Other Positions: Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End
Better Than Average (BTA) was developed to show which players were truly better than their peers when the advantage of the schedule was removed. . This is a true 1:1 measurement because it only considers how well players did against all others who faced a particular defense. It counts up three occurrences:
“Top 8” – When a RB produced one of the top 8 game performances for fantasy points allowed by a defense.
“Top 4” – When a RB scored in the top 4 game performances for fantasy points allowed by a defense.
“#1” – Who had the best fantasy game against a defense over the past year. There could only by 32 such events since each defense can only allow one “best game”.
BTA – Simply adding up the 1, 4 and 8 values for a numerical expression of how effective a running back truly was last year against all other players in his position. The strength of schedule doesn’t matter. Only what a player produced against all other players in that position against that defense. It is a measurement of player ability against the others in his position.
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| Multiple “#1 Games” | |
|---|---|
| DeAngelo Williams | 4 |
| Devonta Freeman | 3 |
| Todd Gurley | 2 |
| Lamar Miller | 2 |
| Doug Martin | 2 |
DeAngelo Williams was tops? Go figure (and congratulate that Steeler offensive line). This was a bit disappointing when only five backs managed to turn in more than one game that was the most fantasy points allowed by that defense. And only two who did it more than twice and both Williams and Freeman are likely to experience less work this year.
Running backs are all about offering consistent stats each week and no surprise that Adrian Peterson was tops when he placed 12 of his games in the Top 8 allowed by the defense. Needless to say, Le’Veon Bell’s outlook for 2015 is very promising when DeAngelo Williams did so well as his substitute. This also shows just how much change the position goes through every season. Top players from 2015 that are very unlikely to repeat include Williams, Darren McFadden, Charcandrick West and James White.
| Player | BTA | #1 | Top 4 | Top 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devonta Freeman | 21 | 3 | 7 | 11 |
| Adrian Peterson | 18 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| DeAngelo Williams | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Todd Gurley | 15 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| Danny Woodhead | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Lamar Miller | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Matt Forte | 12 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| LeSean McCoy | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Doug Martin | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Darren McFadden | 9 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Jamaal Charles | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Mark Ingram | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Charcandrick West | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| David Johnson | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Frank Gore | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| James White | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Jeremy Hill | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Latavius Murray | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Thomas Rawls | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Bilal Powell | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Chris Ivory | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| DeMarco Murray | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Dion Lewis | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| James Starks | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Javorius Allen | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| T.J. Yeldon | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Eddie Lacy | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Jonathan Stewart | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| LeGarrette Blount | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Le’Veon Bell | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Arian Foster | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| C.J. Anderson | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Giovani Bernard | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Jeremy Langford | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Ronnie Hillman | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Ryan Mathews | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Tim Hightower | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Alfred Blue | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Carlos Hyde | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Charles Sims | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Chris Johnson | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Darren Sproles | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Duke Johnson | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Isaiah Crowell | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Matt Jones | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Rashad Jennings | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Shane Vereen | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Theo Riddick | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
