Another NFL season is in the books, and while all the awards have been handed out and the Saints are the Super Bowl champs, I like to invite people to remove the illusions of name, reputation, media market, etc. and examine my NFL Field Impact Counter. There are only four positions on the football field where we can truly use statistics to rank a player?s performance in the same way we can for the other three major sports. Intangibles such as how a running back picks up the blitz or how well a wide receiver blocks for his down-field runners do not appear on stat sheets, and in order to get a truly objective statistical ranking, these elements are, unfortunately, overlooked. But things such as yards per carry, first downs, fumbles, and many other variables are all taken into account in my formula for a single objective figure. Players are ranked from highest to lowest by the total FIC for the season, not per game because players only give contribute to a team when they are playing. Beside each player?s actual salary, we slide in raw cap value figures of the position, ranked top to bottom, which determines their ?deserved? salary. The player who has the highest FIC receives the highest ?deserved? salary. The player with the second highest FIC receives the second highest salary. The player with the hundredth highest FIC receives the hundredth highest salary. We then calculate the percentage increase or decrease from the actual and deserved and that figure becomes their Reina Value. The Reina Value is a valuation system that quickly determines how players perform in relation to their contracts or, in the case of the NFL, their cap value. To put the FIC into some context, here is a sampling of some extraordinary FIC seasons over the years: - Marshall Faulk, 1999: 1,212 (1,381 rushing yards, 1,048 receiving yards, 87 receptions, 12 total TDs) - Daunte Culpepper, 2004: 1,212 (39 passing TDs, 4,557 passing yards, 406 rushing yards) - Tom Brady, 2007: 1,203 (50 passing TDs/4,806 passing yards, 117.2 passer rating) - LaDainian Tomlinson, 2003: 1,167 (1,645 yards rushing, 725 yards receiving, 17 total TDs) - Marvin Harrison, 2002: 1,151 (143 receptions, 1,722 yards, 11 TDs, 92 first downs) - Priest Holmes, 2002: 1,150 (1,616 yards rushing, 672 yards receiving, 24 total TDs) - LaDainian Tomlinson, 2006: 1,137 (31 total TDs, 1,815 rushing yards) - Peyton Manning, 2004: 1,106 (49 passing TDs/4,557 passing yards) - Barry Sanders, 1997: 1,032 (2,053 yards rushing, 14 total TDs) Quarterbacks 1. Aaron Rodgers: 1,031, 120% Rodgers was ranked fourth in passer rating (103.2), fourth in yards per pass attempt (8.20), fourth in touchdowns (30) and threw only seven interceptions, dropping his rate from 2.4% of his attempts to 1.3% (best in the NFL) of his attempts. He surpassed his peers because he played a full 16 games (unlike Brees and Peyton) and more importantly, he rushed for 316 yards, 25 first downs and five touchdowns. 2. David Garrard: 841, 86% Garrard was ranked 17th in passer rating with a mark of 83.5, but he rushed for 323 yards with three touchdowns. 3. Matt Schaub: 827, 48% Without an effective running game, Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson carried a huge load of the Houston offense. Schaub led the NFL in passing yards with 4,770 and not surprisingly also pass attempts and completions. 4. Drew Brees: 809, 37% Drew Brees would have been an easy number two on this list had he played in Week 17, but he still finished with an NFL-best passer rating of 109.6 and 34 touchdowns. Brees threw a touchdown reception in 6.6% of his pass attempts, which was the highest rate. 5. Tony Romo: 794, 212% It wasn't too long ago when you would hear consistent murmurs that the Cowboys could do better than Tony Romo at quarterback. Unless they're dealing for Peyton, Rodgers or Brees, just about any other quarterback they could possibly acquire would be a lateral move or a step back. Romo has the third highest active passer rating, ahead of Peyton, Warner, Brady and Brees, with a mark of 95.6. Romo had a 97.6 passer rating, throwing for 4,483 yards, 26 touchdowns, an excellent interception percentage of just 1.6% and he even secured his first playoff win. 6. Jason Campbell: 793, 250% Campbell's presence in the sixth slot may not pass the eye test, but he did have a respectable passer rating of 86.4 to go with 236 yards rushing while playing quarterback for a Jim Zorn offense that was in dead man walking mode from September onward. I'm not sure if he will be Mike Shanahan's solution in the long-term, but he could be incredibly useful in a situation like Minnesota (if Favre doesn't return), Carolina, San Francisco, Oakland or Buffalo. 7. Peyton Manning: 779, -38% Manning became the unquestioned best quarterback in the game this season in the minds of a lot of people, but it was still the third consecutive season in which he had a passer rating under 100.0, though barely at 99.9. With Tony Dungy retiring and the first-year Jim Caldwell replacing him, no quarterback has ever had more of an impact on his team than Manning. He completed 393 passes for a completion percentage of 68.8%, both personal bests. He continued to throw more shorter passes, using Dallas Clark with even greater frequency, though he did have an uptick in interceptions with 16 in his 571 attempts. 8. Tom Brady: 776, -11% Brady returned from the lost 2008 with clearly the second best statistical season of his career. He threw 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, compared to 50 and 8, but his 96.2 passer rating was the second best of his career, as was his completion percentage (65.7) and passing yards (4,398). 9. Ben Roethlisberger: 762, -9% Even though the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2008, Roethlisberger had a down season, posting a passer rating of 80.1 and just 17 touchdowns compared to 15 interceptions. Roethlisberger returned to his 2007 form during the 2009 season, with a 100.5 passer rating, 26 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a career high of 506 pass attempts. 10. Philip Rivers: 754, 0% Rivers led the NFL in yards per pass attempt with 8.8 and was third in passer rating with 104.4. Rivers enjoyed multiple huge targets and helped San Diego remain an offensively productive team despite the absolute collapse of an effective running game. 11. Brett Favre: 733, -4% Brett Favre's greatest season? Well, at least it was in terms of passer rating with his 107.2 beating out the 99.5 he posted in 1995. Favre also had more yards per attempt with 7.9. But this season ranks 12th in pass attempts, as Favre had to do a lot less for a Minnesota team that featured a very good running game and a stifling defense. 12. Jay Cutler: 727, 0% I've been a big believer in Jay Cutler since he came into the NFL, but his 2009 with a 76.8 passer rating is unquestionably disappointing. His receiver core was young, inexperienced and fairly average in terms of talent, but his sky-high 4.7 interception percentage was unacceptable. 13. Eli Manning: 689, -18% Manning had the finest season of his career with career highs in passer rating (93.1), yards per game (251.3) and completion percentage (62.3%). 14. Kyle Orton: 673, 836% Orton had a passer rating of 86.8 and 237.6 yards per game, which both shattered his previous highs. 15. Donovan McNabb: 666, -41% McNabb had another very good season (92.9 passer rating), but the Eagles also had two horrible games in consecutive weeks in Dallas and the cries for Kevin Kolb are growing. 16. Kurt Warner: 630, -16% 17. Joe Flacco: 615, 94% 18. Carson Palmer: 589, -37% 19. Vince Young: 564, 90% 20. Matt Hasselbeck: 551, -9% 21. Matt Cassel: 545, -57% 22. Matt Ryan: 519, -42% 23. Chad Henne: 462, 834% 24. Mark Sanchez: 451, 99% 25. Matthew Stafford: 422, 57% 26. Josh Freeman: 404, 235% 27. Alex Smith: 399, -19% 28. Ryan Fitzpatrick : 333, 76% 29. Jake Delhomme: 321, -56% 30. Brady Quinn: 289, 111% 31. Trent Edwards: 260, 281% 32. Marc Bulger: 224, -67% 33. Kerry Collins: 192, -56% 34. JaMarcus Russell: 166, -80% 35. Matt Moore: 165, 465% Running Backs 1. Chris Johnson: 1,109, 761% Chris Johnson had an absolutely historical season, surpassing the season Barry Sanders had in 1997. His 2,006 rushing yards ranks him fifth all-time for a single season, ahead of O.J. Simpson's 2,003 in 1972, which was the leader until Eric Dickerson in 1984. Players usually get only one season to go for Dickerson's record of 2,105 and the Titans are already signaling that they will limit Johnson's touches in 2010. Barry Sanders is the only running back to be in the top 15 twice in terms of single season rushing yards, so we will probably see Johnson hover in the 1,500-1,700 range over the next couple of seasons. What made Johnson's 2009 so special beyond the rushing yards was his 50 catches for 503 yards. Dickerson had 139 yards receiving in his record-breaking year, while Jamal Lewis (205), Barry Sanders (305) and Terrell Davis (217) all came up significantly short. 2. Ray Rice: 952, 1028% Rice followed up a promising rookie season in 2008 by becoming one of the most dangerous and valuable backs in the entire NFL in 2009. He had 1,339 yards of rushing (excellent 5.3 average) along with 78 receptions for 702 yards. Rice joined Dickerson, Edgerrin James, Frank Gore, Tomlinson and fellow second-year back Johnson, as the only running backs to have more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage in their second season. 3. Adrian Peterson: 784, 141% Despite a relatively down season, Peterson still led all players in total touchdowns with 18. His yards per carry average dipped for the second consecutive season, down to 4.4 from the 5.6 of his rookie season. But he became a more frequently targeted receiver out of the backfield, catching more than twice as many balls (43) for 436 yards. Peterson has the fifth most yards (4,484) during his first three seasons in the NFL and is second only to Sanders amongst players with at least 4k yards in terms of yards per attempt with 4.93. 4. Maurice Jones-Drew: 778, 8% Jones-Drew received 115 more carries in 2009 than he did in 2008 and he responded with a higher yards per carry average and his first season with over 1,000 yards, finishing with 1,391. He was less effective as a receiver out of the backfield, catching 53 balls for 374 yards (7.1 average), compared to 62 balls for 565 yards (9.1 average) in 2009. Jones-Drew and Reggie Bush will always be linked since they both played college football in Los Angeles, were both drafted in 2006 and are similar multi-purpose backs. After their first four seasons, Jones-Drew has 1,832 more yards from scrimmage than Bush and 24 more total touchdowns. 5. Frank Gore: 691, 2% With yet another offensive coordinator, Gore had an excellent 2009 with 1,526 total yards from scrimmage. He wasn't the superduperstar he was in 2006, but his yards per carry average climbed back up from 4.3 to 4.9. 6. Steven Jackson: 683, 0% Jackson rushed for over 1,000 yards for the fifth consecutive season, demonstrating again he is one of the game's most reliable backs. Jackson is ranked 20th all-time in total yards from scrimmage over his first six seasons. 7. Jamaal Charles: 654, 947% Charles had excellent numbers during his rookie season despite limited opportunities, rushing 67 times for a 5.3 average and catching 27 balls for 272 yards. Once Larry Johnson Tweeted his way out of Kansas City, Charles exploded and finished the season with 1,417 total yards from scrimmage and a remarkable 5.9 yards per carry average. He averaged 164.5 yards rushing per game over his final four games and even though 259 were in Week 17 against Denver, he gives a lot of reason for optimism heading into 2010. 8. Fred Jackson: 594, 330% Similar to Charles, Fred Jackson was aided by a 212 yards rushing performance in Week 17, this time against a Colts team looking towards the playoffs. Jackson played the Lou Gehrig to Marshawn Lynch's Wally Pipp this season, filling in well enough for the former first rounder to be considered by some to be the superior option moving forward. 9. Ricky Williams: 591, 43% Williams finished 10th in the NFL in rushing yards seven seasons after his 2002 when he had 1,853 and led the league. There have only been three other backs to rush for more yards in a single season (John Riggins twice, Walter Payton, John Henry Johnson) to rush for more yards at the age of 32 or older than Williams. 10. Ryan Grant: 588, 25% The Green Bay offense was largely driven by Aaron Rodgers, but Grant had over 1,200 yards for the second consecutive season while finding the end zone 11 times an rushing for 4.4 yards per carry. 11. DeAngelo Williams: 583, 190% Williams didn't explode the way he did at the end of 2008, but he still had over 1,000 yards and a very efficient 5.2 yards per carry. Carolina also used him more effectively as a receiver out of the backfield the way they did when he was a rookie, finishing with 29 catches for 252 yards. 12. Rashard Mendenhall: 554, 204% Mendenhall rebounded from his 58 yard rookie season to become Pittsburgh's featured back with 1,108 yards on 242 carries (4.6 yards per attempt average). 13. Matt Forte: 545, 470% Forte led all running backs in FIC last season, but his usage predictably was decreased this season in the wake of the Cutler trade. Forte's modest 3.9 yard per carry average decreased to 3.6 this season and he had 315 fewer yards from scrimmage. Forte ranks 18th for most yards from scrimmage during a player's first two seasons. 14. Thomas Jones: 537, 70% Jones was a true workhorse in 2009, finishing second in attempts with 331 while maintaining a 4.5 yards per carry average. Priest Holmes, Curtis Martin and John Riggins are the only other backs to rush for at least 1,300 yards and 14 total touchdowns in a single season while in their 30s; Thomas Jones has now done it twice in each of the past two seasons. 15. Joseph Addai: 535, 153% Addai remained healthy and staved off Donald Brown to remain the featured back for the Colts. He had 1,164 total yards from scrimmage and a 3.8 yards per carry average, but he is still quite a ways away from his first two seasons in terms of production. 16. Jonathan Stewart: 534, 2% 17. Pierre Thomas: 518, 759% 18. Tim Hightower: 503, 764% 19. Cedric Benson: 484, 25% 20. Marion Barber: 482, 43% 21. Kevin Smith: 467, 470% 22. Justin Forsett: 463, 728% 23. Jerome Harrison: 454, 447% 24. Knowshon Moreno: 448, 78% 25. Darren Sproles: 442, -54% 26. Ahmad Bradshaw: 423, 531% 27. Cadillac Williams: 420, -31% 28. LeSean McCoy: 409, 302% 29. Reggie Bush: 405, -79% 30. Jason Snelling: 389, 435% 31. Steve Slaton: 386, 326% 32. Correll Buckhalter: 379, 39% 33. Brandon Jacobs: 372, -59% 34. Julius Jones: 368, -28% 35. Beanie Wells: 363, 64% 36. Michael Turner: 355, -49% 37. Chester Taylor: 342, -51% 38. Felix Jones: 339, 22% 39. LaDainian Tomlinson: 336, -77% 40. Laurence Maroney: 321, -1% 41. Willis McGahee: 319, -46% 42. Ronnie Brown: 312, -72% 43. Michael Bush: 271, 180% 44. Maurice Morris: 256, -32% 45. Marshawn Lynch: 242, -29% 46. Tashard Choice: 233, 201% 47. Justin Fargas: 228, -53% 48. Rock Cartwright: 224, 38% 49. Sammy Morris: 224 , 3% 50. Brian Westbrook: 222, -79% 51. Darren McFadden: 221, -70% 52. Derrick Ward: 221, -63% 53. Mike Bell: 214, 156% 54. Ryan Moats: 202, 119% 55. Donald Brown: 189, 0% 56. Ladell Betts: 183, -50% 57. Jerious Norwood: 182, 53% 58. Leon Washington: 182, 62% 59. Shonn Greene: 181, 95% 60. Brian Leonard: 168, 125% Wide Receivers 1. Andre Johnson: 995, 42% Johnson had over 1,500 yards for the second consecutive season in 2009, joining just Marvin Harrison in accomplishing that feat. He had career highs in yards per catch (15.5) and touchdowns (9). 2. Wes Welker: 883, 148% Despite playing in just 14 games, Welker set a career high in receptions (123) and receiving yards (1,348). There have been only 66 seasons in which a player has finished with over 100 receptions and it was Welker's third consecutive time. Jerry Rice (94-96), Herman Moore (95-97) and Brandon Marshall (97-99) are the only other receivers to do it three consecutive times as well, while Marvin Harrison did it four times between 99 and 02. 3. Reggie Wayne: 855, 40% Wayne had at least 1,000 yards receiving for the sixth consecutive season, proving to be every bit as consistent as Harrison was before him. 4. Miles Austin: 850, 480% Austin went from occasional big play threat to frequent big play threat during the 2009 season, beginning with his 250 yard game at Kansas City. He followed that performance with a 171 yard week against Atlanta, but then he largely was contained over the next five weeks before finishing the season with over 106 yards per game during the final six weeks of the regular season. 5. Sidney Rice: 833, 931% Rice had a true bust out season in 2009, going from a 15 catch, 141 yard receiver in 2008 to an 83 catch, 1,312 yard guy in 2009. His 141 yard, three touchdown game in the Divisional round against Dallas was a starmaking performance. 6. Randy Moss: 832, -16% Moss had a relatively quiet 2009, but he still had double-digit TDs for the ninth time in his career and over 1,000 yards for the 10th time. He moved into second place all-time in reception touchdowns behind Jerry Rice with 148. He is sixth in terms of career receiving yards, but he'll pass Marvin Harrison and Tim Brown into fourth place by Week 7 or 8 in 2010. 7. Steve Smith (NYG): 813 , 959% Deep threat, little guy, No. 89 Steve Smith may now become known as 'The Other Steve Smith' if No. 12 continues to be one of the game's most reliable possession receivers as he was for Eli Manning in 2009. He caught 107 balls for 1,220 yards, following up a promising 2008. 8. Santonio Holmes: 791, 315% In Holmes' fourth NFL season, he followed up his Super Bowl MVP performance with 1,248 receiving yards and five touchdowns. 9. Larry Fitzgerald: 777, -30% Even though Fitzgerald wasn't able to finish the season with over 1,400 receiving yards for the third consecutive season and fourth in his career, he did have 1,092 yards and a career-best 13 touchdowns. Fitzgerald just finished his sixth season in the NFL and he ranks fifth all-time during that timeframe, behind legends such as Moss, Holt, Rice and Harrison. 10. Brandon Marshall: 767, 227% Marshall had over 1,100 yards and 100 receptions for the third consecutive season despite the change at quarterback from Cutler to Kyle Orton. Marshall is the only wide receiver with at least 100 receptions in his second, third and fourth season in the NFL. 11. Roddy White: 766, -8% 12. Hines Ward: 755, 22% 13. Vincent Jackson: 755, 664% 14. DeSean Jackson: 715, 486% 15. Marques Colston: 696, 79% 16. Greg Jennings: 693, -22% 17. Chad Ochocinco: 686, -18% 18. Derrick Mason: 677, 34% 19. Donald Driver: 670, -11% 20. Anquan Boldin: 650, 20% 21. Steve Smith (CAR): 627, -37% 22. Calvin Johnson: 615, -35% 23. T.J. Houshmandzadeh: 592, -14% 24. Santana Moss: 566, 0% 25. Mike Sims-Walker: 566, 933% 26. Mario Manningham: 529, 708% 27. Jerricho Cotchery: 527, 15% 28. Terrell Owens: 523, -34% 29. Percy Harvin: 522, 228% 30. Nate Burleson: 516, -2% 31. Davone Bess: 503, 884% 32. Jeremy Maclin: 497, 188% 33. Devery Henderson: 496, 62% 34. Hakeem Nicks: 494, 205% 35. Devin Hester: 480, -47% 36. Pierre Garcon: 478, 774% 37. Malcom Floyd: 474, 122% 38. Robert Meachem: 471, 134% 39. Austin Collie: 470, 659% 40. Mike Wallace: 470, 910% 41. Jabar Gaffney: 466, 60% 42. Steve Breaston: 459, 431% 43. Earl Bennett: 450, 354% 44. Torry Holt: 442, -22% 45. Kenny Britt: 437, 133% 46. Bernard Berrian: 419, -59% 47. Lee Evans: 412, -63% 48. Kevin Walter: 402, 20% 49. Michael Jenkins: 402, -59% 50. Patrick Crayton: 400, -13% 51. Roy E. Williams: 395, -59% 52. Michael Crabtree: 393, 26% 53. Nate Washington: 391, -50% 54. Donnie Avery: 390, 7% 55. Dwayne Bowe: 388, 29% 56. Chris Chambers: 385, -65% 57. Antonio Bryant: 384, -81% 58. Muhsin Muhammad: 381, 4% 59. Mohamed Massaquoi: 380, 163% 60. Jason Avant: 371, 55% 61. Johnny Knox: 356, 385% 62. Greg Camarillo: 355, -10% 63. Laveranues Coles: 354, -79% 64. Josh Morgan: 351, 271% 65. Braylon Edwards: 348, -60% Tight Ends 1. Dallas Clark: 757, 0% Clark joined elite company this season by surpassing the 1,000 yard mark for the first time in his career in 2009. He also had 10 touchdowns, increasing his career total to 41. 2. Antonio Gates: 754, 49% In his seventh season, Gates had the best season of his career, with a career best 1,157 yards and an excellent 14.6 yards per catch. Gates' first seven seasons eclipses that of every other tight end in both yards (6,223) and touchdowns (59). 3. Jason Witten: 667, 35% Witen was the third member of the 1,000 yard club in 2009, something he also did with two other tight ends (Gates and Winslow Jr.) in 2007. Witten only gets overshadowed by Gates, who also came into the NFL during the 2003 season. 4. Vernon Davis: 666, 6% Davis finally became a consistent offensive threat, catching 78 balls for 965 yards and 13 touchdowns. 5. Brent Celek: 644, 861% Celek had 971 yards, the most by any Philadelphia tight end since Pete Retzlaff during the 1965 season when he had 1,190. 6. Tony Gonzalez: 601, 4% Gonzalez continued to pile on top of his historical tight end numbers with 867 yards and six touchdowns in his first season in Atlanta. 7. Kellen Winslow: 591, -10% 8. Heath Miller: 528, -2% 9. Zach Miller: 515, 537% 10. Jermichael Finley: 442, 706% 11. Greg Olsen: 439, 197% 12. Visanthe Shiancoe: 432, 10% 13. Todd Heap: 413, -49% 14. John Carlson: 400, 273% 15. Jeremy Shockey: 377, -1% 16. Kevin Boss: 377, 499% 17. Fred Davis: 364, 294% 18. Owen Daniels: 348, 0% 19. Dustin Keller: 338, 69% 20. Marcedes Lewis: 316, -14% 21. Bo Scaife: 289, -51% 22. Benjamin Watson: 276, 167% 23. Tony Scheffler: 268, 279% 24. David Thomas: 236, 50% 25. Brandon Pettigrew: 228, 214% Field Impact Counter Formulas Quarterbacks .25 Completions - .5 Incomplete Passes + .1 Yards + 4 Touchdowns - Interceptions + First Downs - Sacks .5 Rushing Yards - Rushing Attempts + 5 Rushing Touchdowns + Rushing First downs - Lost Fumbles Running Backs + 5 Rushing Touchdowns + .5 Rushing Yards - Rushing Attempts + Rushing First downs - 5 Rushing Fumbles + Receptions + .5 Receiving Yards + 5 Receiving Touchdowns + Receiving First Downs - 5 Receiving Fumbles Wide Receivers/Tight Ends 5 Touchdowns +.5 Receiving Yards + Receptions + First Downs - 5 Fumbles Jeff Risdon has also recently published his top-50 players in the NFL, which can be read here. It is a subjective look and includes players beyond the skilled positions.