2012 Rusher Rating: Adrian Peterson No. 1; Patriots Dominate Team Rankings

Cold, Hard Football Facts for Jan 06, 2013

By Ken Crippen
Executive Director Pro Football Researchers Association (@kencrippen)

It has been another exciting regular season in the NFL and the playoffs are starting. It is time to look back at the Rusher Rating numbers for the regular season.

As expected, Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson took the crown with his 2,097-yard performance this season and a 111.99 Rusher Rating. His team just squeaked into the playoffs as he was just nine yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s record of 2,105 yards, set in 1984.

New England captured the Triple Crown of team Rusher Rating: No. 1 in Offensive Rusher Rating, Defensive Rusher Rating and Rusher Rating Differential.

Houston’s Arian Foster was a close second with 108.47. Rookie running backs Alfred Morris (Washington) and Doug Martin (Tampa Bay) had impressive seasons with Rusher Ratings of 107.56 and 106.56 respectively. Both were in the top five.

Seven of the top ten backs are playing in the post-season (Peterson, Foster, Morris, Stevan Ridley, Ray Rice, Michael Turner and Marshawn Lynch).

Individual Rusher Rating

Here are the top ten rushers, based on Rusher Rating, for the 2012 regular season (minimum of 200 attempts):

Player	Attempts	Yards	Yards per Attempt	TD	Fumbles	Rusher Rating
Adrian Peterson – MIN	348	2,097	6.03	12	3	111.99
Arian Foster – HOU	351	1,424	4.06	15	3	108.47
Alfred Morris – WAS	335	1,613	4.81	13	4	107.56
C.J. Spiller – BUF	207	1,244	6.01	6	2	106.58
Doug Martin – TB	319	1,454	4.56	11	1	106.56
Stevan Ridley – NE	290	1,263	4.36	12	4	106.41
Ray Rice – BAL	257	1,143	4.45	9	1	106.06
Michael Turner – ATL	222	800	3.60	10	3	105.63
Marshawn Lynch – SEA	315	1,590	5.05	11	4	105.06
Mikel Lashoure – DET	215	798	3.71	9	3	103.22

Cleveland rookie Trent Richardson had high expectations heading into the season. He finished in eleventh place with a very respectable Rusher Rating of 103.10.

Here are a few other backs of note, including others on playoff teams (minimum of 200 attempts):

Player	Attempts	Yards	Yards per Attempt	TD	Fumbles	Rusher Rating
Trent Richardson – CLE	267	950	3.56	11	3	103.10
BenJarvus Green-Ellis – CIN	278	1,094	3.94	6	3	88.16
Frank Gore – SF	258	1,214	4.71	8	2	102.11
Vick Ballard – IND	211	814	3.86	2	3	75.47

Just for fun, I thought I would look at the rookie quarterbacks. Robert Griffin III was thought of as the mobile quarterback, while Andrew Luck was the pocket passer. However, Andrew Luck took the rookie Rusher Rating title with a score of 120.42.

RGIII was third among the rookies. However, to be fair, Griffin had twice the number of attempts as Luck. The statue-esque Brandon Weeden finished in fifth place with a lowly 39.94 Rusher Rating.

Player	Attempts	Yards	Yards per Attempt	TD	Fumbles	Rusher Rating
Andrew Luck – IND	62	255	4.11	5	1	120.42
Russell Wilson – SEA	94	489	5.20	4	2	108.51
Robert Griffin III – WAS	120	815	6.79	7	9	105.41
Colin Kaepernick – SF	63	415	6.59	5	7	88.92
Brandon Weeden – CLE	27	111	4.11	0	2	39.94

For reference, here are the numbers for a couple of quarterbacks who are traditionally known for their rushing abilities:

Player	Attempts	Yards	Yards per Attempt	TD	Fumbles	Rusher Rating
Cam Newton – CAR	127	741	5.83	8	4	122.52
Michael Vick – PHI	62	332	5.35	1	7	43.54

Team Rusher Rating

Finally, let’s look at team Rusher Rating numbers. The New England Patriots are not typically known for their rushing attack, but they took the Triple Crown in team Rusher Rating: Offensive, Defensive, and Differential.

It is not surprising that they are one of the top teams this year, when you combine the rushing game with the lethal arm of Tom Brady.

Seven of the top ten teams in Rusher Rating Differential are in the playoffs, with Denver coming in at number eleven.

2012 OFFENSIVE RUSHER RATING

Player	Attempts	Yards	Yards per Attempt	TD	Fumbles	Rusher Rating
New England Patriots	523	2,184	4.18	25	6	112.17
New York Giants	409	1,862	4.55	18	6	109.38
Carolina Panthers	462	2,088	4.52	21	8	109.20
Washington Redskins	519	2,709	5.22	22	13	106.66
Baltimore Ravens	444	1,901	4.28	17	4	105.57
Detroit Lions	391	1,613	4.13	17	7	105.02
Houston Texans	508	2,123	4.18	19	5	103.84
Minnesota Vikings	486	2,634	5.42	16	9	102.57
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	416	1,837	6.00	13	3	100.99
San Francisco 49ers	492	2,491	5.06	17	11	100.21
New Orleans Saints	370	1,577	4.26	10	0	99.89
Seattle Seahawks	536	2,579	4.81	16	7	99.14
Buffalo Bills	442	2,217	5.02	12	7	96.56
Atlanta Falcons	378	1,397	3.70	12	4	95.87
Cincinnati Bengals	430	1,745	4.06	11	4	93.05
Tennessee Titans	378	1,687	4.46	10	6	92.90
Chicago Bears	470	1,970	4.19	11	4	92.25
Cleveland Browns	396	1,593	4.02	12	8	91.80
Miami Dolphins	440	1,802	4.10	15	13	91.06
Indianapolis Colts	440	1,671	3.80	11	5	90.13
Arizona Cardinals	352	1,204	3.42	10	6	88.34
Green Bay Packers	433	1,702	3.93	9	4	88.18
Denver Broncos	481	1,832	3.81	12	8	87.63
New York Jets	494	1,896	3.84	12	9	86.46
Kansas City Chiefs	500	2,395	4.79	9	11	84.35
Dallas Cowboys	355	1,265	3.56	8	6	84.04
Pittsburgh Steelers	412	1,537	3.73	8	8	81.01
St. Louis Rams	410	1,714	4.18	5	5	80.59
Philadelphia Eagles	413	1,874	4.54	10	18	78.11
Oakland Raiders	376	1,420	3.78	4	4	77.76
Jacksonville Jaguars	358	1,369	3.82	5	8	75.34
San Diego Chargers	411	1,461	3.55	4	5	75.01

2012 DEFENSIVE RUSHER RATING

Player	Attempts	Yards	Yards per Attempt	TD	Fumbles	Rusher Rating
New England Patriots	415	1,630	3.93	10	19	73.61
Houston Texans	390	1,560	4.00	5	10	73.73
Chicago Bears	388	1,627	4.19	6	12	74.58
Denver Broncos	404	1,458	3.61	5	6	76.35
San Francisco 49ers	407	1,507	3.70	7	5	82.32
San Diego Chargers	406	1,542	3.80	10	9	84.65
Pittsburgh Steelers	391	1,450	3.71	9	6	86.00
Seattle Seahawks	368	1,649	4.48	8	8	86.06
Minnesota Vikings	427	1,692	3.96	10	8	86.13
New York Giants	449	2,066	4.60	9	8	87.11
Philadelphia Eagles	479	2,021	4.22	11	7	89.10
Kansas City Chiefs	482	2,171	4.50	11	7	90.59
Baltimore Ravens	492	1,965	3.99	15	11	90.77
Carolina Panthers	416	1,761	4.23	11	7	91.18
Miami Dolphins	431	1,734	4.02	10	3	91.89
Arizona Cardinals	506	2,192	4.33	12	5	92.64
Cincinnati Bengals	423	1,715	4.05	13	8	92.96
Cleveland Browns	457	1,898	4.15	14	9	93.05
Washington Redskins	363	1,532	4.22	11	7	93.32
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	377	1,320	3.50	13	3	98.46
Tennessee Titans	483	2,035	4.21	16	6	99.04
Green Bay Packers	418	1,896	4.54	12	3	99.44
New York Jets	495	2,138	4.32	17	7	99.87
Detroit Lions	420	1,889	4.50	13	4	100.08
Jacksonville Jaguars	545	2,256	4.14	19	4	102.59
Atlanta Falcons	411	1,971	4.80	16	8	103.96
Indianapolis Colts	428	2,200	5.14	14	4	105.23
Dallas Cowboys	441	2,003	4.54	17	4	107.20
St. Louis Rams	442	1,880	4.25	18	4	107.54
Oakland Raiders	444	1,897	4.27	18	3	108.58
New Orleans Saints	457	2,361	5.17	18	6	109.43
Buffalo Bills	470	2,333	4.96	23	11	111.79

For the record, the average rushing numbers were as follows:

	Attempts	Yards	Yards per Attempt	TD	Fumbles	Rusher Rating
Average	435	1,854	4.26	12.5	6.9	93.82

2012 RUSHER RATING DIFFERENTIAL

Team	Rushing Attempts	Offensive Rusher Rating	Defensive Rushing Attempts	Defensive Rusher Rating	Rusher Rating Differential
New England Patriots	523	112.17	415	73.61	38.51
Houston Texans	508	103.84	390	73.73	30.11
New York Giants	409	109.38	449	87.11	22.27
Carolina Panthers	462	109.20	416	91.18	18.02
San Francisco 49ers	492	100.21	407	82.32	17.89
Chicago Bears	470	92.25	388	74.58	17.67
Minnesota Vikings	486	102.57	427	86.13	16.44
Baltimore Ravens	444	105.57	492	90.77	14.80
Washington Redskins	519	106.66	363	93.32	13.34
Seattle Seahawks	536	99.14	368	86.06	13.08
Denver Broncos	481	87.63	404	76.35	11.28
Detroit Lions	391	105.02	420	100.08	4.94
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	416	100.99	377	98.46	2.53
Cincinnati Bengals	430	93.05	423	92.96	0.09
Miami Dolphins	440	91.06	431	91.89	-0.83
Cleveland Browns	396	91.80	457	93.05	-1.25
Arizona Cardinals	352	88.34	506	92.64	-4.30
Pittsburgh Steelers	412	81.01	391	86.00	-4.99
Tennessee Titans	378	92.90	483	99.04	-6.14
Kansas City Chiefs	500	84.35	482	90.59	-6.24
Atlanta Falcons	378	95.87	411	103.96	-8.09
New Orleans Saints	370	99.89	457	109.43	-9.54
San Diego Chargers	411	75.01	406	84.65	-9.64
Philadelphia Eagles	413	78.11	479	89.10	-10.99
Green Bay Packers	433	88.18	418	99.44	-11.26
New York Jets	494	86.46	495	99.87	-13.41
Indianapolis Colts	440	90.13	428	105.23	-15.10
Buffalo Bills	442	96.56	470	111.79	-15.23
Dallas Cowboys	355	84.04	441	107.20	-23.16
St. Louis Rams	410	80.59	442	107.54	-26.95
Jacksonville Jaguars	358	75.34	545	102.59	-27.25
Oakland Raiders	376	77.76	444	108.58	-30.82

How Rusher Rating is Calculated

Here is how each component is calculated:

Average Yards Gained per Attempt (YD) = [Total Yards/(4.05 * Rushing Attempts)]

Percentage of TDs per Carry (TD) = [(39.5*Touchdowns)/Rushing Attempts]

Percentage of Fumbles per Carry (F) = [2.375-((21.5*Fumbles)/Rushing Attempts)]

Adding these components together and adjusting to a scale of 158.3 (the same as the NFL Passer Rating System) yields:

Rusher Rating = [(YD) + (TD) + (F)] * (100/4.5)

Ken Crippen is the executive director of the Professional Football Researchers Association, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to preserving football history. You can follow him on Twitter: @KenCrippen.

< Previous Post

Next Post >

By Ken Crippen

Forearm Shiver: the CHFF Blog

Wise Guys: Broncos, Patriots, 49ers Top Expected Win Totals In 2013

Hockey Announcer Gone Wild: You Want To Party (Maybe) With This Guy

Best Pass Defense Ever: Ronde Barber And The 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Reese Witherspoon Arrest Video: Hot, Bothered And Handcuffed

Sam Adams In A Can, Just In Time For Summer Drinking Season


Privacy guaranteed. We'll never share your info.