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Carries Per Game Leaders

Carries per game repeats at 0.92 between halves of a season. For a running back it is the number that matters: touches are assigned, and assignments persist.

0 is a coin flip and 1 is a fixed property. Each bar is one measure correlated with itself across the same season. Opportunity sits at the top and efficiency at the bottom, and that ordering is the single most useful thing on this page.

Which backs get the ball the most?

#	Player	Games	Carries per game
1	Jonathan Taylor	88	18.61
2	Derrick Henry	165	17.73
3	Josh Jacobs	108	17.50
4	Saquon Barkley	116	17.20
5	Ashton Jeanty	20	16.45
6	Joe Mixon	120	16.38
7	Todd Gurley	79	16.14
8	Bijan Robinson	54	16.13
9	Lamar Miller	48	16.06
10	Quinshon Judkins	17	16.00
11	Ezekiel Elliott	141	15.90
12	Chris Carson	51	15.65
13	Le'Veon Bell	66	15.62
14	Kyren Williams	62	15.61
15	DeMarco Murray	31	15.39
16	Najee Harris	76	15.20
17	Dalvin Cook	94	15.07
18	Kenneth Walker III	65	14.86
19	Christian McCaffrey	124	14.71
20	Jay Ajayi	40	14.53

2016-2026, 16,735 player-games. only those with at least 4 games, applied because the question set no minimum and a rate over a handful is not a ranking.

This season

#	Player	Games	Carries per game
1	Bijan Robinson	3	22.00
2	Derrick Henry	3	22.00
3	Jonathan Taylor	3	22.00
4	Jahmyr Gibbs	3	21.67
5	Kenneth Walker III	3	21.67
6	Ashton Jeanty	3	21.00
7	James Cook	3	19.33
8	D'Andre Swift	3	18.00
9	Aaron Jones	3	17.33
10	Breece Hall	3	17.00
11	Cam Skattebo	3	16.67
12	Omarion Hampton	3	16.67
13	Chase Brown	3	16.33
14	Jacory Croskey-Merritt	3	15.67
15	Jordan Mason	1	15.00

2026 so far. everyone who matched -- the usual four-game minimum was dropped because nobody in this window has played that many yet, so read a one or two game rate as the small sample it is.

What this number is worth

A backfield split is a coaching decision made in advance, and it is one of the most stable things a staff does.

The single largest effect measured anywhere in this project runs through this column: when a lead back does not play, his backup gains about 5.3 carries and 20 rushing yards, which is several times the size of any matchup signal.

Split-half reliability 0.92 (0.96 projected to a full season) across 801 player-seasons, 2018–2025, every player with at least four games in each half of a season. Measured 2026-09-29 by tools/reliability_players.py; the boards above are built by the same query engine the assistant uses.

Snap Share Leaders — and Why It Is the Most Reliable Number in FantasyThe most repeatable thing a player does Target Share Leaders — the Best Receiving Signal There IsRepeats at 0.93 Targets Per Game LeadersRepeats at 0.92 Catches Per Game LeadersRepeats at 0.89