The Titles · A read

The nineteen who showed up in December

The Ring of Honor asks who was great. This asks who was great in December, and it gets a different answer nineteen times.

The measure is playoff PAR per playoff start: production above the position’s replacement level, in the weeks that eliminated somebody, divided by the number of times he was asked. The qualification is a rule rather than a round number.

At least 5 playoff starts, and at least +3.00 above replacement per start.
105 men clear the first · 19 clear both · QB, RB, WR and TE with ten or more career starts

A top twenty would have been one man longer and no more honest: the gap between the nineteenth and the twentieth is a fifth of a point a start, which is no gap at all. A floor still means something next February. A count has to be argued again every time somebody plays a playoff game.

The dial

Radius is rank by PAR per playoff start, innermost best. Arc length is the span of his playoff runs. Thickness is the rate. A gold block marks a December that ended in a championship, and six of the nineteen have none.

07080910111213141516171819202122232425Derrick Henry · 13 career PAR · 2020–2025Bijan Robinson · 9 career PAR · 2023–2025Jonathan Taylor · 8 career PAR · 2023–2025Dez Bryant · 8 career PAR · 2011–2016Jamaal Charles · 8 career PAR · 2009–2014Julio Jones · 6 career PAR · 2011–2014Christian McCaffrey · 6 career PAR · 2017–2023DeAndre Hopkins · 5 career PAR · 2015–2023Travis Kelce · 5 career PAR · 2015–2022Steven Jackson · 5 career PAR · 2007–2010Le'Veon Bell · 5 career PAR · 2013–2019Aaron Rodgers · 4 career PAR · 2008–2020Mark Andrews · 4 career PAR · 2020–2024Drew Brees · 4 career PAR · 2007–2016Miles Austin · 4 career PAR · 2009–2011LeSean McCoy · 4 career PAR · 2010–2016DeMarco Murray · 4 career PAR · 2012–2016Patrick Mahomes · 3 career PAR · 2018–2022Ja'Marr Chase · 3 career PAR · 2023–2025
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RB · December 2020–2025
+12.50
PAR per playoff start
5
Playoff starts
—
Titles
2nd
On the career fifty
December, run by run
2020 Reggie's 2 +10.0 +5.00
2024 Reggie's 1 +6.9 +6.93
2025 Reggie's 2 +45.5 +22.77
Playoff weeks only. His regular season is on his player file, not on this plate.

Compared to whom

Per playoff start against the qualifying field
Each mark is one qualifying career. The named men are the nineteen above the rule; the faint marks behind them are the other eighty-six.
The rule, +3.00 Median +0.25
Derrick Henry · +12.50 a start over 5 playoff starts · 1st of 19 above the rule, of 105 who qualified.
Field of 105 · median +0.25 · floor −6.58 · ceiling +12.50 · 58 of the 105 are above zero. The rule sits at +3.00 and 19 clear it. Plotting these men against the 480 career field would say nothing: most of the 480 have never started a playoff week.

The nineteen

# Player Pos PO starts Per start Playoff PAR Career PAR On the wall Titles
1 Derrick Henry RB 5 +12.50 +62.5 +500.7 2 —
2 Bijan Robinson RB 6 +8.75 +52.5 +152.7 50 3
3 Jonathan Taylor RB 6 +8.38 +50.3 +307.6 15 3
4 Dez Bryant WR 10 +7.87 +78.7 +151.7 — 2
5 Jamaal Charles RB 10 +7.65 +76.5 +232.1 29 1
6 Julio Jones WR 5 +6.40 +32.0 +294.7 17 —
7 Christian McCaffrey RB 6 +5.57 +33.4 +520.4 1 —
8 DeAndre Hopkins WR 7 +5.13 +35.9 +281.5 19 2
9 Travis Kelce TE 5 +4.88 +24.4 +470.4 4 1
10 Steven Jackson RB 5 +4.62 +23.1 +31.8 — 1
11 Le'Veon Bell RB 8 +4.58 +36.6 +269.1 20 —
12 Aaron Rodgers QB 15 +4.32 +64.8 +439.4 6 2
13 Mark Andrews TE 6 +4.23 +25.4 +128.8 — 2
14 Drew Brees QB 19 +3.89 +74.0 +453.6 5 2
15 Miles Austin WR 6 +3.85 +23.1 +13.8 — —
16 LeSean McCoy RB 9 +3.69 +33.2 +192.5 37 2
17 DeMarco Murray RB 8 +3.61 +28.9 +212.3 32 2
18 Patrick Mahomes QB 6 +3.22 +19.3 +291.1 18 —
19 Ja'Marr Chase WR 5 +3.14 +15.7 +253.2 22 3
Sorted on playoff PAR per playoff start. “On the wall” is his place on the career Ring of Honor, and an em-dash there means he is not on it at all. Career PAR is every start for every franchise; playoff PAR is the playoff weeks only.

The best playoff producer in the archive has never won one

Derrick Henry produced +12.50 above replacement every time he was asked to play a playoff game. That is 3.75 clear of the man behind him and the largest gap anywhere on this list. He has no championships. The two men directly beneath him, Bijan Robinson and Jonathan Taylor, have six between them and both of them play for the same franchise.

Reggie’s have reached two finals in nineteen seasons and lost both.

What it agrees with, and what it does not

15 of the 19 are on the career wall, so this is mostly the same men in a different order rather than a rival list. That is the reason it is worth publishing and the reason it is not a second Ring of Honor.

Four are not on the wall at all: Dez Bryant (+7.87 a start over 10), Steven Jackson (+4.62 a start over 5), Mark Andrews (+4.23 a start over 6) and Miles Austin (+3.85 a start over 6).

And the wall’s own leaders are not all here. Christian McCaffrey is first in the archive by career PAR and seventh on this list; Travis Kelce is fourth and ninth. Tyreek Hill, third by career, produced +0.8 across nine playoff starts and does not qualify at all.

Replacement in a playoff week is carried from that season's regular-season mean, because only the surviving teams field a lineup and a mean over two teams measures a man against his own opponent.

The Ring of Honor — the career fifty →
The Titles · A read

The nineteen who showed up in December

The Ring of Honor asks who was great. This asks who was great in December, and it gets a different answer nineteen times.

The measure is playoff PAR per playoff start: production above the position’s replacement level, in the weeks that eliminated somebody, divided by the number of times he was asked. The qualification is a rule rather than a round number.

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A top twenty would have been one man longer and no more honest: the gap between the nineteenth and the twentieth is a fifth of a point a start, which is no gap at all. A floor still means something next February. A count has to be argued again every time somebody plays a playoff game.

The dial

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December, run by run
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Compared to whom

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The nineteen

# Player Pos PO starts Per start Playoff PAR Career PAR On the wall Titles
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The best playoff producer in the archive has never won one

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Reggie’s have reached two finals in nineteen seasons and lost both.

What it agrees with, and what it does not

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And the wall’s own leaders are not all here. Christian McCaffrey is first in the archive by career PAR and seventh on this list; Travis Kelce is fourth and ninth. Tyreek Hill, third by career, produced +0.8 across nine playoff starts and does not qualify at all.

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The Ring of Honor — the career fifty →