Light box rate
The box is the area near the line of scrimmage between the offensive tackles, and a light box is one with six or fewer defenders in it at the snap. Light box rate is the share of a running back's designed runs that met a light box, as FTN's charters count the box.
FTN's charters count the defenders in the box on every running play. A designed run — a handoff or pitch to a back, not a quarterback scramble — into six or fewer of them is a light box. The rate divides those runs by all of a back's designed runs with a charted box count. Runs where no box was recorded are left out of both halves rather than counted either way.
Light Box Rate — 2026 leaders
| # | Player | Light% | Light | Runs | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travis Etienne | 76.7% | 23 | 30 | |
| 2 | Christian McCaffrey | 62.9% | 22 | 35 | |
| 3 | Chuba Hubbard | 61.0% | 25 | 41 | |
| 4 | Jaylen Warren | 60.5% | 23 | 38 | |
| 5 | Jeremiyah Love | 56.1% | 23 | 41 | |
| 6 | Saquon Barkley | 55.9% | 19 | 34 | |
| 7 | Jonathan Taylor | 54.5% | 36 | 66 | |
| 8 | Omarion Hampton | 54.0% | 27 | 50 | |
| 9 | Kyle Monangai | 53.3% | 16 | 30 | |
| 10 | Kaelon Black | 52.0% | 13 | 25 |
Why it matters
Fewer defenders near the line means more room to run, so a back who sees light boxes is being handed easier carries — usually because his offense spreads the field or because the defense is worried about the pass. Reading his rushing numbers next to this rate separates what he was given from what he made of it.
The counter
This is FTN's count of the box, not Next Gen Stats', and the two count differently. Light box rate is not the reverse of the stacked box rate on Muffed's stacked box board, which measures eight or more defenders from tracking data.
More football stats explained
- EPA (expected points added)
- EPA per dropback
- Success rate
- CPOE (completion percentage over expected)
- ANY/A (adjusted net yards per attempt)
- RYOE (rushing yards over expected)
- Target share
- Air yards share
- WOPR (weighted opportunity rating)
- aDOT (average depth of target)
- YAC over expected
- Separation
- Pressure rate
- Blitz rate
- Man and zone coverage splits
- PROE (pass rate over expected)
- Stacked box rate
- Half-PPR (and how it differs from full PPR)
- The usage gap (snaps versus production)
- Pythagorean wins
- Stickiness (what repeats and what does not)
- Snap share
- Pass-snap share
- YPRR (yards per route run)
- Availability (the “stayed” rate)
- Handcuff
- Play-action rate
- Pre-snap motion rate
- Drop rate
- Contested catch rate
- Interception-worthy throws
- Quarterback-fault sacks
- Intended air yards (IAY)
- Deep ball rate
- QB Composite Rating
- Screen pass rate
- No-huddle rate
- RPO rate
- Throwaway rate
- Catchable throw rate
- Out-of-pocket rate
- Time to throw
- Aggressiveness
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