by Chase Stuart
on February 14, 2014
When I went on the Advanced NFL Stats Podcast in late December, I discussed my use of Z-scores to measure the Seattle pass defense. Host Dave Collins asked me if I was planning on using Z-scores to measure other things, like say, Adrian Peterson’s 2012 season. I told him that would be an interesting idea to look at in the off-season.
Well, it’s the off-season. So here’s what I did.
1) For every season since 1932, I recorded the number of rushing yards for the leading rusher for each team in each league. So for the Minnesota Vikings in 2012, this was 2,097.
2) Next, I calculated the average number of rushing yards of the top rusher of each other team in the NFL. In 2012, the leading rusher on the other 31 teams averaged 974 yards.
3) Then, I calculated the standard deviation of the leading rushers for all teams in the NFL. In 2012, that was 386 yards.
4) Finally, I calculated the Z-score. This is simply the difference between the player’s average and the league average (for Peterson, that’s 1,123), divided by the standard deviation. Peterson’s Z-score was 2.91, good enough for 15th best since 1932. The table below shows the top 250 seasons using this method from 1932 to 2013; it’s fully searchable and sortable, and you can change the number of entries shown by using the dropdown box on the left. [continue reading…]
Tagged as:
Adrian Peterson,
Barry Sanders,
Emmitt Smith,
Jim Brown,
O.J. Simpson,
Vikings,
Walter Payton
{ }
by Chase Stuart
on July 4, 2013
Yesterday, I looked at the players who threw for the most yards and touchdowns against each franchise. Today I will do the same but with rushing statistics.
But before going on, I’d urge you to take a few minutes and re-read this incredible document our founders signed 237 years ago. It’s great having a day off in the summer to barbecue and celebrate with family and friends, but it’s important to take a few moments and remember what this holiday really means. Like preventing this site from becoming Futbol Perspective.
Let’s again start with a bit of trivia. Do you know which player has rushed for the most yards against any one opponent?
What about the most rushing touchdowns?
| Click Show for the Answer |
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Emmitt Smith with 25 touchdowns in 25 games against his former team, the Arizona Cardinals.
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Let’s take a look at the players who have rushed for the most yards against each franchise:
[continue reading…]
Tagged as:
Barry Sanders,
Emmitt Smith,
Walter Payton
{ }
by Chase Stuart
on July 5, 2012
Yesterday, we took a look at the franchise leaders in various passing categories. Let’s do the same for running backs today. The first list shows the leaders in career rushing yards for each franchise; the last column shows the last year that running back played for that franchise:
[continue reading…]
Tagged as:
Adrian Peterson,
James Wilder,
Jim Brown,
LeSean McCoy,
Maurice Jones-Drew,
O.J. Simpson,
Trent Richardson,
Walter Payton,
Wilbert Montgomery
{ }
