Innovative Statistics
Football Outsiders exclusive statistics

2003 NFL RUNNING BACK RATINGS

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 8/31/2012

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 with advanced stats through the most recent season.

RUSHING: Minimum 100 rushes, 45 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
P.Holmes KC 485 1 432 1 25.1% 3 21.6% 320 1,420 2,021 27 1 58% 1
L.Tomlinson SD 365 2 326 4 20.5% 4 17.5% 313 1,645 1,674 13 2 44% 32
A.Green GB 365 3 362 3 15.8% 6 15.7% 355 1,886 1,880 15 7 50% 9
C.Portis DEN 328 4 374 2 17.9% 5 21.8% 290 1,591 1,596 14 3 53% 3
J.Lewis BAL 292 5 294 5 9.9% 10 10.2% 388 2,066 1,829 15 9 46% 21
Sh.Alexander SEA 202 6 206 6 5.7% 16 6.2% 326 1,434 1,538 14 4 48% 12
O.Smith MIN 171 7 169 8 30.9% 1 30.8% 107 579 648 5 1 57% 2
E.James IND 170 8 149 12 3.4% 20 2.1% 309 1,260 1,495 11 5 51% 7
S.Davis CAR 163 9 203 7 4.1% 19 7.3% 318 1,444 1,373 8 3 47% 19
C.Martin NYJ 158 10 96 18 4.2% 18 -0.7% 323 1,309 1,329 2 2 45% 23
K.Barlow SF 158 11 155 11 11.1% 8 11.0% 201 1,025 944 6 4 50% 8
B.Westbrook PHI 150 12 139 13 25.9% 2 23.5% 116 605 621 7 0 45% 27
D.McAllister NO 145 13 136 14 1.6% 21 1.2% 351 1,632 1,462 8 6 41% 38
R.Johnson CIN 138 14 163 10 6.6% 14 9.4% 214 967 1,013 9 0 51% 6
M.Williams MIN 133 15 107 17 9.7% 11 6.3% 174 747 839 5 2 48% 14
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
F.Taylor JAC 131 16 169 9 0.6% 23 3.4% 345 1,574 1,443 6 5 48% 16
G.Hearst SF 120 17 71 25 8.4% 12 1.6% 178 768 806 3 2 44% 30
T.J.Duckett ATL 116 18 116 15 5.1% 17 5.2% 197 784 914 11 3 47% 18
C.Garner OAK 100 19 91 19 13.1% 7 11.3% 120 553 559 3 1 44% 31
R.Cartwright WAS 100 20 68 26 10.1% 9 4.3% 107 411 620 4 1 52% 5
T.Wheatley OAK 96 21 108 16 6.3% 15 8.5% 159 678 705 4 2 50% 10
M.Faulk STL 83 22 81 22 0.5% 24 0.5% 209 818 914 10 0 45% 25
W.Dunn ATL 80 23 85 20 7.9% 13 8.9% 125 668 549 3 1 42% 37
A.Thomas CHI 71 24 83 21 -1.7% 25 -0.5% 244 1,024 1,008 6 1 45% 28
C.Buckhalter PHI 54 25 60 27 1.4% 22 2.7% 126 543 554 8 3 48% 15
M.Pittman TB 45 26 53 28 -2.4% 27 -1.5% 186 748 721 0 2 49% 11
D.Davis HOU 40 27 74 24 -4.4% 29 -0.6% 238 1,032 882 8 2 41% 39
T.Canidate WAS 38 28 47 29 -1.8% 26 -0.3% 142 597 559 1 1 44% 33
T.Henry BUF 38 29 78 23 -5.8% 30 -2.8% 332 1,363 1,242 10 8 45% 26
C.Dillon CIN 32 30 16 32 -3.0% 28 -5.8% 138 541 552 2 0 43% 36
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
S.Bryson DET 10 31 -8 36 -7.0% 31 -9.7% 158 610 569 3 3 41% 40
J.Jackson CLE 5 32 0 34 -7.6% 32 -8.6% 102 379 422 3 3 53% 4
T.Barber NYG 4 33 28 30 -8.2% 33 -6.0% 278 1,217 996 2 7 47% 17
A.Smith NE -2 34 -5 35 -8.7% 34 -9.1% 182 642 672 3 0 45% 24
O.Gary DET -10 35 -21 37 -10.8% 35 -13.1% 113 383 372 2 1 38% 44
T.Jones TB -14 36 21 31 -11.0% 36 -4.7% 137 628 466 3 3 45% 29
W.Green CLE -21 37 -30 38 -12.2% 38 -13.8% 142 559 464 1 5 46% 20
J.Bettis PIT -31 38 0 33 -11.6% 37 -8.5% 246 811 852 7 4 48% 13
K.Faulk NE -39 39 -34 39 -14.2% 41 -13.3% 178 643 529 0 3 46% 22
M.Shipp ARI -40 40 -56 40 -13.0% 39 -14.7% 226 832 712 0 3 43% 35
E.George TEN -73 41 -56 41 -14.4% 42 -12.9% 312 1,031 959 5 0 39% 41
D.Foster CAR -73 42 -75 44 -24.7% 45 -24.7% 113 429 270 0 2 36% 45
R.Williams MIA -75 43 -87 45 -13.4% 40 -14.0% 392 1,371 1,217 9 4 39% 43
A.Zereoue PIT -81 44 -67 43 -23.3% 44 -20.5% 132 433 344 2 0 39% 42
T.Hambrick DAL -90 45 -56 42 -15.9% 43 -13.0% 275 971 904 5 4 44% 34

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
D.Staley PHI 124 126 23.4% 24.2% 96 463 536 5 1
J.Griffith ATL 63 60 30.8% 28.5% 38 168 241 0 0
M.Bennett MIN 61 49 7.9% 4.9% 90 447 415 1 2
M.Cloud NE 60 51 33.9% 28.1% 27 118 217 5 0
T.Minor MIA 59 52 25.7% 21.7% 41 193 246 1 0
M.Strong SEA 57 57 21.1% 21.5% 37 174 256 1 1
B.Forsey CHI 52 38 15.1% 8.7% 50 191 273 2 0
R.Anderson DAL 47 47 9.2% 9.3% 70 306 306 1 0
L.Suggs CLE 39 38 8.5% 8.1% 56 289 261 2 2
T.Fisher GB 35 34 17.4% 17.0% 40 200 175 1 0
M.Morris SEA 35 34 17.1% 16.7% 38 239 174 0 1
C.Fuamatu-Ma'afala JAC 34 26 10.6% 5.8% 35 144 210 1 0
D.Blaylock KC 30 30 20.8% 20.6% 22 112 137 2 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
C.Morton WAS 29 17 7.2% 0.6% 47 213 207 0 0
S.Pritchett CHI 28 30 18.9% 19.8% 21 93 136 2 0
L.Jordan NYJ 26 33 2.9% 5.8% 46 190 241 4 0
L.Gordon STL 26 36 -0.2% 3.3% 71 298 305 1 1
L.Johnson KC 23 19 19.7% 14.4% 20 85 107 1 0
A.Murrell DAL 16 14 6.3% 4.6% 28 107 119 0 0
Z.Crockett OAK 16 12 -3.2% -4.3% 48 145 279 7 1
N.Davenport GB 16 9 -3.7% -5.8% 77 412 310 2 4
J.Fargas OAK 13 25 -0.1% 8.3% 39 196 150 0 1
L.Toefield JAC 12 14 -3.3% -2.3% 53 212 213 2 0
J.Robertson SF 8 8 -1.5% -1.3% 32 136 115 0 0
J.White CLE 5 -3 -6.7% -9.6% 70 276 252 1 1
A.Peterson CHI 3 0 -5.4% -8.9% 22 70 81 0 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
A.Cason DAL 0 2 -8.8% -6.5% 40 220 116 2 1
L.Betts WAS -1 9 -8.8% -5.7% 77 255 282 2 0
D.Rhodes IND -1 10 -9.5% -1.4% 37 157 122 0 0
J.Mungro IND -4 -5 -12.2% -13.0% 24 60 92 2 0
M.Alstott TB -7 4 -13.6% -5.7% 27 77 112 2 0
T.Richardson KC -8 -11 -16.1% -19.5% 24 59 74 0 0
R.Williams IND -11 -15 -14.0% -15.8% 48 155 156 2 1
L.Centers NE -11 -8 -22.0% -17.3% 21 82 52 0 0
C.Taylor BAL -11 9 -13.1% -4.4% 63 276 195 2 1
A.Harris STL -13 -35 -12.3% -18.5% 85 252 279 4 1
A.Stecker TB -14 -11 -19.4% -16.9% 37 125 92 0 0
R.Smart CAR -15 -18 -26.1% -30.0% 20 49 49 0 0
V.Haynes PIT -27 -34 -49.4% -58.0% 20 63 13 0 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
S.Mack HOU -30 -47 -16.8% -21.0% 93 253 270 4 1
D.Levens NYG -31 -12 -18.6% -12.4% 68 197 219 3 0
B.Bennett CIN -38 -45 -24.8% -27.7% 56 173 138 0 1
M.Anderson DEN -39 -24 -20.4% -15.8% 70 257 221 3 2
T.Hollings HOU -44 -53 -41.9% -48.6% 38 102 42 0 1
J.Burns BUF -45 -46 -38.1% -38.6% 39 113 58 0 1
C.Brown TEN -46 -53 -27.8% -30.8% 56 221 129 1 1
Q.Griffin DEN -53 -54 -22.8% -22.8% 94 354 235 0 3
A.Pinner DET -55 -50 -41.4% -38.1% 39 99 55 0 0
E.Smith ARI -57 -78 -24.0% -29.4% 90 244 228 2 2
R.Holcombe TEN -60 -70 -35.2% -39.1% 63 204 97 1 2

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 51 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
M.Williams MIN 246 1 252 1 37.1% 4 38.3% 85 616 853 2 76%
P.Holmes KC 233 2 250 2 31.2% 6 34.3% 90 690 852 0 82%
J.Sowell NYJ 161 3 161 3 27.6% 7 27.6% 60 436 612 1 78%
B.Westbrook PHI 153 4 145 4 40.3% 2 37.6% 49 340 516 4 78%
D.McAllister NO 140 5 125 7 16.8% 13 13.4% 86 511 617 0 80%
D.Staley PHI 139 6 138 6 35.8% 5 35.5% 48 376 486 2 77%
A.Green GB 134 7 138 5 26.4% 9 27.9% 60 366 513 5 83%
R.Anderson DAL 117 8 107 9 10.3% 16 8.2% 87 493 591 4 79%
K.Faulk NE 111 9 111 8 15.7% 14 15.8% 66 434 497 0 73%
T.Fisher GB 95 10 95 10 68.3% 1 67.9% 25 206 279 2 84%
W.Henderson GB 87 11 87 11 27.1% 8 26.9% 34 214 332 3 71%
C.Morton WAS 74 12 66 13 40.1% 3 34.2% 27 190 250 1 59%
L.Tomlinson SD 63 13 55 15 -4.8% 29 -6.0% 137 725 633 4 73%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
M.Strong SEA 60 14 62 14 22.3% 10 23.3% 33 216 242 0 88%
K.Barlow SF 54 15 74 12 8.6% 17 17.2% 44 307 282 1 80%
B.Bennett CIN 47 16 42 18 20.3% 11 16.2% 32 176 195 1 78%
R.Williams IND 46 17 25 25 14.5% 15 1.4% 29 157 210 1 76%
W.Dunn ATL 41 18 41 19 1.3% 23 1.2% 52 336 277 2 71%
C.Schlesinger DET 39 19 35 22 -0.2% 25 -1.8% 49 247 287 2 69%
Sh.Alexander SEA 39 20 54 17 -2.5% 27 1.8% 59 295 327 2 71%
R.Holcombe TEN 38 21 23 29 17.8% 12 5.2% 25 121 162 1 76%
G.Hearst SF 37 22 22 30 5.2% 19 -2.7% 38 211 216 1 66%
A.Zereoue PIT 35 23 55 16 -0.4% 26 7.1% 52 317 259 0 79%
J.Ritchie PHI 32 24 24 26 4.1% 20 -0.6% 26 86 193 3 65%
F.Beasley SF 32 25 34 23 5.7% 18 7.0% 28 184 181 1 68%
J.Lewis BAL 31 26 39 20 1.1% 24 5.2% 38 205 211 0 68%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
T.Barber NYG 24 27 13 35 -9.3% 35 -11.3% 98 473 453 1 70%
C.Garner OAK 23 28 36 21 -7.6% 31 -4.0% 69 386 310 1 70%
F.Taylor JAC 22 29 25 24 -8.4% 33 -7.8% 73 370 341 1 66%
R.Cartwright WAS 22 30 16 32 3.2% 21 -1.3% 27 176 136 0 67%
M.Edwards JAC 20 31 23 28 -5.8% 30 -4.5% 43 226 221 0 72%
C.Taylor BAL 20 32 16 33 1.6% 22 -1.3% 27 132 132 0 74%
T.Jones TB 19 33 13 36 -2.7% 28 -6.4% 31 180 162 0 77%
D.Davis HOU 17 34 24 27 -9.0% 34 -7.0% 67 351 281 0 70%
D.Foster CAR 11 35 14 34 -8.2% 32 -6.5% 35 207 161 2 74%
E.George TEN 4 36 -8 41 -11.3% 36 -18.7% 31 163 125 0 71%
C.Portis DEN 1 37 19 31 -13.4% 37 -7.3% 51 314 209 0 75%
J.Cook TB -5 38 -13 44 -16.7% 40 -20.5% 30 120 125 1 67%
R.Williams MIA -5 39 -11 43 -15.5% 38 -17.3% 62 354 217 1 81%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
C.Martin NYJ -7 40 -21 45 -16.1% 39 -21.3% 53 262 191 0 79%
L.Centers NE -7 41 -26 46 -17.3% 41 -27.1% 34 106 126 1 56%
M.Shipp ARI -9 42 -1 37 -18.5% 44 -14.6% 37 184 114 0 81%
J.Griffith ATL -9 43 -5 39 -18.2% 43 -16.6% 34 122 123 2 62%
M.Faulk STL -13 44 -3 38 -17.9% 42 -14.8% 61 290 207 1 74%
J.White CLE -18 45 -8 42 -18.8% 45 -16.1% 69 303 221 1 67%
T.Henry BUF -18 46 -6 40 -22.2% 48 -16.5% 40 158 119 1 70%
E.James IND -27 47 -28 47 -20.9% 46 -21.3% 71 292 216 0 72%
S.Pritchett CHI -32 48 -30 48 -34.0% 50 -32.8% 27 83 47 0 67%
M.Pittman TB -50 49 -43 50 -21.6% 47 -20.6% 120 596 358 2 63%
S.Bryson DET -53 50 -43 49 -28.4% 49 -25.5% 72 340 152 0 75%
L.Neal SD -63 51 -64 51 -57.8% 51 -58.7% 25 62 -28 0 64%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
R.Konrad MIA 89 89 59.2% 59.3% 19 166 271 0 84%
R.Droughns DEN 72 69 80.6% 77.3% 12 87 203 2 75%
S.Davis CAR 66 77 57.8% 69.7% 17 159 202 0 82%
L.Toefield JAC 61 55 56.4% 49.7% 16 105 188 1 88%
C.Buckhalter PHI 54 52 46.3% 44.2% 14 133 176 1 71%
L.Betts WAS 53 53 30.4% 30.0% 23 167 196 0 65%
M.Bennett MIN 49 49 57.1% 56.8% 14 132 152 0 86%
N.Goings CAR 44 53 32.7% 41.2% 14 97 160 1 86%
R.Johnson CIN 38 44 16.5% 21.4% 23 146 168 0 91%
O.Smith MIN 36 39 16.3% 18.2% 20 129 161 0 75%
M.Alstott TB 32 33 32.5% 33.3% 12 83 115 0 83%
T.J.Duckett ATL 30 27 32.2% 27.9% 13 94 110 0 85%
T.Wheatley OAK 28 29 17.9% 19.1% 18 120 120 0 67%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
L.Jordan NYJ 27 24 25.7% 21.6% 13 101 103 0 85%
J.Jackson CLE 26 28 13.1% 15.2% 18 114 121 0 78%
Q.Griffin DEN 26 26 25.4% 26.3% 11 61 100 0 73%
D.Blaylock KC 23 20 4.7% 2.8% 22 181 135 1 68%
J.Finn NYG 22 7 6.8% -7.5% 19 88 124 0 68%
A.Cason DAL 22 7 11.5% -5.3% 20 142 108 0 85%
T.Richardson KC 21 10 10.4% -2.8% 16 76 106 0 75%
B.Johnson WAS 21 16 15.6% 9.2% 12 71 93 0 75%
E.Smith ARI 16 15 2.0% 0.3% 19 107 108 0 74%
M.Anderson DEN 8 10 -4.7% -2.8% 15 53 82 2 80%
C.Dillon CIN 8 7 -5.2% -6.0% 18 71 84 0 61%
T.Canidate WAS 5 3 -7.9% -10.4% 15 71 71 1 67%
J.Johnson CIN 3 1 -11.4% -13.3% 20 82 100 1 75%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
A.Stecker TB -1 9 -14.8% 0.6% 12 48 43 1 75%
S.Gash BUF -2 4 -15.9% -8.9% 13 83 52 0 85%
N.Davenport GB -3 -9 -18.8% -28.2% 10 38 38 0 60%
T.Hambrick DAL -5 -11 -18.4% -24.0% 24 99 70 0 71%
Z.Crockett OAK -6 -3 -23.4% -19.6% 12 53 30 0 58%
S.Morris BUF -7 3 -23.0% -9.3% 17 100 41 0 82%
T.Smith NO -8 -18 -28.9% -47.5% 10 28 22 0 60%
A.Smith NE -9 -5 -25.6% -20.2% 16 92 36 0 88%
A.Ricard BAL -12 -11 -27.3% -26.0% 15 62 39 0 60%
B.Hoover CAR -12 -8 -24.6% -21.0% 20 72 55 1 60%
A.Harris STL -13 -5 -25.5% -18.1% 19 102 51 0 79%
D.Anderson ARI -13 -11 -30.8% -28.2% 12 36 27 0 50%
V.Haynes PIT -13 -19 -39.7% -49.8% 10 57 9 0 70%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
M.Norris HOU -15 -14 -36.9% -35.5% 10 40 16 0 70%
L.Gordon STL -16 -8 -36.6% -26.0% 13 59 17 0 62%
D.Kreider PIT -17 -16 -26.0% -25.7% 24 107 64 0 38%
S.Mack HOU -17 -13 -39.3% -32.3% 12 55 13 0 75%
W.Green CLE -18 -14 -34.3% -30.0% 14 50 26 0 71%
A.Thomas CHI -26 -22 -54.0% -47.6% 14 36 -8 0 64%
J.Hodgins ARI -27 -30 -36.2% -39.0% 19 58 31 2 74%
O.Ayanbadejo MIA -34 -36 -58.2% -61.6% 13 53 -15 0 92%
J.Bettis PIT -35 -28 -44.6% -38.6% 22 86 9 0 59%
O.Gary DET -40 -36 -46.9% -43.6% 22 69 4 0 59%