Yards Per Touch – YPT – The Running Back Touch of Success
By John Cooney
Editor’s Note: You can visit John Cooney’s website called PASS2WIN.com for more in depth Fantasy Analysis. ~Laddie Morse
The pro backfield ball carriers of today are just as skilled, productive and durable as their predecessors, however they just are not getting the same volume of rushing opportunities as the ground grinders of yesteryear. Actually, the running backs of the past 10-15 years are actually better athletes than the a majority of those old pro workhorses thanks to advances and dedication to nutrition, physical conditioning and medical practices. The problem is the position is just so darn demanding and the tailback’s body possesses a finite number of quality carries in his physical account.
As running backs grew bigger, stronger and faster, so too did linebackers, defensive front-men and in-the-box safeties. NFL coaches finally came around to the idea that reducing the number of high impact collisions on a star rusher not only could potentially extend the career of running back, but also keep a key offensive cog consistently available throughout the grueling 17-week regular season grind. General managers and franchise owners helped their on-field bosses see the light by lowering the financial rewards and contracts of running backs, viewing backs as assets with rapidly depreciating values.
To get the most out of gifted backfield athlete without physical and medical overload, offensive blue-printers rewrote playbooks, getting their prized backfield stars away from the big bullies at the line of scrimmage, often rolling them outside the hashmarks and into the flats where there is far less traffic and collision potential. Good idea, but the problem many teams faced early on in this playbook preservation practice was that those big, burly-type backs built for pounding the football through the o-line did not possess the breakaway chops to make the most of their one-on-one opportunities on the perimeter.
Little-by-little, running back dimensions started to shrink, and the shorter, quicker athlete with nifty footwork, darting elusiveness, good hands and the ability to run expanded pass patterns morphed into the new prototype tailback. Smaller, quicker (not necessarily faster), more versatile make up the shape, form and function of today’s multi-tasking rusher/receiver. They still are asked to take handoffs, but not in the body-killing volumes as before. These days, a tailback that is bringing it for an offense is mixing in more opportunistic handoffs and pitches with a variety of pass route options. Backs are involved in traditional screens and flares, but also now have the chance to explode to daylight behind hit-n-run blockers in bubble screens, catch-n-run drags across mid-field on hooks and stops or beat a mismatched ‘backer’ downfield running circle routes, posts and even fly patterns.
Handoffs are dwindling but that doesn’t mean the running back is dead in fantasy football. Today, a running back doesn’t have to ‘carry’ your fantasy team to winning productivity, he just has to ‘touch’ his way to points prosperity.
Effective fantasy football backfield utilization calls for a focus on touches as a hot read for running back values. That leads fanballers to ultimately key in on what a running back does with his touches by charting or noting Yards Per Touch (YPT). If in the past Yards Per Carry (YPC) was a defining indicator of a ball carriers effectiveness, then today, with touches being the new indicator of a ‘feature back’, YPT must be an important factor in figuring fantasy football ‘rusher’ effectiveness. For years I have been touting the use of the RBBC (running back by committee) and encouraging fanballers to embrace it rather than avoid the practice. There is no avoiding it now as NFL coaches are literally saddled with the RBBC due to the circumstances of the position and the position’s market today. RBBC is the way of the NFL now and going forward. To make it work for fantasy coaches, a slight alteration in fantasy running back perspective needs to be applied, pushing carries and Yards Per Carry (YPC) to the background, setting touches and YPT front-and-center.
On the real field handoffs are often used more to set up the next play, which tends to be a ball in the air of some sort. Coaches have made the commitment to limit backfield pony abuse by cutting down overall carries. From 2000 to 2004 the NFL offered fantasy coaches 50 individual 300-plus carry performances; FIFTY! Tennessee’s Eddie George had the highest carry total in that span, logging 403 handoffs (he added 50 catches that year, too). The breakdown from 2000-2004:
2000, 9 (403, Eddie George)
2001, 10
2002, 9
2003, 13
2004, 9
Skipping over to the last seven seasons, the carry draw-down becomes quite evident as fanballers experienced just 25 such efforts. In that seven-season block DeMarco Murray, with Dallas, established the high water mark at 392 carries. In 2015 Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson was the only back to break 300 (327). The 300-plus performance totals of the last seven seasons are:
2009, 6
2010, 7
2011, 2
2012, 5
2013, 2
2014, 2 (392, DeMarco Murray)
2015, 1
Gang, forget the carry and go for the touch, focusing on what the ball-handler does with his chances on offense, however they come. The beauty of the touch is that more can be done with less. In 2016 a fantasy-effective running back doesn’t need to rock-em-sock em on the ground 20-25 times, plowing through a wall of big nasties that are looking to lay down a ‘remember me’ smack. Yes, any running back needs the football under his arm to be a viable FFB weapon, but an athlete with sporty wheels, slick moves and sticky hands placed in potentially more explosive positions on the field can create the same amount of point-getting hay as a plodder needing the rock stuck in his gut 20 times. Actually, in today’s style of play fantasy owners have a wide variety of draft day and game day choices coming out of the backfield.
From a grinder perspective a ‘good’ fantasy rusher is historically measured by gaining 1000 yards on the ground. That breaks downs to a per-game average of 62.5 rushing yards. A ground-based tailback gaining 4.0 YPC needs almost 16 carries a game (16.6) just to reach 62.5 yards. Fantasy coaches tied to heavily valuing YPC are likely leaving valuable points on the bench. Even if that ground-pounder averaged 4.4 YPC he still has to plow through an angry defensive front 14 times. However, a nifty rusher/receiver netting an effective 5.5 YPT has to touch the football just 11.3 times to hit 62.5 yards. His individual game breakdown in handling the ball may be 7 runs and 4 receptions. Over the course of a full 16-game slate a dual threat back netting 5.5 YPT needs 181 touches to hit that 1000-yard watermark; a ground-gainer at 4.0 YPC has to bang out 250 carries for 1000 yards.
You get the point, so let’s take a quick break and get the big picture. Sit back, grab a cup of Joe and look over the chart of Yards Per Touch for every running back in 2015.
KEY:
AGE = age in 2015 season
2015 TM = team played for in 2015
GP = games played
GS = games started
TCH = touches
YFS = yards from scrimmage for 2015
YPT = yards per touch
Rushers are ranked by TOUCHES, to show a touch/YPT comparison.
| PLAYER | Age | 2015 TM | G | GS | Touch | YFS | YPT |
| Adrian Peterson | 30 | MIN | 16 | 16 | 357 | 1707 | 4.78 |
| Devonta Freeman | 23 | ATL | 15 | 13 | 338 | 1634 | 4.83 |
| Doug Martin | 26 | TB | 16 | 16 | 321 | 1673 | 5.21 |
| Latavius Murray | 25 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 307 | 1298 | 4.23 |
| Frank Gore | 32 | IND | 16 | 16 | 294 | 1234 | 4.2 |
| Darren McFadden | 28 | DAL | 16 | 10 | 279 | 1417 | 5.08 |
| Chris Ivory | 27 | NYJ | 15 | 14 | 277 | 1287 | 4.65 |
| Matt Forte | 30 | CHI | 13 | 13 | 262 | 1287 | 4.91 |
| Jonathan Stewart | 28 | CAR | 13 | 13 | 258 | 1088 | 4.22 |
| Todd Gurley | 21 | STL | 13 | 12 | 250 | 1294 | 5.18 |
| Lamar Miller | 24 | MIA | 16 | 16 | 241 | 1269 | 5.27 |
| DeAngelo Williams | 32 | PIT | 16 | 10 | 240 | 1274 | 5.31 |
| Jeremy Hill | 23 | CIN | 16 | 15 | 238 | 873 | 3.67 |
| DeMarco Murray | 27 | PHL | 15 | 8 | 237 | 1024 | 4.32 |
| LeSean McCoy | 27 | BUF | 12 | 12 | 235 | 1187 | 5.05 |
| Ronnie Hillman | 24 | DEN | 16 | 11 | 231 | 974 | 4.22 |
| Rashad Jennings | 30 | NYG | 16 | 16 | 224 | 1159 | 5.17 |
| T.J. Yeldon | 22 | JAX | 12 | 12 | 218 | 1019 | 4.67 |
| Melvin Gordon | 22 | SD | 14 | 13 | 217 | 833 | 3.84 |
| Mark Ingram | 26 | NO | 12 | 10 | 216 | 1174 | 5.44 |
| Alfred Morris | 27 | WSH | 16 | 16 | 212 | 806 | 3.8 |
| Eddie Lacy | 25 | GB | 15 | 12 | 207 | 946 | 4.57 |
| Isaiah Crowell | 22 | CLV | 16 | 9 | 204 | 888 | 4.35 |
| Giovani Bernard | 24 | CIN | 16 | 1 | 203 | 1202 | 5.92 |
| Chris Johnson | 30 | ARZ | 11 | 9 | 202 | 872 | 4.32 |
| Alfred Blue | 24 | HOU | 15 | 9 | 198 | 807 | 4.08 |
| James Starks | 29 | GB | 16 | 4 | 191 | 993 | 5.2 |
| Javorius Allen | 24 | BAL | 16 | 6 | 182 | 867 | 4.76 |
| Justin Forsett | 30 | BAL | 10 | 10 | 182 | 794 | 4.36 |
| Charcandrick West | 24 | KC | 15 | 9 | 180 | 848 | 4.71 |
| Danny Woodhead | 30 | SD | 16 | 1 | 178 | 1091 | 6.13 |
| C.J. Anderson | 24 | DEN | 15 | 5 | 177 | 903 | 5.1 |
| LeGarrette Blount | 29 | NE | 12 | 6 | 171 | 746 | 4.36 |
| Jeremy Langford | 24 | CHI | 16 | 2 | 170 | 816 | 4.8 |
| Ameer Abdullah | 22 | DET | 16 | 9 | 168 | 780 | 4.64 |
| Duke Johnson | 22 | CLV | 16 | 7 | 165 | 913 | 5.53 |
| Antonio Andrews | 24 | TEN | 14 | 10 | 164 | 694 | 4.23 |
| Matt Jones | 22 | WSH | 13 | 0 | 163 | 794 | 4.87 |
| David Johnson | 24 | ARZ | 16 | 5 | 161 | 1038 | 6.45 |
| Charles Sims | 25 | TB | 16 | 0 | 158 | 1090 | 6.9 |
| Thomas Rawls | 22 | SEA | 13 | 7 | 156 | 906 | 5.81 |
| Darren Sproles | 32 | PHL | 16 | 4 | 138 | 705 | 5.11 |
| Le’Veon Bell | 23 | PIT | 6 | 6 | 137 | 692 | 5.05 |
| Ryan Mathews | 28 | PHL | 13 | 6 | 127 | 685 | 5.39 |
| Carlos Hyde | 24 | SF | 7 | 7 | 126 | 523 | 4.15 |
| Marshawn Lynch | 29 | SEA | 7 | 6 | 124 | 497 | 4.01 |
| Theo Riddick | 24 | DET | 16 | 1 | 123 | 830 | 6.75 |
| Shane Vereen | 26 | NYG | 16 | 0 | 120 | 755 | 6.29 |
| Bilal Powell | 27 | NYJ | 11 | 2 | 117 | 701 | 5.99 |
| Chris Polk | 26 | HOU | 15 | 2 | 115 | 443 | 3.85 |
| Joique Bell | 29 | DET | 13 | 5 | 112 | 597 | 5.33 |
| Tim Hightower | 29 | NO | 8 | 3 | 108 | 504 | 4.67 |
| Shaun Draughn | 28 | CLV-SF | 11 | 6 | 105 | 449 | 4.28 |
| Tavon Austin (WR) | 24 | STL | 16 | 14 | 104 | 907 | 8.72 |
| Karlos Williams | 22 | BUF | 11 | 3 | 104 | 613 | 5.89 |
| Tre Mason | 22 | STL | 13 | 3 | 93 | 295 | 3.17 |
| Jamaal Charles | 29 | KC | 5 | 5 | 92 | 541 | 5.88 |
| Tevin Coleman | 22 | ATL | 12 | 3 | 89 | 406 | 4.56 |
| Andre Williams | 23 | NYG | 16 | 0 | 89 | 264 | 2.97 |
| Denard Robinson | 25 | JAX | 13 | 3 | 88 | 430 | 4.89 |
| Dexter McCluster | 27 | TEN | 11 | 2 | 86 | 507 | 5.9 |
| Joseph Randle | 24 | DAL | 6 | 6 | 86 | 400 | 4.65 |
| Dion Lewis | 25 | NE | 7 | 6 | 85 | 622 | 7.32 |
| Arian Foster | 29 | HOU | 4 | 4 | 85 | 390 | 4.59 |
| Jonathan Grimes | 26 | HOU | 14 | 0 | 82 | 455 | 5.55 |
| Brandon Bolden | 25 | NE | 15 | 2 | 82 | 387 | 4.72 |
| Mike Tolbert | 30 | CAR | 16 | 3 | 80 | 410 | 5.13 |
| Spencer Ware | 24 | KC | 11 | 2 | 78 | 408 | 5.23 |
| Jerick McKinnon | 23 | MIN | 16 | 0 | 73 | 444 | 6.08 |
| Khiry Robinson | 26 | NO | 8 | 0 | 73 | 295 | 4.04 |
| Chris Thompson | 25 | WSH | 13 | 0 | 70 | 456 | 6.51 |
| C.J. Spiller | 28 | NO | 13 | 2 | 70 | 351 | 5.01 |
| Donald Brown | 28 | SD | 9 | 2 | 67 | 317 | 4.73 |
| Terrance West | 24 | CLV-BAL | 8 | 0 | 66 | 252 | 3.82 |
| Benny Cunningham | 25 | STL | 16 | 1 | 63 | 390 | 6.19 |
| James White | 23 | NE | 14 | 1 | 62 | 466 | 7.52 |
| Bishop Sankey | 23 | TEN | 13 | 3 | 61 | 332 | 5.44 |
| Andre Ellington | 26 | ARZ | 10 | 3 | 60 | 437 | 7.28 |
| Fred Jackson | 34 | SEA | 16 | 0 | 58 | 357 | 6.16 |
| DuJuan Harris | 27 | GB-SF | 4 | 1 | 57 | 286 | 5.02 |
| Christine Michael | 25 | DAL-SEA | 8 | 2 | 57 | 259 | 4.54 |
| Robert Turbin | 26 | SEA-DAL | 10 | 0 | 57 | 222 | 3.89 |
| Jay Ajayi | 22 | MIA | 9 | 0 | 55 | 277 | 5.04 |
| Mike Gillislee | 25 | BUF | 5 | 1 | 53 | 296 | 5.58 |
| David Cobb | 22 | TEN | 7 | 1 | 53 | 144 | 2.72 |
| Jonas Gray | 25 | NE-MIA | 8 | 0 | 52 | 252 | 4.85 |
| Cameron Artis-Payne | 25 | CAR | 7 | 0 | 50 | 241 | 4.82 |
| Matt Asiata | 28 | MIN | 16 | 0 | 48 | 244 | 5.08 |
| Ka’Deem Carey | 23 | CHI | 10 | 1 | 46 | 178 | 3.87 |
| Branden Oliver | 24 | SD | 8 | 1 | 44 | 220 | 5 |
| Kyle Juszczyk | 24 | BAL | 16 | 11 | 43 | 324 | 7.53 |
| Mike Davis | 22 | SF | 6 | 0 | 42 | 96 | 2.29 |
| Ahmad Bradshaw | 29 | IND | 6 | 0 | 41 | 149 | 3.63 |
| Marcel Reece | 30 | OAK | 15 | 7 | 40 | 305 | 7.63 |
| Zac Stacy | 24 | NYJ | 8 | 0 | 40 | 154 | 3.85 |
| Stevan Ridley | 26 | NYJ | 9 | 1 | 40 | 88 | 2.2 |
| Orleans Darkwa | 23 | NYG | 16 | 0 | 39 | 184 | 4.72 |
| Terron Ward | 23 | ATL | 13 | 0 | 38 | 168 | 4.42 |
| Kenjon Barner | 26 | PHL | 11 | 0 | 38 | 146 | 3.84 |
| Damien Williams | 23 | MIA | 16 | 0 | 37 | 201 | 5.43 |
| Fozzy Whittaker | 26 | CAR | 15 | 1 | 37 | 172 | 4.65 |
| Dan Herron | 26 | BUF-IND | 10 | 0 | 34 | 126 | 3.71 |
| Jamize Olawale | 26 | OAK | 14 | 3 | 33 | 194 | 5.88 |
| Jarryd Hayne | 27 | SF | 8 | 1 | 31 | 79 | 2.55 |
| Knile Davis | 24 | KC | 14 | 0 | 30 | 96 | 3.2 |
| Kerwynn Williams | 24 | ARZ | 6 | 0 | 29 | 158 | 5.45 |
| Travaris Cadet | 26 | NO-SF-NE | 7 | 1 | 28 | 242 | 8.64 |
| Anthony Dixon | 28 | BUF | 16 | 1 | 27 | 88 | 3.26 |
| Lance Dunbar | 25 | DAL | 4 | 0 | 26 | 282 | 10.85 |
| Roy Helu | 27 | OAK | 9 | 0 | 26 | 114 | 4.38 |
| Bryce Brown | 24 | SEA | 3 | 0 | 25 | 72 | 2.88 |
| Pierre Thomas | 31 | NO-WSH | 5 | 0 | 24 | 148 | 6.17 |
| Kendall Gaskins | 25 | SF | 9 | 0 | 24 | 107 | 4.46 |
| Juwan Thompson | 23 | DEN | 15 | 1 | 24 | 99 | 4.13 |
| Taiwan Jones | 27 | OAK | 12 | 0 | 23 | 180 | 7.83 |
| Akeem Hunt | 22 | HOU | 7 | 1 | 23 | 135 | 5.87 |
| Josh Robinson | 23 | IND | 5 | 0 | 23 | 72 | 3.13 |
| Toby Gerhart | 28 | JAX | 7 | 1 | 23 | 67 | 2.91 |
| Steven Jackson | 32 | NE | 2 | 1 | 22 | 70 | 3.18 |
| Zach Zenner | 24 | DET | 6 | 1 | 19 | 71 | 3.74 |
| Lorenzo Taliaferro | 24 | BAL | 3 | 0 | 18 | 76 | 4.22 |
| Stepfan Taylor | 24 | ARZ | 16 | 0 | 18 | 62 | 3.44 |
| Fitzgerald Toussaint | 25 | PIT | 5 | 0 | 18 | 42 | 2.33 |
| Bruce Miller | 28 | SF | 16 | 5 | 16 | 149 | 9.31 |
| John Kuhn | 33 | GB | 16 | 6 | 15 | 84 | 5.6 |
| Jacquizz Rodgers | 25 | CHI | 5 | 0 | 15 | 51 | 3.4 |
| Joey Iosefa | 24 | NE | 2 | 0 | 15 | 51 | 3.4 |
| Patrick DiMarco | 26 | ATL | 16 | 8 | 14 | 110 | 7.86 |
| Rex Burkhead | 25 | CIN | 16 | 0 | 14 | 98 | 7 |
| Reggie Bush | 30 | SF | 5 | 1 | 13 | 47 | 3.62 |
| Zach Line | 25 | MIN | 16 | 5 | 12 | 105 | 8.75 |
| Jalston Fowler | 25 | TEN | 16 | 0 | 12 | 57 | 4.75 |
| Darrel Young | 28 | WSH | 16 | 3 | 12 | 32 | 2.67 |
| Zurlon Tipton | 25 | IND | 10 | 0 | 10 | 77 | 7.7 |
| Michael Burton | 23 | DET | 16 | 7 | 10 | 41 | 4.1 |
| Austin Johnson | 26 | NO | 10 | 1 | 9 | 39 | 4.33 |
| Derrick Coleman | 25 | SEA | 14 | 3 | 9 | 32 | 3.56 |
| John Crockett | 23 | GB | 2 | 0 | 9 | 21 | 2.33 |
| Bernard Pierce | 24 | JAX | 7 | 0 | 9 | 18 | 2 |
| Ryan Hewitt | 24 | CIN | 15 | 12 | 8 | 99 | 12.38 |
| Bobby Rainey | 28 | TB | 16 | 0 | 8 | 34 | 4.25 |
| Corey Grant | 24 | JAX | 6 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 1.88 |
| Tommy Bohanon | 25 | NYJ | 16 | 4 | 6 | 58 | 9.67 |
| Jay Prosch | 23 | HOU | 16 | 2 | 6 | 33 | 5.5 |
| Will Johnson | 26 | PIT | 16 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 3.83 |
| Anthony Sherman | 27 | KC | 16 | 2 | 5 | 34 | 6.8 |
| Malcolm Brown | 22 | STL | 1 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 3 |
| Will Tukuafu | 31 | SEA | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 1.6 |
| Jordan Todman | 25 | PIT | 11 | 0 | 4 | 22 | 5.5 |
| Alonzo Harris | 23 | GB | 6 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 4.75 |
| Malcolm Johnson | 23 | CLV | 12 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 3.75 |
| Terrance Magee | 22 | BAL | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1.75 |
| George Winn | 25 | DET | 7 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.25 |
| Jorvorskie Lane | 28 | TB | 16 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 4.33 |
| Rod Smith | 23 | SEA-DAL | 11 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 3.67 |
| Cierre Wood | 24 | BUF | 2 | 0 | 3 | -3 | -1 |
| Tyler Varga | 22 | IND | 3 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 10 |
| Roosevelt Nix | 23 | PIT | 15 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 8 |
| Jerome Felton | 29 | BUF | 16 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 7 |
| Trey Williams | 23 | IND | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 6 |
| Isaiah Pead | 26 | STL | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1.5 |
| Jake Fisher | 22 | CIN | 14 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 31 |
| Aaron Ripkowski | 23 | GB | 15 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 18 |
| Antone Smith | 30 | CHI | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 11 |
| Tyler Clutts | 31 | DAL | 16 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Kendall Hunter | 27 | NO | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Marcus Murphy | 24 | NO | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Glenn Winston | 26 | CLV | 3 | 0 | 1 | -8 |
-8 |
NOTE: A special inclusion here is Rams’ wide receiver Tavon Austin. Austin was quietly and uncannily effective both as a receiver and a rusher. The nifty playmaker saw as many plays as a runner (52) as a pass-catcher, darting to an amazing 8.72 YPT in his 104 touches.
Okay, time for the straight and plain talk. To squeeze the most out of any running back today a serious fantasy competitor has to key in on total yards from scrimmage, touches and yards per touch, with YPT being the driving force in decision-making and evaluations. This is not rocket science; just a change in perspective. In the recent past fanballers ranked halfback effectiveness by rushing yards, carries and yards per carry. The way NFL general managers and personnel types are stocking their teams’ backfields, and the manner in which pro coaches are devising game plans these days, those favorite rushing stats are far too narrow in evaluating fantasy potential. Narrow stats lead to slim tailback options. Touches, total yards and YPT expand the talent field for fantasy coaches at the running back spot. We need versatility and depth to work WITH the RBBC rather than fight it?
YPT utilization creates a very versatile and interchangeable fantasy backfield. It also means a fantasy coach is going to have to follow a sound Strength Of Schedule (SOS) and play the matchups weekly; that takes some work and conviction but it is well worth the invested effort. Some might say approaching the season in this manner relies on a bucket full of luck but in reality ‘luck’ happens when one is in position to experience it. Having a stable of running backs that do not require a ‘bucket’ full of carries in order to bring points to a starting lineup is a great advantage over other franchise owners who lean heavily on one or two ‘workhorse’ backs and manage iffy bench strength behind them. Running backs break down, plain and simple!
Owning productive, interchangeable running backs on a fantasy roster allows for lineup versatility and backfield insurance.
This off-season, as you prepare for your drafts, auctions or however your league assembles rosters… at the very least add YPT to your evaluation process for running backs. Will it take some extra effort to manage a potential fantasy RBBC? Yes.
However, isn’t that part of the fun of fantasy football? Why YPC when you can YPT?
YARDS PER TOUCH… valuing running backs, fantasy football style.