There are some fantasy football players that believe that the lineup you pick can lose you a game just as much as it can win a contest. Having a player give you a consistent performance week after week can be considered more valuable than a player who goes off every third week and then takes two weeks off between those fantastic performances. Consistency has a value, and it does not take much of a leap to understand that players that you can rely on for solid games when you need them (such as in your postseason) are a huge advantage.
Baseball has a term called "Quality Starts" for pitchers, which is a statistic that represents how often a starting pitcher will put up a good (not great, just good) performance in a given game. The bar is set neither high nor low (six innings pitched, three earned runs or fewer) so as to gauge a decent performance. The theory behind it is that if your pitcher gives you a Quality Start, your team has a fighting chance to win a given game.
So now we need to translate this to football. What is "quality" for each position? How do we define a "Quality Start" for quarterbacks or running backs or any other position? Looking back at the 2015 season, I decided to take the #12 RB for the year (Darren McFadden, 160.28 fantasy points) and take that fantasy total and divide it by 16 for a per game average. Now a case can be made to argue against doing this. I did not account for missed games or a per-start performance metric, but I believe that the numbers will get averaged out by doing this method. Also, taking RB12 seems a bit arbitrary, but if you are looking for a bare minimum of quality, the 12th RB should be the "worst starter" in your fantasy league as a RB1 and a great RB2.
So now we move on to the next question - one of quantifying the quality. At what point do we decide whether or not a running back has given us a quality performance? Here is where it gets a bit murky, but looking at the distribution of RB performances by starters over the season and it becomes evident that the using the 12th RB average and adding or subtracting a percentage gives us a good range for a RB Quality Start.
Using the RB Quality Start range, we can also define a bad performance or an excellent performance as either falling below or exceeding the Quality Start range. Table 1 gives us the fantasy points that it takes to fall in each of the three areas:
RB Start Type | Fantasy Points |
Bad Start | 0 to 7.5 |
Quality Start | 7.6 to 12.5 |
Excellent Start | 12.6+ |
Table 1: 2015 RB Quality Start and Fantasy Point Ranges - Standard Scoring
Table 2 shows us the breakdown of all the Top 50 RBs and how many of each type of start resulted for each:
Running Back | Team | Excellent | Quality | Bad | Total |
Devonta Freeman | ATL | 10 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
Adrian Peterson | MIN | 9 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
Doug Martin | TBB | 6 | 6 | 4 | 16 |
David Johnson | ARI | 7 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
DeAngelo Williams | PIT | 8 | 1 | 6 | 15 |
Todd Gurley | STL | 9 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
Lamar Miller | MIA | 6 | 2 | 8 | 16 |
Chris Ivory | NYJ | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 |
Matt Forte | CHI | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
Danny Woodhead | SDC | 5 | 4 | 7 | 16 |
Latavius Murray | OAK | 5 | 6 | 5 | 16 |
Darren McFadden | DAL | 3 | 9 | 4 | 16 |
Frank Gore | IND | 5 | 3 | 8 | 16 |
Jeremy Hill | CIN | 7 | 1 | 7 | 15 |
Mark Ingram | NOS | 5 | 7 | 0 | 12 |
Jonathan Stewart | CAR | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
LeSean McCoy | BUF | 5 | 6 | 1 | 12 |
Rashad Jennings | NYG | 5 | 3 | 8 | 16 |
DeMarco Murray | PHI | 4 | 3 | 8 | 15 |
Ronnie Hillman | DEN | 3 | 5 | 8 | 16 |
Giovani Bernard | CIN | 3 | 6 | 7 | 16 |
Darren Sproles | PHI | 4 | 2 | 10 | 16 |
Charles Sims | TBB | 4 | 3 | 9 | 16 |
Jeremy Langford | CHI | 2 | 5 | 8 | 15 |
James Starks | GBP | 3 | 3 | 9 | 15 |
Ameer Abdullah | DET | 2 | 3 | 11 | 16 |
T.J. Yeldon | JAC | 2 | 7 | 3 | 12 |
Eddie Lacy | GBP | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 |
C.J. Anderson | DEN | 3 | 2 | 10 | 15 |
Isaiah Crowell | CLE | 4 | 1 | 10 | 15 |
Thomas Rawls | SEA | 4 | 1 | 7 | 12 |
LeGarrette Blount | NEP | 4 | 0 | 7 | 11 |
Charcandrick West | KCC | 4 | 0 | 11 | 15 |
Karlos Williams | BUF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
Shane Vereen | NYG | 3 | 3 | 10 | 16 |
Duke Johnson | CLE | 1 | 5 | 10 | 16 |
Theo Riddick | DET | 1 | 6 | 9 | 16 |
Ryan Mathews | PHI | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
Javorius Allen | BAL | 3 | 2 | 10 | 15 |
Alfred Blue | HOU | 3 | 4 | 7 | 14 |
Chris Johnson | ARI | 2 | 2 | 7 | 11 |
Matt Jones | WAS | 2 | 2 | 8 | 12 |
Antonio Andrews | TEN | 1 | 6 | 6 | 13 |
Justin Forsett | BAL | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
Bilal Powell | NYJ | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
Le\'Veon Bell | PIT | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
Alfred Morris | WAS | 0 | 6 | 9 | 15 |
Joique Bell | DET | 2 | 1 | 10 | 13 |
Dion Lewis | NEP | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
James White | NEP | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
204 | 167 | 322 |
Table 2: 2015 RB Start Types Sorted By Top 50 RBs - Standard Scoring
That's a lot of info to digest, so let me help. First, we see that there are more Excellent Starts (204) than Quality Starts (167), which speaks to several of the top backs playing for teams that preferred to use a feature back rather than a committee approach. This trend built upon 2014 (178 Excellent Starts, 167 Quality Starts), whereas the numbers in prior years were nearly equal. Part of the reason that there are more Excellent Starts in recent seasons has been the lower standard of Excellence. In 2015, an Excellent Start required 12.6 or more points, markedly lower than 2014's threshold of 13.4 points. Both 2014 (178) and 2013 (178) had over 11 Excellent Starts per week, far more than 2012 (153) and 2010 (154). That points back to the higher thresholds in those respective seasons as it took over 15 points for an Excellent Start in 2012 and 15.3 in 2010. While in the big picture it may not matter – we do want RB12s and higher, regardless – but it does show how much RB value has declined with the passing game taking off in today's NFL, and how important true feature tailbacks are.
Now, to dig deeper, let's look at the numbers distributed in two different ways. First, I need to define a valuable starting running back in this system. We want a RB that will win more fantasy games than lose them, so we want either "Quality" or "Excellent" starts. Using a simple formula of scoring each type of start, we can define the value of a given NFL running back. Here is the formula:
STARTING FANTASY RB VALUE = EXCELLENT STARTS - BAD STARTS
We neglect to look at Quality Starts because they neither win games nor lose them on average - they are just average RB performances. We only really care about how often he helps our team vs. how often he hurts it. Giving a "-1" value to bad starts and "+1" to excellent ones does this for us.
On with the results, sorted by value:
Running Back | Team | Excellent | Quality | Bad | Total | NetVal |
Devonta Freeman | ATL | 10 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 7 |
Todd Gurley | STL | 9 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 6 |
Adrian Peterson | MIN | 9 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 5 |
Mark Ingram | NOS | 5 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 5 |
Matt Forte | CHI | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 4 |
LeSean McCoy | BUF | 5 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 4 |
Le\'Veon Bell | PIT | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
Doug Martin | TBB | 6 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 2 |
DeAngelo Williams | PIT | 8 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 2 |
Dion Lewis | NEP | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
David Johnson | ARI | 7 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 1 |
Jonathan Stewart | CAR | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 1 |
Karlos Williams | BUF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 1 |
Latavius Murray | OAK | 5 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 0 |
Jeremy Hill | CIN | 7 | 1 | 7 | 15 | 0 |
Ryan Mathews | PHI | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 0 |
Chris Ivory | NYJ | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 | -1 |
Darren McFadden | DAL | 3 | 9 | 4 | 16 | -1 |
T.J. Yeldon | JAC | 2 | 7 | 3 | 12 | -1 |
Bilal Powell | NYJ | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -1 |
Lamar Miller | MIA | 6 | 2 | 8 | 16 | -2 |
Danny Woodhead | SDC | 5 | 4 | 7 | 16 | -2 |
Eddie Lacy | GBP | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 | -2 |
Frank Gore | IND | 5 | 3 | 8 | 16 | -3 |
Rashad Jennings | NYG | 5 | 3 | 8 | 16 | -3 |
Thomas Rawls | SEA | 4 | 1 | 7 | 12 | -3 |
LeGarrette Blount | NEP | 4 | 0 | 7 | 11 | -3 |
Justin Forsett | BAL | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -3 |
James White | NEP | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 | -3 |
DeMarco Murray | PHI | 4 | 3 | 8 | 15 | -4 |
Giovani Bernard | CIN | 3 | 6 | 7 | 16 | -4 |
Alfred Blue | HOU | 3 | 4 | 7 | 14 | -4 |
Ronnie Hillman | DEN | 3 | 5 | 8 | 16 | -5 |
Charles Sims | TBB | 4 | 3 | 9 | 16 | -5 |
Chris Johnson | ARI | 2 | 2 | 7 | 11 | -5 |
Antonio Andrews | TEN | 1 | 6 | 6 | 13 | -5 |
Darren Sproles | PHI | 4 | 2 | 10 | 16 | -6 |
Jeremy Langford | CHI | 2 | 5 | 8 | 15 | -6 |
James Starks | GBP | 3 | 3 | 9 | 15 | -6 |
Isaiah Crowell | CLE | 4 | 1 | 10 | 15 | -6 |
Matt Jones | WAS | 2 | 2 | 8 | 12 | -6 |
C.J. Anderson | DEN | 3 | 2 | 10 | 15 | -7 |
Charcandrick West | KCC | 4 | 0 | 11 | 15 | -7 |
Shane Vereen | NYG | 3 | 3 | 10 | 16 | -7 |
Javorius Allen | BAL | 3 | 2 | 10 | 15 | -7 |
Theo Riddick | DET | 1 | 6 | 9 | 16 | -8 |
Joique Bell | DET | 2 | 1 | 10 | 13 | -8 |
Ameer Abdullah | DET | 2 | 3 | 11 | 16 | -9 |
Duke Johnson | CLE | 1 | 5 | 10 | 16 | -9 |
Alfred Morris | WAS | 0 | 6 | 9 | 15 | -9 |
Table 3: 2015 RB Start Types Sorted By Value - Standard Scoring
This is a lot of information once again, but there are some important things to note here. First, unlike last year where the top of the chart was dominated by the runningbacks considered to be the elite fantasy RBs heading into 2015, Table 3 has names that are all over the map. We have a few studs like Adrian Peterson and Le'Veon Bell in the Top 10, but who would have put Dion Lewis in that same group? This chart really hints that 2016 is going to be a very interesting season at the RB position, and doing your homework this summer to know who is the lead back for all 32 teams could mean all the difference for your team this year.
Lastly I will sift through it for you and get right to the heart of the matter with our final table. Here we have the results sorted by value for the Top 36 RBs on the 2016 ADP list.
Running Back | Team | Excellent | Quality | Bad | Total | NetVal | ADP |
Devonta Freeman | ATL | 10 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 7 | 15 |
Todd Gurley | STL | 9 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 4 |
Adrian Peterson | MIN | 9 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 5 | 8 |
Mark Ingram | NOS | 5 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 23 |
Jamaal Charles | KC | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 17 |
LeSean McCoy | BUF | 5 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 31 |
Matt Forte | CHI | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 35 |
Le\'Veon Bell | PIT | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 5 |
Doug Martin | TBB | 6 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 21 |
Dion Lewis | NEP | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 48 |
David Johnson | ARI | 7 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 1 | 7 |
Jonathan Stewart | CAR | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 63 |
Latavius Murray | OAK | 5 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 43 |
Jeremy Hill | CIN | 7 | 1 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 51 |
Ryan Mathews | PHI | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 60 |
T.J. Yeldon | JAC | 2 | 7 | 3 | 12 | -1 | 78 |
Chris Ivory | NYJ | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 | -1 | 83 |
Lamar Miller | MIA | 6 | 2 | 8 | 16 | -2 | 14 |
Eddie Lacy | GBP | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 | -2 | 24 |
Danny Woodhead | SDC | 5 | 4 | 7 | 16 | -2 | 75 |
Thomas Rawls | SEA | 4 | 1 | 7 | 12 | -3 | 34 |
Carlos Hyde | SF | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | -3 | 38 |
Frank Gore | IND | 5 | 3 | 8 | 16 | -3 | 81 |
Justin Forsett | BAL | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -3 | 96 |
DeMarco Murray | PHI | 4 | 3 | 8 | 15 | -4 | 50 |
Giovani Bernard | CIN | 3 | 6 | 7 | 16 | -4 | 74 |
Charles Sims | TBB | 4 | 3 | 9 | 16 | -5 | 90 |
Jeremy Langford | CHI | 2 | 5 | 8 | 15 | -6 | 53 |
Matt Jones | WAS | 2 | 2 | 8 | 12 | -6 | 58 |
Jay Ajayi | MIA | 0 | 1 | 8 | 9 | -8 | 56 |
Duke Johnson | CLE | 1 | 5 | 10 | 16 | -9 | 69 |
Ameer Abdullah | DET | 2 | 3 | 11 | 16 | -9 | 76 |
Melvin Gordon | SDC | 0 | 3 | 11 | 14 | -11 | 73 |
Ezekiel Elliott | DAL | Rookie | 10 | ||||
Derrick Henry | TEN | Rookie | 97 |
Table 4: 2016 Top Drafted RBs Sorted By 2015 Value - Standard Scoring
Heading into last year, there were a lot of new names in the Top 50 RB Draft list, but 2016 looks quite a bit different. First, only two rookies (Ezekiel Elliott, Derrick Henry) are listed - but Henry barely made the list at RB36 and Elliott is considered to be a RB1 heading into this season as the lead back for Dallas. While you might think that this means that there is not a lot of change for 2016, you would be incorrect in that thinking. Several tailbacks have switched teams since March, so as I stated earlier, you really need to know who is playing where and what the various depth charts look like heading into September. Just as an example, Matt Forte's move to the Jets impacts Forte and Jeremy Langford (stock up in Chicago). What about Chris Ivory? He's now in Jacksonville. A similar story plays out in Miami, as Lamar Miller is now a Texan and Jay Ajayi is the projected starter. Even a player such as David Johnson who finished the year strong in 2015 shows poorly on the charts since he was not the starter to begin last season in Arizona. While 2015 data is nice to have, it may not be the best indication for 2016 value - preseason depth charts and following Footballguys news may be your best edge.
With so much turmoil at tailback, it is important to point out that this value list is based solely on last year's results. There is no reason to believe in these numbers as indications of 2016 performance, but having this information available should give you more to think about when deciding who you will have leading your fantasy team this year.
Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to pasquino@footballguys.com.