Football
Yards per Carry Calculator
Calculate yards per carry (YPC) — average rushing yards gained per carry.
Informational only — not a substitute for official league statistics or professional judgment.
How it's calculated
Assumptions
- Uses whichever rushing yards and carries totals you enter — the result inherits your source data's convention for kneel-downs and negative-yardage runs.
- Most meaningful over a full game or season sample; a single breakaway run can skew a small-sample average.
Source: Pro-Football-Reference — Statistics Glossary
Last reviewed: July 2026
Frequently asked questions
What's considered a good yards per carry average?
In the NFL, a season average above 4.5 is considered strong for a running back, and above 5.0 is exceptional. League-wide averages typically sit in the 4.0–4.3 range, though workhorse backs with heavy short-yardage usage often run a bit lower.
Does YPC include kneel-downs or negative-yardage runs?
This calculator simply divides whatever rushing yards and carries totals you enter, so it inherits whatever convention your source data uses. Official NFL and team box scores typically exclude quarterback kneel-downs from rushing stats, but do include stuffed or negative-yardage carries.
Is YPC reliable over a small sample?
Not very — a single long touchdown run can inflate a game's YPC dramatically, since it's a simple average with no cap on individual play length. YPC is most meaningful over a full season or at least several games' worth of carries.
How is YPC different from total rushing yards?
Total rushing yards measures raw volume, which rewards high carry counts regardless of efficiency. YPC isolates efficiency per touch, so a backup with fewer carries but a higher YPC may be more effective per opportunity even with a lower yardage total.
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