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What does yards after contact mean for a running back?
Yards after contact is the rushing yardage gained after a defender first makes contact with the ball carrier. Pro Football Reference defines yards before and after contact as the yards gained on either side of that point, and says these charted statistics are provided by Sportradar and updated after each game week: Pro Football Reference’s advanced-stats glossary.
The first-contact point is a charting judgment, not a perfectly objective boundary. A useful way to picture the stat is the distance from the first meaningful contact to the end of the run, but providers may chart that contact differently. Compare numbers from the same provider rather than assuming that two sites’ figures are interchangeable.
Yards after contact per attempt adds useful context to a total. A high total can reflect a lot of carries as well as strong post-contact production; a per-attempt figure helps show the average on each rush. Neither number, by itself, says how difficult the runner’s opportunities were.
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What do missed tackles forced reveal?
A missed tackle is a tackle opportunity that a defender fails to complete. Pro Football Reference describes it as a case in which the defender reasonably should have brought down the ball carrier but did not. A back who forces many missed tackles has often evaded or broken free from would-be tacklers, but a raw total also rises with opportunities and workload.
Methods differ. In its 2024 description of Next Gen Stats’ Tackle Probability model, the NFL said it estimated the probability of a successful tackle from tracking data, then derived measures including tackle opportunities, missed tackles, and group tackles. The model used 20 features for each of 11 defenders every tenth of a second, according to the NFL’s 2024 overview of Next Gen Stats metrics. Those details describe that NFL model, not every provider’s missed-tackle charting.
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How to read the two stats together
The measures overlap, but they describe different things. Yards after contact measures continued yardage after contact; missed tackles measure failed tackle outcomes. A runner can gain yards after a defender reaches him without the play being charted as a missed tackle, and a missed tackle does not guarantee a long gain. Consider both as evidence about what happens when defenders get close, rather than as interchangeable versions of one stat.
There is also a related tracking measure that should not be confused with either one: NFL.com has reported average yards gained after defenders close within one yard. In a 2018 article using 2017-season data, the league average for that specified running-back measure was 3.66 yards; the article limited its main ranking to backs with at least 175 carries. That historical figure is not a current yards-after-contact benchmark. See Matt Harmon’s NFL.com article on the 2017 season.
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What these numbers cannot tell you alone
- Contact location and momentum matter. Contact near the line of scrimmage gives a runner less room to build speed than contact downfield. A back may also carry momentum into contact because of the blocking and the path of the play.
- Role and scheme shape the chances. Workload, blocking, play design, and the situations in which a back is used affect both the amount and type of contact he faces.
- Small samples can mislead. A few carries or tackle opportunities can move totals and rates substantially, so compare players with attention to workload and role.
- Neither is a complete grade. These stats describe outcomes around contact; they do not, by themselves, establish how much credit belongs to the runner rather than the blocking or circumstances.
How to compare running backs fairly
- Keep the source and season consistent. Charting definitions can differ, so do not combine one provider’s yards-after-contact figures with another provider’s missed-tackle figures as if they came from a single method.
- Check workload and role. Put missed-tackle totals beside attempts or opportunities, and consider whether the backs had comparable usage and responsibilities.
- Look at volume and rate. Use total yards after contact to understand the cumulative contribution and yards after contact per attempt to compare average production on a carry. Treat missed-tackle totals similarly: a rate can help account for opportunity, but check how the provider defines its denominator.
- Add context from blocking and expected production. NFL Next Gen Stats defines rushing yards over expected (RYOE) as actual rushing yards minus expected rushing yards. Its model estimates expected yardage from the relative position and movement of blockers and defenders. The NFL’s introduction to Expected Rushing Yards illustrates the measure with Nick Chubb’s 88-yard touchdown: 88 actual yards, 7 expected yards, and +81 RYOE. That is a historical example of the RYOE model, not evidence about contact or missed-tackle stats themselves.
- Consider the situation. Down, distance, field position, and the play’s design affect the opportunity a runner receives. Use those details when available rather than treating all carries as equal tests.
What a strong profile looks like
A back with both above-average yards after contact per attempt and a high missed-tackle rate is showing two useful forms of production: continuing to gain ground after contact and avoiding successful tackles. That combination is more persuasive when it holds over a meaningful workload and is supported by the same provider’s data. A split profile can still be informative: strong post-contact yardage with fewer missed tackles may point to forward progress through contact, while frequent missed tackles with modest yardage afterward may indicate elusiveness without as much additional gain. These are descriptions of outcomes, not proof of a single underlying trait.
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