NFL running back ratings

Average of four season numbers, each compared with other qualified backs that season (0 is average): touches per game, rushing yards per game, receiving value per game, yards per carry.

Each back is compared only with backs this far into the season, so early scores swing a lot.

The four numbers are weighted equally, so a season with more rushing overall does not lift everyone's score.

It describes the season; it is not a projection. It predicts next-game rushing yards somewhat better than a simple recent average (about 7.6% smaller errors in a 2025 test), but not by enough to beat the sportsbooks' margin on player props, so it is not published as a betting number.

The quarterback is not taken out of a back's numbers. A back's efficiency depends on his line, the defense's alignment and the score, more than on the passer; in testing, adjusting for team passing removed the back's own signal.

The default view shows backs with at least 150 touches (about ten games as a starter). Backs with 100 to 149 touches count toward the comparison but are hidden; All RBs shows them.

The weekly grid is the season itself; the score above is the season's verdict. It goes back to 2017. A back's week splits 60/40 between rushing and receiving, each weighted by the share of his touches it came from, so a committee back is not judged as though he were a bellcow.

Projected usage is the preseason prior, updated as games are played. Until mid-season it is the steadier read of who matters; the scores describe only the weeks played so far.

Style. Style is where a running back sits on two axes: how much of his work comes on passing downs (receiving share of touches) and how often his runs go outside. Each axis is cut at the season median of eligible players, which gives four boxes. It is a scale, not a type: players near a cut are marked close, and nobody is a pure example of a box. Style is separate from the score and says nothing about how good he is.