Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

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Running Backs 2008

Regular season totals, through Week 11

Revised as of 11/18/2008

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 quarterback 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.

Effective Yards (EYds), 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.

The simple version: DYAR means a running back with more total value. DVOA means a running back with more value per play.

  • 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.

RUSHING: Minimum 88 rushes, 40 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
26-C.Portis WAS 275 1 264 1 23.8% 3 22.1% 215 1,063 1,187 7 1 51% 8
27-B.Jacobs NYG 263 2 203 3 27.3% 1 18.9% 164 880 1,062 11 3 54% 3
20-T.Jones NYJ 201 3 205 2 17.0% 6 16.3% 190 854 1,035 9 1 58% 2
21-F.Gore SF 153 4 125 8 10.4% 9 8.1% 177 837 897 6 3 49% 10
20-S.Slaton HOU 147 5 116 10 13.5% 8 10.3% 138 701 768 6 1 48% 15
32-M.Jones-Drew JAC 145 6 160 5 18.6% 4 21.4% 115 499 693 11 0 51% 5
34-D.Ward NYG 140 7 111 11 25.0% 2 18.3% 100 533 582 1 1 51% 7
33-L.McClain BAL 128 8 119 9 18.5% 5 16.8% 98 376 610 5 0 63% 1
34-D.Williams CAR 117 9 151 6 14.7% 7 19.5% 153 782 652 6 0 43% 23
28-A.Peterson MIN 114 10 188 4 4.4% 13 12.1% 225 1,101 967 7 4 49% 12
28-C.Johnson TEN 99 11 87 13 4.3% 14 4.0% 177 787 753 5 0 45% 22
25-L.White TEN 88 12 105 12 6.6% 12 10.1% 122 471 628 11 0 52% 4
34-K.Smith DET 75 13 85 14 6.7% 11 8.9% 117 513 539 5 0 43% 25
23-R.Brown MIA 74 14 82 15 3.7% 15 3.8% 144 605 688 9 1 48% 14
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
21-M.Moore PIT 70 15 56 22 7.1% 10 4.7% 94 376 480 5 0 49% 11
33-M.Turner ATL 66 16 127 7 -1.8% 25 4.7% 228 971 934 9 1 47% 19
24-M.Barber DAL 64 17 57 21 -0.7% 24 -1.8% 196 779 827 6 3 41% 32
36-B.Westbrook PHI 62 18 71 18 2.1% 19 4.5% 123 508 568 6 1 51% 6
29-J.Addai IND 54 19 59 20 3.3% 16 3.3% 113 387 512 5 0 48% 16
23-W.McGahee BAL 53 20 77 16 0.7% 22 5.1% 134 481 567 5 1 48% 18
38-D.Rhodes IND 49 21 27 27 2.3% 18 -1.3% 90 338 402 3 0 48% 17
39-W.Parker PIT 48 22 73 17 1.3% 21 8.2% 112 448 454 4 0 43% 24
22-J.Jones SEA 46 23 40 24 0.2% 23 -1.0% 139 616 527 2 1 40% 33
28-J.Stewart CAR 45 24 68 19 2.8% 17 5.7% 118 515 482 6 1 42% 28
22-M.Forte CHI 34 25 25 28 -6.1% 32 -5.7% 205 777 797 4 0 42% 27
34-R.Williams MIA 34 26 33 26 1.6% 20 -0.4% 103 441 406 3 3 46% 20
28-W.Dunn TB 31 27 38 25 -1.9% 26 -0.3% 109 476 442 1 0 50% 9
23-M.Lynch BUF 30 28 41 23 -3.7% 28 -2.6% 169 631 630 6 1 43% 26
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM Suc
Rate		 Rk
21-L.Tomlinson SD 29 29 20 30 -3.2% 27 -6.0% 182 686 690 5 0 40% 36
31-J.Lewis CLE 27 30 -26 34 -6.0% 31 -11.9% 185 658 719 4 0 42% 31
32-E.James ARI 21 31 5 31 -4.3% 29 -7.5% 111 386 423 3 1 42% 29
39-S.Jackson STL 20 32 -3 32 -4.8% 30 -9.1% 128 527 497 4 3 42% 30
32-C.Benson CIN 1 33 -23 33 -7.9% 33 -15.1% 88 283 306 1 0 38% 38
25-R.Grant GB -3 34 -32 36 -10.1% 34 -12.6% 198 770 687 3 3 45% 21
34-E.Graham TB -12 35 25 29 -10.5% 35 -4.2% 132 563 461 4 2 48% 13
34-T.Hightower ARI -35 36 -28 35 -15.3% 36 -14.9% 95 300 331 7 1 40% 35
25-J.Fargas OAK -37 37 -57 38 -16.1% 37 -20.3% 122 434 361 0 1 34% 39
28-F.Taylor JAC -68 38 -57 37 -24.0% 38 -21.1% 115 416 279 0 0 40% 34
27-L.Johnson KC -78 39 -67 39 -24.3% 39 -21.8% 112 484 307 3 5 39% 37
23-C.Perry CIN -130 40 -161 40 -41.3% 40 -46.8% 96 256 150 2 5 30% 40

RUSHING, OTHERS: 17-87 rushes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
28-F.Jones DAL 113 119 80.1% 82.6% 30 266 296 3 0
33-K.Faulk NE 106 119 38.2% 42.9% 59 319 371 2 0
28-M.Pittman DEN 93 88 17.6% 14.4% 76 320 481 4 0
30-A.Green HOU 79 76 16.2% 17.9% 61 255 376 3 0
35-J.Harrison CLE 79 79 91.3% 90.2% 20 207 197 1 0
25-J.Charles KC 63 55 24.8% 20.4% 52 286 266 0 1
32-J.Norwood ATL 63 78 13.7% 22.5% 68 383 318 2 1
35-S.Young DEN 62 72 29.3% 32.0% 48 268 252 1 0
23-P.Thomas NO 57 62 12.9% 15.2% 52 238 318 4 0
42-B.Green-Ellis NE 52 63 6.6% 11.3% 65 252 358 4 0
32-L.Jordan NE 47 38 34.1% 26.9% 24 106 170 0 0
26-D.McAllister NO 47 63 5.1% 9.1% 80 299 384 3 0
34-S.Morris NE 46 48 6.2% 4.8% 74 321 380 4 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
22-F.Jackson BUF 41 39 5.0% 2.9% 72 309 359 1 1
32-B.Jackson GB 40 39 25.8% 23.8% 31 157 167 1 1
44-A.Bradshaw NYG 35 20 9.4% 2.1% 45 302 221 1 2
22-P.Hillis DEN 35 46 26.8% 37.1% 21 82 142 2 0
28-C.Buckhalter PHI 34 18 5.0% -2.1% 57 233 289 2 0
42-T.Duckett SEA 32 42 4.8% 8.7% 44 113 260 6 0
28-J.Arrington ARI 31 32 33.7% 33.2% 20 124 116 1 0
43-D.Sproles SD 22 26 9.1% 10.5% 34 161 153 0 0
27-R.Rice BAL 19 30 -4.3% 0.1% 86 383 325 0 1
46-L.Betts WAS 12 16 1.7% 0.2% 39 157 176 0 0
30-A.Pittman STL 10 -8 -2.6% -11.9% 57 224 224 0 0
20-M.Morris SEA 9 1 -2.9% -7.7% 39 175 148 0 0
29-L.Washington NYJ 6 10 -5.0% -3.6% 51 240 184 2 1
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
39-L.Maroney NE -1 -4 -9.4% -11.8% 28 93 102 0 0
23-A.Hall DEN -1 3 -5.5% -6.1% 35 152 106 0 2
29-C.Taylor MIN -6 13 -10.4% -3.1% 61 222 194 1 0
34-R.Mendenhall PIT -8 -10 -23.6% -25.1% 19 58 41 0 0
25-R.Bush NO -12 -6 -11.3% -10.3% 87 294 299 2 2
20-D.McFadden OAK -12 16 -10.2% -2.5% 70 356 204 1 2
29-M.Bush OAK -18 -16 -16.1% -15.4% 63 238 175 1 1
21-K.Smith KC -19 -32 -20.6% -28.4% 35 100 106 1 0
27-K.Jones CHI -25 -19 -31.5% -23.1% 34 109 74 0 0
32-R.Johnson DET -26 -41 -21.8% -25.0% 69 217 171 1 1
29-D.Foster SF -62 -56 -67.7% -65.3% 21 47 -16 0 1

RECEIVING: Minimum 17 passes, 46 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
22-M.Forte CHI 142 1 139 1 34.6% 8 33.7% 52 322 504 3 83%
25-R.Bush NO 127 2 107 5 28.0% 11 21.2% 55 366 481 3 76%
32-M.Jones-Drew JAC 116 3 107 3 50.3% 4 46.2% 34 283 367 0 91%
38-P.Cobbs MIA 107 4 115 2 73.3% 1 79.2% 21 256 310 3 76%
28-C.Buckhalter PHI 106 5 107 4 47.7% 5 48.6% 27 247 342 1 78%
43-D.Sproles SD 93 6 96 6 70.6% 2 73.0% 19 221 272 1 79%
27-R.Rice BAL 90 7 85 8 51.2% 3 48.0% 29 208 283 0 83%
33-K.Faulk NE 83 8 89 7 26.2% 12 29.1% 39 263 314 1 77%
34-D.Ward NYG 77 9 80 9 26.2% 13 28.2% 37 266 293 0 73%
29-L.Washington NYJ 71 10 69 10 21.9% 15 20.8% 38 226 288 2 79%
29-C.Taylor MIN 69 11 67 11 29.7% 9 28.2% 34 260 257 1 79%
31-J.Lewis CLE 62 12 62 12 41.5% 7 42.3% 20 144 207 0 75%
21-F.Gore SF 61 13 60 13 6.0% 22 5.7% 54 325 348 1 65%
23-M.Lynch BUF 59 14 52 17 8.6% 20 5.8% 47 257 311 1 79%
23-R.Brown MIA 58 15 55 14 29.6% 10 27.0% 24 181 215 0 83%
43-L.Weaver SEA 55 16 53 16 46.0% 6 43.7% 19 164 179 2 58%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
24-M.Barber DAL 51 17 38 21 7.1% 21 1.9% 46 303 278 2 85%
22-F.Jackson BUF 51 18 53 15 18.8% 16 20.1% 28 190 217 0 82%
23-P.Thomas NO 44 19 47 18 22.7% 14 25.4% 20 138 176 0 80%
39-S.Jackson STL 41 20 41 19 10.2% 19 10.2% 35 259 207 0 71%
21-L.Tomlinson SD 38 21 37 23 0.0% 30 -0.2% 50 288 270 1 72%
29-M.Bush OAK 38 22 37 22 11.0% 18 10.6% 27 156 187 0 67%
26-C.Portis WAS 37 23 38 20 14.2% 17 14.7% 25 156 171 0 80%
28-W.Dunn TB 34 24 36 24 2.7% 24 3.7% 38 207 219 1 68%
34-K.Smith DET 33 25 35 25 3.3% 23 4.1% 35 227 206 0 80%
32-J.Norwood ATL 31 26 24 29 0.7% 28 -2.2% 38 248 211 1 63%
20-S.Slaton HOU 27 27 26 28 0.3% 29 -0.5% 34 198 195 1 94%
34-T.Hightower ARI 26 28 22 31 1.6% 27 -0.4% 32 166 172 0 72%
21-M.Moore PIT 25 29 27 26 -1.6% 32 -1.2% 35 204 204 1 77%
34-E.Graham TB 23 30 27 27 -1.5% 31 0.5% 33 174 180 0 70%
36-B.Westbrook PHI 23 31 22 30 -5.1% 35 -5.3% 45 216 235 2 71%
20-T.Jones NYJ 19 32 19 32 -2.7% 33 -3.0% 26 119 163 1 85%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
23-W.McGahee BAL 16 33 13 34 1.9% 26 0.1% 18 120 101 0 89%
32-B.Jackson GB 14 34 11 35 -4.0% 34 -6.0% 31 159 129 0 81%
34-D.Williams CAR 13 35 17 33 2.4% 25 8.2% 17 79 82 2 76%
29-J.Addai IND 5 36 10 36 -8.8% 36 -5.0% 22 100 89 1 59%
30-A.Pittman STL 3 37 6 37 -10.9% 37 -6.7% 17 85 69 0 76%
38-D.Rhodes IND -3 38 5 38 -15.5% 38 -11.1% 37 171 130 1 68%
34-R.Williams MIA -8 39 -9 40 -20.2% 40 -21.5% 22 134 67 0 77%
33-L.McClain BAL -8 40 -12 41 -20.1% 39 -21.8% 27 119 90 1 67%
25-J.Charles KC -14 41 -19 43 -24.5% 42 -28.1% 26 98 66 0 65%
28-C.Johnson TEN -17 42 -8 39 -20.8% 41 -17.1% 45 203 140 1 67%
28-F.Taylor JAC -21 43 -17 42 -35.5% 43 -31.4% 17 79 26 0 76%
28-A.Peterson MIN -48 44 -52 44 -42.8% 44 -44.6% 29 95 20 0 55%
22-J.Jones SEA -51 45 -54 45 -51.9% 45 -53.6% 24 66 -8 0 58%
23-C.Perry CIN -85 46 -91 46 -65.8% 46 -67.8% 31 58 -55 0 55%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 7-16 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
35-M.Tolbert SD 87 88 82.5% 83.5% 14 171 245 1 93%
22-P.Hillis DEN 72 71 61.2% 59.3% 15 146 218 1 73%
33-G.Jones JAC 64 63 60.5% 59.9% 14 116 194 1 93%
28-J.Arrington ARI 53 58 46.7% 52.6% 16 120 172 1 81%
24-M.Robinson SF 53 52 116.9% 115.5% 8 106 133 0 88%
35-J.Harrison CLE 45 46 59.2% 59.8% 11 103 138 1 64%
26-D.McAllister NO 41 40 40.9% 40.3% 12 76 137 1 83%
36-J.Griffith OAK 38 37 33.7% 31.8% 13 85 138 1 69%
32-R.Johnson DET 35 35 37.9% 38.0% 13 89 122 1 85%
33-K.Darby STL 35 36 50.1% 52.6% 8 83 110 0 100%
20-M.Morris SEA 33 31 63.8% 60.1% 8 58 97 1 100%
20-D.McFadden OAK 21 20 14.5% 13.1% 15 94 98 0 80%
47-L.Vickers CLE 21 21 32.3% 32.2% 8 51 76 0 75%
34-O.Mughelli ATL 21 19 38.6% 33.7% 8 56 72 0 88%
29-J.Wright CLE 18 19 8.8% 8.8% 14 65 97 2 57%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
27-A.Stecker NO 17 16 11.4% 9.0% 12 52 85 1 75%
34-S.Morris NE 15 20 1.2% 7.3% 16 90 99 0 75%
44-J.Snelling ATL 11 10 25.7% 22.5% 7 45 41 0 71%
32-E.James ARI 4 2 -8.1% -11.0% 14 73 62 0 71%
32-C.Benson CIN 4 6 -8.8% -5.4% 13 72 57 0 77%
21-K.Smith KC 3 0 -7.1% -13.1% 11 52 41 0 91%
35-O.Schmitt SEA 3 2 -7.4% -8.5% 8 29 37 0 75%
37-J.McKie CHI 3 -1 -10.3% -15.8% 11 48 57 0 73%
35-B.Askew TB 0 1 -14.2% -11.2% 11 48 40 0 91%
28-M.Pittman DEN 0 4 -14.4% -6.6% 13 112 41 0 77%
45-B.Hoover CAR -2 -4 -17.4% -21.1% 9 39 38 0 67%
27-L.Johnson KC -6 -6 -31.2% -31.2% 7 32 12 0 100%
46-L.Betts WAS -11 -9 -33.6% -30.6% 15 71 17 0 53%
25-J.Fargas OAK -11 -10 -39.3% -35.2% 9 28 8 0 56%
44-L.Lawton OAK -13 -15 -49.6% -57.2% 7 14 -1 0 43%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
25-L.White TEN -13 -11 -48.1% -42.5% 7 14 0 0 57%
27-B.Jacobs NYG -15 -16 -38.6% -39.7% 10 31 13 0 50%
44-V.Leach HOU -16 -18 -35.1% -38.5% 11 40 20 0 55%
44-M.Karney NO -21 -24 -50.2% -55.1% 9 12 -2 0 78%
45-A.Hall TEN -22 -19 -44.8% -41.4% 10 35 5 0 60%
39-M.Hedgecock NYG -22 -21 -50.4% -48.6% 9 18 -2 0 33%
35-S.Young DEN -23 -23 -62.3% -64.2% 7 16 -13 0 43%
25-R.Grant GB -24 -23 -75.8% -74.3% 8 14 -22 0 63%
30-A.Green HOU -27 -28 -55.5% -57.3% 12 24 -9 0 83%
28-J.Stewart CAR -30 -35 -63.3% -70.7% 10 16 -19 0 50%
25-L.Booker PHI -32</