Innovative Statistics
Football Outsiders exclusive statistics

2014 NFL RUNNING BACK RATINGS

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 3/29/2015

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, 43 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
D.Murray DAL 382 1 369 1 14.8% 5 14.0% 392 1,849 2,025 13 3 54% 3
M.Lynch SEA 359 2 307 2 23.1% 1 18.5% 280 1,310 1,561 14 1 53% 5
J.Charles KC 249 3 212 7 19.9% 2 15.7% 205 1,045 1,157 9 4 54% 2
L.Miller MIA 246 4 239 4 17.8% 3 17.1% 216 1,099 1,202 8 2 57% 1
L.Bell PIT 205 5 283 3 8.6% 9 15.2% 290 1,361 1,354 8 0 51% 9
J.Hill CIN 204 6 231 5 12.6% 6 15.4% 222 1,127 1,156 9 4 54% 4
C.J.Anderson DEN 196 7 215 6 17.5% 4 20.0% 179 849 965 8 0 51% 10
E.Lacy GB 189 8 159 10 9.8% 8 6.9% 246 1,139 1,189 10 3 48% 15
A.Foster HOU 167 9 159 9 7.5% 10 6.7% 260 1,246 1,166 8 2 46% 21
F.Gore SF 154 10 118 12 6.3% 13 2.8% 255 1,106 1,138 4 2 50% 11
J.Forsett BAL 149 11 207 8 6.7% 12 12.6% 234 1,267 1,083 8 1 44% 29
M.Forte CHI 113 12 112 13 0.9% 18 0.8% 265 1,039 1,210 6 1 50% 12
R.Jennings NYG 112 13 75 17 7.0% 11 1.9% 167 639 797 4 0 47% 16
M.Ingram NO 108 14 129 11 2.7% 14 4.9% 226 964 996 9 1 50% 13
L.McCoy PHI 87 15 93 14 -1.6% 24 -1.2% 310 1,317 1,219 5 3 45% 22
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
J.McKinnon MIN 82 16 72 18 11.5% 7 9.2% 113 538 482 0 0 42% 34
A.Morris WAS 77 17 77 15 -1.4% 23 -1.5% 265 1,079 1,058 8 2 46% 18
J.Stewart CAR 72 18 71 19 1.3% 16 1.2% 175 810 745 3 2 51% 7
S.Jackson ATL 70 19 66 20 -0.3% 19 -0.7% 189 708 834 6 0 51% 8
M.Asiata MIN 69 20 75 16 1.0% 17 1.9% 164 570 730 9 1 52% 6
C.Ivory NYJ 69 21 60 21 -0.6% 20 -1.7% 198 823 854 6 2 44% 25
L.Blount 2TM 56 22 54 22 1.6% 15 1.3% 125 547 562 5 1 46% 19
T.Mason STL 55 23 10 31 -0.9% 21 -7.1% 179 765 696 4 2 44% 30
R.Hillman DEN 31 24 10 32 -1.4% 22 -6.4% 106 434 426 3 1 43% 31
I.Crowell CLE 30 25 43 23 -3.6% 25 -1.3% 148 609 559 8 3 44% 28
B.Sankey TEN 24 26 34 25 -4.5% 26 -2.8% 152 575 555 2 2 44% 27
F.Jackson BUF 23 27 26 28 -4.7% 27 -4.2% 141 525 546 2 0 46% 20
T.West CLE 21 28 39 24 -5.7% 29 -3.2% 171 673 656 4 1 47% 17
B.Oliver SD 20 29 24 29 -5.5% 28 -4.9% 160 582 594 3 0 44% 26
C.Johnson NYJ 16 30 31 26 -6.0% 30 -3.6% 155 663 559 1 1 45% 24
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
A.Dixon BUF 4 31 19 30 -7.7% 31 -4.1% 105 432 362 2 1 49% 14
G.Bernard CIN 3 32 8 33 -8.1% 32 -7.4% 168 680 601 5 0 39% 38
D.Robinson JAC 3 33 31 27 -8.1% 33 -2.8% 135 583 464 4 2 38% 40
D.Martin TB -21 34 5 34 -12.9% 36 -7.5% 134 494 397 2 0 36% 43
A.Williams NYG -24 35 -54 40 -11.4% 34 -14.8% 217 721 705 7 1 38% 39
A.Ellington ARI -29 36 -87 43 -12.3% 35 -19.9% 200 669 616 3 2 39% 37
D.McFadden OAK -33 37 -40 38 -13.9% 37 -15.1% 156 534 472 2 1 40% 35
T.Gerhart JAC -35 38 -27 36 -16.1% 39 -14.4% 101 326 345 2 1 43% 33
B.Tate 2TM -38 39 -29 37 -16.8% 40 -15.0% 119 371 333 4 0 36% 42
K.Davis KC -50 40 -70 42 -17.7% 42 -21.6% 134 478 386 6 3 37% 41
T.Richardson IND -59 41 -46 39 -17.7% 41 -15.7% 159 520 462 3 2 43% 32
J.Bell DET -59 42 -19 35 -14.9% 38 -10.6% 223 861 707 7 5 45% 23
A.Blue HOU -88 43 -60 41 -21.3% 43 -17.4% 169 528 449 3 0 39% 36

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
J.Gray NE 152 152 29.1% 29.3% 89 412 593 5 0
D.Sproles PHI 86 87 30.4% 30.7% 56 318 329 6 2
P.Thomas NO 74 73 30.9% 30.2% 45 223 283 2 0
J.Randle DAL 68 63 26.3% 23.7% 51 344 277 3 2
J.Thompson DEN 67 70 18.0% 19.0% 54 272 326 3 1
R.Mathews SD 62 37 11.3% 3.2% 74 333 369 3 1
R.Turbin SEA 57 41 9.5% 4.6% 74 310 363 0 1
K.Robinson NO 57 67 8.9% 12.1% 76 362 372 3 1
K.Moreno MIA 50 45 26.9% 23.6% 31 148 200 1 0
K.Carey CHI 47 48 21.2% 21.8% 36 158 211 0 0
C.Polk PHI 43 42 12.9% 12.8% 46 172 240 4 0
R.Helu WAS 42 43 15.7% 16.1% 40 216 219 1 0
C.Hyde SF 38 25 3.0% -0.9% 83 333 348 4 1
A.Smith ATL 35 33 27.3% 25.3% 23 144 142 2 1
L.Murray OAK 35 26 1.7% -1.0% 82 424 353 2 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
D.Thomas MIA 34 30 11.3% 8.9% 44 168 203 2 1
F.Whittaker CAR 33 37 22.7% 26.7% 32 145 145 1 0
A.Bradshaw IND 26 28 -1.8% -1.3% 90 428 370 2 3
B.Cunningham STL 26 7 1.7% -5.7% 66 246 257 3 0
C.Michael SEA 25 19 10.0% 5.8% 34 175 158 0 1
K.Williams ARI 23 31 2.6% 6.3% 53 246 217 0 1
B.Powell NYJ 22 24 7.6% 9.5% 33 141 150 1 0
R.Bush DET 17 24 -2.4% -0.1% 75 289 271 2 0
D.Herron IND 17 34 -2.9% 2.6% 78 351 292 1 1
J.Todman JAC 15 20 3.8% 8.2% 32 186 126 1 0
J.Banyard MIN 15 15 8.6% 9.1% 21 88 97 0 0
B.Rainey TB 14 23 -4.9% -2.4% 94 406 344 1 1
S.Greene TEN 14 16 -5.2% -4.5% 94 392 365 2 1
J.Kuhn GB 13 8 3.1% -1.6% 24 85 119 1 0
S.Taylor ARI 11 -6 -4.4% -10.7% 63 208 246 1 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
R.Brown 2TM 9 6 2.3% -1.8% 20 63 87 0 0
P.Hillis NYG 6 2 -1.9% -6.0% 26 115 88 0 0
A.Peterson MIN 5 -4 -1.8% -13.8% 21 75 72 0 0
S.Vereen NE 4 -2 -7.4% -9.1% 96 391 316 2 0
L.Taliaferro BAL 4 32 -7.2% 1.7% 68 292 277 4 1
M.Reece OAK 2 1 -6.1% -7.6% 21 85 81 0 1
J.Starks GB 0 -8 -8.6% -11.0% 85 340 301 2 1
Z.Stacy STL -1 3 -8.8% -7.7% 76 298 274 1 2
Da.Williams MIA -2 -6 -9.7% -12.7% 36 122 126 0 0
B.Bolden NE -3 -6 -11.2% -13.5% 28 89 94 1 0
S.Ridley NE -6 17 -9.9% -4.6% 94 340 351 2 0
J.Rodgers ATL -7 7 -11.4% -5.7% 58 217 198 1 1
L.Dunbar DAL -10 -13 -16.9% -19.5% 29 99 86 0 0
De.Williams CAR -17 -22 -15.2% -17.4% 62 221 189 0 1
S.Johnson JAC -18 -11 -22.1% -17.1% 29 86 84 2 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
D.McCluster TEN -19 -7 -20.2% -12.8% 39 125 109 0 0
B.Brown BUF -21 -25 -22.9% -25.3% 36 126 93 0 1
J.Grimes HOU -22 -3 -24.0% -10.4% 39 153 88 0 0
T.Riddick DET -22 -17 -34.4% -28.3% 20 51 38 0 0
B.Pierce BAL -24 -13 -14.8% -11.8% 93 366 295 2 1
M.Ball DEN -26 -30 -20.2% -22.1% 55 172 150 1 1
D.Reaves CAR -27 -29 -29.8% -31.1% 31 78 66 0 0
D.Freeman ATL -38 -47 -22.9% -26.2% 65 249 167 1 1
D.Brown SD -51 -74 -23.9% -30.8% 84 221 205 0 0
M.Jones-Drew OAK -69 -66 -50.1% -48.5% 42 107 31 0 1
M.Tolbert CAR -72 -68 -53.2% -50.8% 37 78 22 0 0
C.J.Spiller BUF -76 -80 -33.2% -34.4% 78 303 142 0 3
C.Sims TB -84 -77 -42.1% -39.4% 66 185 79 1 2

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		 FUM
L.Bell PIT 316 1 325 1 38.4% 3 40.0% 105 854 1,083 3 79% 0
A.Bradshaw IND 152 2 154 2 38.2% 4 38.6% 47 300 524 6 81% 0
M.Forte CHI 127 3 142 3 5.0% 19 7.3% 131 809 742 4 79% 1
E.Lacy GB 112 4 139 4 23.0% 9 31.8% 55 427 448 4 76% 0
P.Thomas NO 111 5 90 10 22.2% 10 15.6% 55 378 448 1 82% 0
B.Cunningham STL 109 6 94 7 25.7% 8 20.3% 53 352 419 1 85% 1
R.Helu WAS 108 7 107 5 31.2% 5 30.8% 47 480 395 2 89% 2
B.Miller SF 95 8 92 8 52.2% 1 49.6% 25 189 300 2 72% 0
M.Lynch SEA 93 9 85 11 21.8% 11 18.8% 48 367 380 4 77% 2
Da.Williams MIA 90 10 81 12 40.1% 2 34.8% 27 187 304 1 78% 0
T.Riddick DET 76 11 100 6 14.7% 13 23.7% 50 316 346 4 68% 0
B.Oliver SD 68 12 50 18 15.3% 12 7.8% 45 271 306 1 80% 0
C.J.Anderson DEN 65 13 91 9 13.0% 14 23.6% 44 324 308 2 77% 1
D.Murray DAL 58 14 60 13 3.0% 21 3.5% 64 418 364 0 89% 2
T.Cadet NO 57 15 53 14 5.4% 18 3.8% 51 296 332 1 75% 1
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
B.Brown BUF 55 16 52 15 28.0% 7 25.5% 25 176 208 0 64% 0
T.Mason STL 55 17 40 22 28.3% 6 17.1% 26 148 202 1 62% 0
J.Bell DET 54 18 50 17 6.2% 17 5.0% 52 322 302 1 65% 0
T.Richardson IND 49 19 46 20 11.9% 15 10.1% 34 229 237 0 79% 0
S.Vereen NE 49 20 51 16 -3.1% 29 -2.6% 77 447 425 3 68% 0
G.Bernard CIN 48 21 33 26 0.8% 22 -3.8% 59 349 336 2 73% 0
A.Foster HOU 46 22 43 21 0.7% 23 -0.4% 59 327 324 5 64% 0
A.Ellington ARI 44 23 36 24 -2.6% 27 -4.5% 65 389 368 2 72% 0
D.Sproles PHI 37 24 36 25 -3.1% 28 -3.5% 63 392 324 0 65% 0
J.Stewart CAR 35 25 46 19 7.8% 16 15.3% 31 181 185 1 81% 0
D.Freeman ATL 33 26 32 28 4.1% 20 3.5% 37 225 202 1 81% 0
B.Rainey TB 31 27 39 23 0.0% 24 3.7% 45 315 219 1 73% 2
D.McCluster TEN 26 28 30 29 -0.8% 26 0.8% 37 203 200 1 73% 0
S.Jackson ATL 20 29 27 30 -0.2% 25 4.8% 27 148 146 0 74% 0
J.Rodgers ATL 18 30 -2 38 -5.8% 33 -14.8% 40 173 202 1 73% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
J.Hill CIN 17 31 1 36 -3.7% 30 -13.3% 32 217 155 0 84% 1
L.Washington TEN 14 32 15 31 -4.6% 32 -4.1% 31 159 136 2 71% 0
C.Sims TB 12 33 33 27 -4.4% 31 12.0% 27 190 116 0 70% 0
K.Juszczyk BAL 11 34 9 33 -6.7% 34 -8.2% 27 182 130 1 70% 2
M.Reece OAK 10 35 -8 42 -10.9% 38 -16.3% 59 265 258 1 63% 0
D.Herron IND 10 36 5 34 -7.1% 35 -10.4% 26 173 123 0 81% 1
L.Miller MIA 9 37 -6 39 -10.7% 37 -15.7% 52 262 234 1 73% 0
A.Morris WAS 7 38 13 32 -8.7% 36 -4.9% 26 155 119 0 65% 0
J.Charles KC 1 39 -7 41 -13.5% 39 -16.0% 60 282 240 5 68% 1
C.Johnson NYJ 0 40 -2 37 -13.8% 40 -14.8% 34 151 139 1 71% 0
C.Ivory NYJ -2 41 2 35 -15.4% 41 -12.7% 27 123 103 1 67% 0
K.Davis KC -4 42 -22 48 -17.2% 42 -31.7% 25 147 80 1 64% 1
R.Hillman DEN -8 43 -6 40 -18.3% 44 -17.4% 34 139 113 1 62% 0
L.McCoy PHI -9 44 -19 47 -18.2% 43 -23.3% 39 160 130 0 77% 1
R.Bush DET -18 45 -14 45 -19.6% 45 -18.2% 57 261 188 0 72% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
J.Starks GB -20 46 -12 43 -27.1% 49 -21.6% 29 140 68 0 62% 0
D.Brown SD -22 47 -46 52 -23.7% 47 -34.4% 42 213 115 0 71% 1
M.Asiata MIN -33 48 -25 49 -23.9% 48 -21.6% 63 312 165 1 70% 0
R.Jennings NYG -35 49 -40 51 -29.3% 50 -31.3% 41 226 91 0 73% 1
J.Todman JAC -35 50 -19 46 -34.9% 52 -25.4% 37 198 47 1 68% 0
F.Jackson BUF -38 51 -13 44 -21.5% 46 -16.5% 90 501 279 1 73% 4
D.Robinson JAC -43 52 -29 50 -39.2% 55 -31.1% 31 124 33 0 74% 0
A.Williams NYG -48 53 -65 55 -37.6% 54 -45.7% 37 130 45 0 49% 0
M.Ingram NO -54 54 -56 54 -40.9% 56 -41.6% 36 145 31 0 81% 2
J.Forsett BAL -64 55 -50 53 -33.5% 51 -29.5% 60 262 100 0 75% 0
D.McFadden OAK -75 56 -73 56 -37.5% 53 -37.0% 56 212 72 0 64% 0
J.McKinnon MIN -83 57 -74 57 -53.1% 57 -48.8% 41 135 -20 0 66% 0

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
R.Turbin SEA 104 97 83.3% 76.8% 20 186 291 2 80% 0
A.Smith ATL 96 92 91.6% 87.6% 15 222 262 3 87% 0
L.Dunbar DAL 88 85 60.7% 58.9% 22 217 265 0 82% 0
R.Hughes ARI 61 64 66.9% 70.2% 12 140 180 0 67% 0
T.Gerhart JAC 53 70 27.5% 41.3% 24 186 200 0 83% 0
S.Taylor ARI 48 45 41.9% 37.9% 15 79 158 3 73% 0
Z.Stacy STL 48 48 23.2% 23.8% 23 152 190 0 78% 0
A.Blue HOU 41 44 25.4% 27.8% 18 113 160 1 83% 0
D.Young WAS 40 45 34.2% 39.6% 14 81 143 2 79% 0
S.Redd WAS 39 37 59.7% 55.7% 10 107 120 0 80% 0
D.Thomas MIA 37 26 19.7% 9.4% 19 121 155 0 68% 0
L.Taliaferro BAL 33 40 61.1% 77.1% 10 114 99 0 80% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
R.Mathews SD 32 28 37.6% 31.2% 10 69 111 0 90% 0
C.J.Spiller BUF 28 40 7.8% 17.6% 22 125 149 1 86% 0
B.Sankey TEN 26 22 7.0% 3.6% 23 133 144 0 78% 0
T.West CLE 20 15 17.5% 9.4% 13 64 88 1 85% 0
P.DiMarco ATL 16 5 2.4% -9.0% 14 62 102 1 64% 0
B.Powell NYJ 14 10 2.2% -1.9% 15 92 89 0 73% 0
A.Sherman KC 12 5 2.0% -7.0% 14 71 80 1 71% 0
J.Banyard MIN 12 18 7.1% 18.8% 11 62 63 0 82% 0
L.Murray OAK 8 3 -6.6% -10.9% 23 143 99 0 74% 0
I.Crowell CLE 8 11 -3.6% 0.9% 14 87 72 0 64% 0
M.Jones-Drew OAK 4 -1 -9.2% -15.2% 16 71 71 0 69% 0
R.Burkhead CIN 3 3 -7.7% -8.2% 10 49 40 0 70% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
K.Robinson NO 3 6 -8.8% -1.5% 11 63 42 0 73% 0
F.Gore SF -1 -7 -14.4% -20.4% 19 111 71 1 58% 0
L.Blount 2TM -1 0 -15.3% -13.5% 12 54 49 0 83% 0
M.Ball DEN -4 -9 -19.7% -27.9% 13 62 39 0 69% 0
B.Tate CLE -11 -12 -32.4% -35.3% 12 60 19 0 75% 0
W.Johnson PIT -16 -18 -36.6% -40.2% 11 41 17 0 64% 0
P.Hillis NYG -16 -2 -34.4% -16.7% 16 87 23 0 63% 0
C.Hyde SF -21 -23 -38.5% -41.4% 16 68 17 0 75% 0
M.Tolbert CAR -21 -14 -39.4% -30.9% 17 93 16 0 71% 0
E.Lorig NO -23 -20 -45.3% -40.4% 10 27 5 1 90% 0
M.Grice ARI -28 -29 -55.0% -56.9% 12 25 -9 0 67% 0
D.Martin TB -35 -32 -47.2% -43.8% 20 64 3 0 65% 0