Innovative Statistics
Football Outsiders exclusive statistics

2016 NFL RUNNING BACK RATINGS

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 7/28/2017

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, 42 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
E.Elliott DAL 339 1 354 1 15.9% 6 17.0% 322 1,626 1,743 15 5 57% 2
L.McCoy BUF 338 2 244 4 28.3% 2 18.0% 234 1,269 1,339 14 3 51% 10
L.Bell PIT 277 3 271 2 17.3% 5 16.7% 261 1,269 1,371 7 3 56% 3
M.Gillislee BUF 256 4 236 5 44.9% 1 40.8% 101 577 827 8 0 66% 1
J.Howard CHI 219 5 246 3 12.3% 9 14.8% 252 1,313 1,258 6 1 49% 17
C.Hyde SF 204 6 98 15 15.3% 7 2.9% 216 991 1,068 6 4 48% 21
J.Ajayi MIA 185 7 126 12 9.3% 13 3.7% 260 1,273 1,187 8 4 43% 32
B.Powell NYJ 182 8 197 7 23.1% 3 25.8% 131 714 788 3 0 56% 4
Da.Johnson ARI 177 9 139 10 5.1% 17 2.2% 292 1,235 1,404 16 5 50% 13
M.Ingram NO 175 10 223 6 11.3% 11 16.9% 205 1,043 1,038 6 2 56% 5
I.Crowell CLE 169 11 94 16 13.4% 8 3.7% 198 952 932 7 2 39% 40
F.Gore IND 159 12 88 18 5.6% 16 -0.7% 263 1,032 1,222 5 2 49% 19
D.Freeman ATL 148 13 179 8 6.4% 14 9.5% 227 1,079 1,089 11 1 50% 12
L.Blount NE 131 14 84 19 1.5% 18 -2.1% 299 1,161 1,339 18 2 44% 28
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
D.Henry TEN 131 15 139 11 19.6% 4 21.4% 110 490 612 5 0 55% 6
T.Hightower NO 121 16 99 14 11.9% 10 8.1% 133 548 708 4 0 52% 9
R.Kelley WAS 102 17 62 24 5.8% 15 0.1% 168 704 775 6 0 48% 20
T.Coleman ATL 86 18 90 17 9.7% 12 10.5% 118 528 544 8 1 45% 25
R.Mathews PHI 58 19 67 22 0.0% 20 1.4% 155 657 672 8 3 52% 8
S.Ware KC 54 20 72 21 -2.7% 22 -0.7% 214 921 875 3 3 53% 7
C.Michael 2TM 52 21 48 25 -0.6% 21 -1.2% 148 583 645 7 1 49% 15
J.Rodgers TB 47 22 64 23 0.2% 19 3.3% 129 560 542 2 0 49% 18
L.Murray OAK 46 23 100 13 -3.4% 23 2.5% 195 788 854 12 2 49% 16
D.Murray TEN 42 24 140 9 -5.3% 25 2.4% 294 1,287 1,165 10 4 50% 11
J.Hill CIN 34 25 36 26 -5.0% 24 -4.9% 222 839 883 9 0 44% 29
P.Perkins NYG 11 26 22 29 -6.1% 26 -3.8% 112 456 407 0 1 44% 30
A.Blue HOU 6 27 29 27 -7.2% 27 -1.7% 100 420 373 1 1 45% 24
T.West BAL 3 28 -10 33 -8.2% 28 -9.9% 193 783 671 5 2 42% 33
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
M.Gordon SD 2 29 83 20 -8.4% 29 -1.0% 254 997 945 10 2 45% 26
M.Forte NYJ -2 30 -5 32 -8.8% 30 -9.1% 218 813 768 7 1 41% 37
T.Rawls SEA -2 31 -26 35 -9.0% 31 -14.3% 108 349 391 3 0 41% 38
M.Asiata MIN -13 32 -15 34 -10.8% 33 -11.1% 121 402 492 6 1 50% 14
J.McKinnon MIN -15 33 -56 36 -11.0% 34 -17.6% 159 539 508 2 0 42% 35
L.Miller HOU -21 34 29 28 -10.5% 32 -5.9% 268 1,077 908 5 2 45% 23
C.J.Anderson DEN -23 35 9 31 -13.5% 36 -6.6% 110 437 356 4 0 39% 41
J.Stewart CAR -29 36 9 30 -11.8% 35 -7.6% 218 826 740 9 3 44% 31
T.Gurley LARM -66 37 -75 40 -14.4% 37 -15.1% 278 885 880 6 2 41% 36
T.J.Yeldon JAC -81 38 -57 37 -24.8% 41 -19.9% 130 465 299 1 2 38% 42
D.Martin TB -82 39 -76 41 -22.0% 40 -21.1% 144 421 394 4 1 42% 34
R.Jennings NYG -86 40 -72 39 -20.5% 38 -18.5% 180 587 485 3 0 39% 39
D.Booker DEN -95 41 -62 38 -21.1% 39 -16.7% 174 612 502 4 2 45% 27
C.Ivory JAC -125 42 -93 42 -34.3% 42 -27.7% 117 439 215 3 5 45% 22

RUSHING, OTHERS: 20-99 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
R.Burkhead CIN 163 126 42.0% 30.5% 74 344 543 2 0
C.Thompson WAS 111 99 33.9% 29.2% 68 356 406 3 1
D.Sproles PHI 99 83 17.6% 13.3% 94 438 485 2 0
R.Turbin IND 96 83 32.2% 26.4% 46 163 360 6 0
T.Montgomery GB 86 105 17.6% 23.4% 77 457 422 3 1
E.Lacy GB 84 61 20.4% 12.4% 71 360 386 0 0
M.Jones WAS 83 50 10.2% 2.6% 99 461 514 3 3
J.Richard OAK 76 97 16.7% 24.0% 83 491 380 1 0
D.Lewis NE 74 52 21.0% 12.5% 64 283 333 0 1
K.Drake MIA 60 57 38.1% 35.7% 33 179 208 2 0
D.Washington OAK 55 78 7.0% 13.6% 87 467 390 2 1
Du.Johnson CLE 54 45 11.2% 8.1% 73 358 321 1 1
K.Dixon BAL 54 54 5.1% 5.2% 88 378 425 3 1
K.Barner PHI 47 43 33.9% 29.6% 27 129 173 2 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
C.J.Prosise SEA 38 18 19.6% 5.1% 31 172 177 1 0
A.Ripkowski GB 30 37 9.0% 13.2% 34 150 197 2 0
J.White NE 24 24 7.8% 7.4% 39 166 168 0 0
G.Bernard CIN 24 22 -2.1% -2.7% 91 337 364 2 0
S.Draughn SF 24 -26 -0.7% -17.2% 74 196 300 4 0
Da.Williams MIA 22 9 6.3% -2.5% 35 115 164 3 0
Z.Zenner DET 21 9 -3.1% -6.2% 88 334 370 4 1
O.Darkwa NYG 18 21 6.9% 10.0% 30 111 127 2 0
W.Smallwood PHI 17 9 -3.4% -5.9% 77 314 304 1 1
K.Bibbs DEN 14 21 2.7% 8.5% 29 129 131 0 0
C.Johnson ARI 7 19 -2.0% 8.6% 25 95 105 1 0
T.Ward ATL 7 14 -2.8% 3.0% 31 151 115 0 0
C.Artis-Payne CAR 6 21 -4.5% 5.0% 36 144 139 2 0
K.Carey CHI 3 -6 -6.4% -13.2% 32 126 115 0 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
A.Morris DAL 3 11 -7.7% -4.9% 69 243 271 2 0
S.Vereen NYG 1 14 -7.8% 1.4% 33 158 121 1 1
J.Langford CHI -2 -9 -9.3% -11.8% 62 201 233 4 2
B.Cunningham LARM -2 -14 -11.4% -25.4% 21 101 70 0 1
J.Grimes HOU -4 -7 -14.0% -17.3% 23 105 63 0 0
T.Riddick DET -5 -1 -9.8% -8.7% 92 357 310 1 0
A.Collins SEA -6 -8 -13.0% -14.8% 31 125 103 1 2
D.McFadden DAL -7 -3 -15.7% -11.8% 24 87 74 0 0
C.Grant JAC -9 13 -15.0% 0.7% 32 164 104 1 0
M.Tolbert CAR -14 -7 -18.6% -13.4% 35 114 98 0 0
D.Williams PIT -17 25 -12.8% -2.2% 98 343 312 4 0
A.Hunt HOU -17 -22 -32.8% -39.2% 20 109 33 0 2
P.Barber TB -19 11 -17.2% -3.8% 55 223 161 1 0
A.Foster MIA -24 -42 -33.6% -53.0% 22 55 43 0 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
A.Ellington ARI -25 -33 -26.8% -32.7% 34 96 77 0 0
D.Robinson JAC -25 0 -24.1% -8.7% 41 144 97 0 0
D.Harris SF -31 -32 -28.1% -28.9% 38 144 85 0 1
J.Williams BUF -31 -40 -32.9% -39.8% 27 98 59 1 2
K.Farrow SD -33 -27 -21.1% -18.8% 60 192 172 0 1
F.Whittaker CAR -34 -7 -24.1% -12.0% 57 265 131 0 1
R.Hillman 2TM -36 -18 -31.3% -19.5% 40 132 79 0 0
Dw.Washington DET -39 -58 -19.3% -24.6% 90 265 250 1 0
C.Sims TB -52 -56 -33.6% -35.9% 51 149 93 1 1
J.Starks GB -54 -75 -29.6% -37.7% 62 151 133 0 0
A.Peterson MIN -57 -63 -49.1% -53.2% 37 72 29 0 1
C.West KC -60 -56 -25.5% -24.3% 88 293 207 1 0
J.Forsett 3TM -103 -103 -37.2% -37.3% 87 291 142 1 2

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 53 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
Da.Johnson ARI 274 1 250 1 27.7% 4 24.1% 121 881 1,038 4 67% 0
L.Bell PIT 165 2 148 3 16.2% 12 13.0% 94 616 735 2 80% 1
J.White NE 163 3 131 6 20.1% 10 13.4% 86 551 679 5 70% 0
D.Freeman ATL 141 4 129 7 24.9% 6 21.5% 65 462 553 2 83% 0
T.Coleman ATL 136 5 143 4 48.8% 1 52.0% 40 421 434 3 78% 0
Du.Johnson CLE 134 6 124 8 19.2% 11 16.8% 74 514 567 0 72% 1
L.McCoy BUF 117 7 97 9 21.2% 8 15.3% 58 356 482 1 88% 0
S.Ware KC 115 8 150 2 32.7% 2 46.9% 42 447 415 2 79% 1
M.Gordon SD 105 9 133 5 21.0% 9 30.1% 57 419 434 2 72% 0
G.Bernard CIN 101 10 85 10 22.4% 7 16.7% 51 337 409 1 76% 1
E.Elliott DAL 82 11 81 12 26.9% 5 26.3% 40 363 309 1 80% 0
M.Ingram NO 81 12 83 11 10.6% 16 11.2% 58 319 402 4 79% 0
C.Thompson WAS 77 13 65 16 10.6% 17 6.7% 62 349 386 2 79% 1
T.Hightower NO 73 14 65 17 32.1% 3 27.0% 26 200 264 1 85% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
T.Riddick DET 67 15 80 13 3.9% 21 7.4% 67 371 409 5 79% 0
D.Sproles PHI 65 16 61 18 3.0% 24 2.1% 71 427 412 2 73% 0
S.Draughn SF 60 17 36 23 14.2% 13 3.0% 39 263 276 2 74% 1
M.Asiata MIN 54 18 42 22 11.5% 15 5.8% 38 263 265 0 84% 0
T.West BAL 50 19 28 30 4.9% 20 -3.2% 45 236 293 1 76% 0
B.Powell NYJ 49 20 26 32 -1.9% 27 -7.5% 75 388 398 2 79% 1
Da.Williams MIA 45 21 56 19 12.5% 14 19.0% 31 256 214 3 74% 1
T.Cadet NO 44 22 65 15 -1.2% 26 5.1% 54 281 338 4 74% 0
F.Gore IND 40 23 66 14 0.7% 25 10.1% 48 274 281 4 81% 0
D.Murray TEN 40 24 46 20 -3.2% 30 -1.6% 67 377 347 3 79% 0
C.Hyde SF 38 25 7 39 6.2% 19 -10.2% 34 162 215 3 82% 1
F.Whittaker CAR 37 26 45 21 6.2% 18 10.7% 33 226 209 0 76% 0
T.Montgomery GB 33 27 34 26 -4.2% 32 -4.0% 56 348 312 0 79% 1
I.Crowell CLE 33 28 35 24 -2.4% 28 -1.5% 53 319 274 0 75% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
C.Sims TB 32 29 34 27 3.5% 22 4.2% 32 190 200 1 75% 0
J.Hill CIN 27 30 31 28 3.1% 23 6.0% 27 174 168 0 78% 0
C.West KC 21 31 26 31 -3.0% 29 -0.4% 34 188 176 2 82% 0
M.Forte NYJ 21 32 14 36 -5.6% 33 -8.5% 43 263 227 1 70% 0
J.Howard CHI 17 33 35 25 -7.5% 36 -0.9% 50 298 227 1 58% 1
J.Ferguson IND 14 34 4 41 -3.7% 31 -10.7% 25 136 126 0 80% 0
T.Gurley LARM 13 35 4 42 -9.9% 39 -12.7% 58 327 262 0 74% 0
J.McKinnon MIN 10 36 16 34 -10.7% 40 -8.9% 53 255 251 2 81% 0
L.Murray OAK 10 37 26 33 -9.4% 38 -2.6% 43 264 184 0 77% 0
B.Rainey NYG 10 38 13 37 -7.0% 34 -4.2% 25 153 119 0 80% 0
J.Richard OAK 9 39 12 38 -8.8% 37 -7.4% 39 194 149 2 74% 0
J.Langford CHI 9 40 6 40 -7.1% 35 -9.4% 27 142 110 0 70% 0
K.Juszczyk BAL 6 41 -13 45 -11.9% 41 -18.3% 49 266 218 0 76% 0
C.Ivory JAC 3 42 31 29 -12.0% 42 5.8% 28 186 119 0 71% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
R.Turbin IND -1 43 1 43 -14.2% 43 -13.2% 35 179 136 1 74% 0
L.Miller HOU -1 44 16 35 -14.4% 44 -7.2% 39 199 167 1 79% 0
D.Williams PIT -3 45 -9 44 -15.7% 45 -19.4% 27 118 106 2 67% 0
J.Ajayi MIA -14 46 -15 47 -20.7% 47 -21.2% 35 151 115 0 77% 0
K.Dixon BAL -14 47 -25 48 -20.6% 46 -25.9% 41 162 121 1 73% 0
J.Starks GB -20 48 -27 49 -28.1% 50 -32.9% 26 128 60 2 77% 1
R.Jennings NYG -28 49 -30 50 -25.6% 48 -26.4% 43 207 113 1 84% 1
D.Booker DEN -41 50 -34 51 -31.4% 51 -28.4% 45 270 83 1 69% 2
J.Forsett 3TM -42 51 -44 52 -40.1% 52 -40.9% 28 85 34 0 75% 0
C.Michael 2TM -44 52 -45 53 -42.2% 53 -43.3% 29 109 20 1 76% 1
T.J.Yeldon JAC -52 53 -15 46 -27.9% 49 -17.8% 68 312 157 1 74% 0

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
Z.Zenner DET 80 65 51.4% 39.3% 23 196 253 0 78% 0
J.Olawale OAK 71 84 84.8% 103.0% 14 227 198 1 86% 0
C.J.Prosise SEA 62 75 55.2% 69.5% 19 208 193 0 89% 0
D.Henry TEN 45 45 46.9% 46.1% 15 137 144 0 87% 0
R.Bush BUF 40 39 50.9% 49.2% 10 90 128 0 70% 0
A.Collins SEA 37 39 35.7% 39.6% 11 84 128 0 100% 0
R.Mathews PHI 33 38 19.6% 25.0% 14 115 138 1 93% 0
D.Martin TB 30 28 24.7% 23.0% 16 134 117 0 88% 0
T.Rawls SEA 22 11 10.9% -1.6% 17 96 109 0 76% 0
R.Burkhead CIN 22 32 7.3% 17.0% 20 145 120 0 85% 1
J.Rodgers TB 19 20 9.3% 10.5% 16 98 98 0 81% 0
P.DiMarco ATL 18 14 19.5% 12.7% 10 52 77 1 70% 0
M.Tolbert CAR 11 7 0.2% -4.8% 15 72 78 1 67% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
R.Kelley WAS 10 1 -4.8% -12.6% 18 82 97 1 67% 0
A.Ripkowski GB 10 12 2.7% 6.8% 10 46 62 1 90% 0
A.Cross TB 9 10 -1.4% 0.2% 10 38 70 1 60% 0
K.Drake MIA 8 7 0.6% -1.7% 10 46 58 0 90% 0
A.Ellington ARI 8 2 -4.3% -12.0% 19 85 56 0 63% 0
D.Washington OAK 1 0 -12.9% -13.9% 23 115 95 0 74% 0
P.Perkins NYG -1 -3 -14.4% -16.6% 24 162 89 0 63% 0
A.Foster MIA -1 -2 -15.1% -18.2% 10 78 36 0 60% 0
C.J.Anderson DEN -2 16 -15.4% -1.6% 24 128 90 1 67% 0
R.Hillman 2TM -3 -14 -17.6% -30.0% 16 92 57 0 50% 0
L.Dunbar DAL -5 -16 -17.5% -26.1% 24 122 82 0 67% 1
J.Grimes HOU -5 -4 -18.2% -17.4% 18 94 73 0 72% 0
Dw.Washington DET -5 -14 -20.1% -30.7% 15 62 49 0 67% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
J.Kuhn NO -8 -6 -20.2% -18.7% 20 70 74 1 80% 0
W.Smallwood PHI -9 -17 -27.6% -40.8% 13 55 27 0 46% 0
B.Cunningham LARM -12 -17 -24.0% -28.3% 21 91 58 0 76% 0
K.Barner PHI -15 -9 -40.7% -30.0% 11 42 9 0 45% 0
M.Gillislee BUF -18 -10 -48.0% -33.0% 11 50 0 1 82% 0
S.Vereen NYG -19 -24 -33.6% -38.2% 19 94 30 0 58% 1
D.McCluster SD -23 -14 -52.0% -37.9% 11 36 -4 0 64% 0
D.Lewis NE -25 -22 -31.9% -29.8% 24 94 47 0 71% 0
C.J.Spiller 2TM -30 -30 -59.5% -59.0% 13 50 -15 1 46% 1
K.Farrow SD -35 -29 -54.5% -47.9% 16 70 -11 0 81% 1
A.Blue HOU -42 -40 -59.7% -57.4% 16 40 -21 0 75% 0
J.Stewart CAR -67 -63 -70.1% -66.9% 21 60 -53 0 38% 0