Running Back Scoring by Quarters in 2011

One of the things I’m always struggling with is trying to figure out how usage changes will impact running backs.  It’s a really difficult question because looking at per carry averages doesn’t really get you there.  One thought I’ve had is to look at only quarters where the RB touched the ball and then extrapolate points based on those quarters.  Below is a table where I’ve done that.  I show FP/Qtr that the back touched the ball, and then I extrapolate that to a full game pace.  I am now the proud owner of Kevin Smith (I’m actually not that proud) in one league, so I was happy to see his name in the top 10.

Name	QTRS w/ Touches	FPs/QTR	Full Game Pace
Arian Foster	50	5.13	20.51
LeSean McCoy	60	4.71	18.85
Ray Rice	63	4.69	18.77
Adrian Peterson	42	4.46	17.86
Fred Jackson	39	4.45	17.81
Darren McFadden	25	4.27	17.09
Kevin Smith	23	4.20	16.80
Maurice Jones-Drew	64	4.12	16.49
Matt Forte	45	3.84	15.38
Marshawn Lynch	60	3.67	14.66
Michael Turner	60	3.62	14.47
Ryan Mathews	54	3.54	14.18
Ahmad Bradshaw	46	3.45	13.81
Jahvid Best	25	3.43	13.71
Steven Jackson	55	3.33	13.33
Michael Bush	59	3.18	12.71
Reggie Bush	59	3.06	12.25
Frank Gore	59	3.06	12.24
Chris Wells	56	3.02	12.09
Rashard Mendenhall	54	3.00	12.01
Darren Sproles	63	2.95	11.80
DeMarco Murray	42	2.85	11.38
Willis McGahee	55	2.83	11.33
BenJarvus Green-Ellis	53	2.80	11.20
Chris Johnson	62	2.77	11.09
Mike Tolbert	55	2.76	11.03
Derrick Ward	10	2.74	10.96
Shonn Greene	60	2.70	10.81
LeGarrette Blount	46	2.69	10.77
Tim Hightower	19	2.69	10.76
Cedric Benson	58	2.62	10.48
Jonathan Stewart	58	2.54	10.17
Ben Tate	53	2.53	10.12