Yards Per Carry Calculator (Totals, Each Carry or Game Log)
Divide rushing yards by carries for yards per carry — from season totals, a carry-by-carry list or a game log — with a league benchmark, the yards needed for a target average, per-game and 17-game pace, touchdown and fumble rates, explosive and stuffed runs, and a projection over any number of carries.
How it works
Yards per carry = rushing yards ÷ carries · projected yards = YPC × carries · yards needed for a target = target × (carries + future carries) − yards so far · season pace = yards ÷ games × games in a season · yards per touch = (rushing + receiving yards) ÷ (carries + receptions)
Yards per carry is the simplest running-efficiency measure: total rushing yards (gains minus losses) divided by rushing attempts. Enter season totals, paste the yards of each carry, or paste a game log; the calculator always divides total yards by total carries, which is how the NFL and NCAA compute it, rather than averaging game averages. Around 4.3 yards per carry has been the recent NFL league average for all rushers, with good starters near 4.8 and elite seasons past 5.0. Because one breakaway run can inflate the figure over a small sample, the carry-by-carry mode adds the median carry, the share of carries gaining 4+ yards, explosive runs of 10+ yards and runs stuffed for no gain, and the totals mode can show the average without the longest run. You can also see the yards needed to reach a target average, per-game and season pace, carries per touchdown and per fumble, and yards per touch when you add receiving numbers.
Worked example
A back gains 120 yards on 24 carries: 120 ÷ 24 = 5.00 yards per carry, 0.70 above the NFL average of about 4.3. Over a 20-carry workload at that pace you would expect about 5.00 × 20 = 100 yards. To stay at a 4.5 average he could gain as little as 4.5 × 44 − 120 = 78 yards on the next 20 carries. At this pace he needs 176 more carries to reach 1,000 yards.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a good yards-per-carry average?
About 4.3 yards per carry is around the recent NFL league average for all rushers. Sustained figures above 4.5–5.0 over a full season are considered very good, though quarterbacks and receivers on jet sweeps can post higher marks on small volume.
Why can yards per carry be misleading?
One long touchdown run can inflate the average dramatically over a small number of carries. Paste each carry to see the median run, the share of carries gaining 4 or more yards and the explosive and stuffed rates, which are less distorted by a single breakaway.
Do sacks or kneel-downs count?
In the NFL, quarterback sacks are recorded as passing losses, not rushing attempts, so they do not lower yards per carry. Kneel-downs, however, are counted as rushing attempts for negative or zero yards and do drag a quarterback’s rushing average down. In college football, sacks count as rushing attempts.
How do I combine several games?
Add up the yards and the carries first, then divide. A 10-carry, 80-yard game and a 20-carry, 60-yard game give 140 ÷ 30 = 4.67 yards per carry, not the 5.5 you would get by averaging 8.0 and 3.0. The game-by-game mode does this for you.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.