David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Better Than Average (BTA) shows which players were 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 the others who faced that defense. It counts three occurrences:
“Top 8” – Scored in the Top-8 fantasy points allowed by a defense
“Top 4” – Scored in the Top-4 fantasy points allowed by a defense
“#1” – Scored the most fantasy points allowed by a defense.
BTA – The combination of the three categories. Since a #1 performance also falls into a top 4 and top 8, it gets weighted three times more than a top 8. A Top 4 is counted twice since it is also a Top 8.
| Running Back | Highest Score |
|---|---|
| Todd Gurley II | 6 |
| Le’Veon Bell | 4 |
| Alvin Kamara | 3 |
| Melvin Gordon | 3 |
| Mark Ingram | 2 |
| Kareem Hunt | 2 |
No surprises in which backs turned in the most instances of the highest score allowed by a defense. Notable is that the Saints totaled five in total between Alvin Kamara (3) and Mark Ingram (2).
Leonard Fournette fared better in this metric than his No. 10 fantasy ranking to end the year which says he was better than what his schedule allowed most backs. Todd Gurley, Le’Veon Bell and Alvin Kamara all turned in at least 12 games in the Top 8 allowed by the defense and he didn’t really do much until Week 4.
| Running Back | BTA | Highest Score | Top 4 | Top 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Todd Gurley II | 29 | 6 | 10 | 13 |
| Le’Veon Bell | 28 | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| Alvin Kamara | 20 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| Melvin Gordon | 19 | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| Mark Ingram | 17 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
| Kareem Hunt | 15 | 2 | 6 | 7 |
| Leonard Fournette | 15 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| LeSean McCoy | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Christian McCaffrey | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Jerick McKinnon | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Carlos Hyde | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Duke Johnson Jr. | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Jordan Howard | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Chris Thompson | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Devonta Freeman | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Dion Lewis | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Derrick Henry | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Kenyan Drake | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Alex Collins | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Javorius Allen | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Ty Montgomery | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Giovani Bernard | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Jamaal Williams | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| James White | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Lamar Miller | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Latavius Murray | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Marshawn Lynch | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Rex Burkhead | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| T.J. Yeldon | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
