -15 -23.1% -24.8% 23 79 71 0 57%
B.Baxter NYJ -16 -17 -37.2% -38.6% 11 40 16 0 91%
E.Pegram ATL -17 -16 -30.2% -29.7% 20 99 38 0 80%
M.Royster TB -17 -16 -42.3% -39.5% 11 36 8 0 64%
A.Johnson NYJ -20 -19 -46.6% -44.5% 10 31 2 0 50%
K.Davis BUF -24 -26 -33.1% -35.2% 23 82 39 0 78%
G.Hill KC -26 -13 -36.3% -25.0% 22 92 30 0 73%
D.Lang LARM -28 -22 -46.4% -39.3% 15 60 4 0 53%
Reg.Brooks WAS -32 -32 -41.7% -41.3% 21 68 16 0 62%
T.McNair HOIL -33 -26 -45.2% -38.5% 19 78 7 0 42%