Usage / Role
54%
Regular offensive contributor
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2014-2017Iowa
James Butler
RB • 5'9" • 210 lbs • Bloomingdale, IL, USA
Balanced backfield optionSteady chain mover
James Butler leans balanced backfield option traits and 46.7 efficiency.
Impact Production
18
Developing production for a back
lowelite
Reliability
15
Sporadic game-to-game production
lowhigh
Star Power
23
Limited ceiling signals so far
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2016 Regular Season · Nevada
14141515161717
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 2
- Unique Seasons
- 4
- Program Path
- Nevada • Iowa
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Buffalo
Player Story
James Butler built his college career from 2014 through 2017 as a running back from Bloomingdale, IL wearing No. 20, spending time with Iowa and Nevada. The clearest part of James Butler's career was his backfield...
Read the story3★
- Committed To
- Nevada
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2014
James Butler, RB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2016 Regular Season · Nevada. James Butler leans balanced backfield option traits and 46.7 efficiency.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Scrimmage yards
- 4,197
- Rushing yards
- 3,712
- Receiving yards
- 485
- Touchdowns
- 31
Quick Answers
James Butler quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Iowa · RB
- Career Scrimmage Yards
- 4,197
- Tracked sample
- 4 unique seasons · 7 entries · 47 games
- Best season
- 2016 Regular Season · Nevada
- Top game
- Buffalo
- Recruit profile
- 3-star · St. Francis · Nevada
- High school pipeline
- St. Francis · 4 FBS recruits · 0 drafted players
- Latest roster
- No. 20 · Class 2017
- 2017 Scrimmage yards rank
- 443 scrimmage yards · RB 217th (top 36%) · Big Ten 55th (top 21%) · National 546th (top 23%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Scrimmage | Rush Yds | Rec Yds | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Postseason | Nevada | 13 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 46.1 |
| 2014 Regular Season | Nevada | 13 | 633 | 620 | 13 | 5 | 46.1 |
| 2015 Postseason | Nevada | 13 | 189 | 189 | 0 | 2 | 74.7 |
| 2015 Regular Season | Nevada | 13 | 1,200 | 1,156 | 44 | 8 | 74.7 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Nevada | 12 | 1,717 | 1,336 | 381 | 15 | 82.6 |
| 2017 Postseason | Iowa | 9 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 51.3 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Iowa | 9 | 411 | 364 | 47 | 1 | 51.3 |
Related Context
Keep exploring James Butler
James Butler played RB for Nevada and Iowa. Across 4 tracked seasons, James Butler recorded 3,712 rushing yards, 485 receiving yards, and 1 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2016 with Nevada.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2016 Regular Season
Nevada paired 1,717 primary output with 54.5 efficiency.
Supporting note
2017 Postseason role shape
backfield-heavy usage with 46.7 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2017 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Multi-stop career journey
Production spans 2 team stops, with role shifts visible across Nevada, Iowa.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Ohio State
Win with 74 yards from scrimmage and efficient touch value. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2017 Postseason · Iowa
Games
9
Scrimmage Yards / G
49.2
Efficiency
46.7
Usage
19.7
Consistency
76.4
Best Game by takeover score
Ohio State
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
Hover over a point
Hover or select a game to keep its context visible here without the page shifting around.
Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. Boston College: 32. Wyoming: 47. Iowa State: 63. North Texas: 74. Minnesota: 47. Ohio State: 74. Wisconsin: 30. Purdue: 40. Nebraska: 36
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Boston College: 10 by 33.3. Wyoming: 10 by 49. Iowa State: 11 by 47. North Texas: 16 by 48.2. Minnesota: 12 by 32.2. Ohio State: 10 by 77.1. Wisconsin: 9 by 37.3. Purdue: 8 by 54.8. Nebraska: 9 by 41.7
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins53.3 · Games = 7 · +18.3 vs Losses
Losses35 · Games = 2 · -18.3 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
9 games
Featured metric
Scrimmage Yards
Top game by takeover score
Ohio State
Best efficiency game
77.1 vs Ohio State
| Result | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 12/27 | @ Boston College | W 27-20 | 10 | 32 | 3.20 | 0 | — | — | 3.2 |
| Fri 11/24 | @ Nebraska | W 56-14 | 9 | 36 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 4 |
| Sat 11/18 | vs Purdue | L 15-24 | 7 | 38 | 5.40 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Sat 11/11 | @ Wisconsin | L 14-38 | 8 | 30 | 3.80 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.3 |
| Sat 11/4 | vs Ohio State | W 55-24 | 10 | 74 | 7.40 | 0 | — | — | 7.4 |
| Sat 10/28 | vs Minnesota | W 17-10 | 11 | 28 | 2.50 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 3.9 |
| Sat 9/16 | vs North Texas | W 31-14 | 16 | 74 | 4.60 | 0 | — | — | 4.6 |
| Sat 9/9 | @ Iowa State | W 44-41 | 10 | 37 | 3.70 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 5.7 |
| Sat 9/2 | vs Wyoming | W 24-3 | 10 | 47 | 4.70 | 0 | — | — | 4.7 |
Player Story
James Butler story
James Butler built his college career from 2014 through 2017 as a running back from Bloomingdale, IL wearing No. 20, spending time with Iowa and Nevada. The clearest part of James Butler's career was his backfield work: 3,712 rushing yards, 699 carries, 28 rushing touchdowns, and 485 receiving yards across 47 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2016 with Nevada. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
The value of the career arc is that it connects production to role, not just a name on a roster. His career also includes 485 receiving yards and 1 tackle, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. With 47 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Iowa and Nevada.
The arc is straightforward: James Butler moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Nevada
2014-2016
Opening stop
- 2
Iowa
2017
Final stop
Season Value Progression
2014201420152015201620172017
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Postseason | Nevada | 648 | 42.4 | 18.4 | — |
| 2014 Regular Season | Nevada | 648 | 42.4 | 18.4 | 0 |
| 2015 Postseason | Nevada | 1,389 | 62.5 | 29.5 | 741 |
| 2015 Regular Season | Nevada | 1,389 | 62.5 | 29.5 | 0 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Nevada | 1,717 | 54.5 | 43.7 | 328 |
| 2017 Postseason | Iowa | 443 | 46.7 | 19.7 | -1,274 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Iowa | 443 | 46.7 | 19.7 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ Buffalo
Week 4 · W 24-21
Win with 177 yards from scrimmage and efficient touch value.
177
Scrimmage Yards
94.4 takeover
177 scrimmage yards and 32.7 usage.
#2
@ Colorado State
Week 1 · W 28-23 · Postseason · Conference game
189
Scrimmage Yards
94 takeover
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
189 scrimmage yards and 53.3 usage.
#3
@ UNLV
Week 13 · W 45-10 · Conference game
244
Scrimmage Yards
88.6 takeover
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
244 scrimmage yards and 57.8 usage.
#4
@ Hawai'i
Week 5 · L 17-38 · Conference game
184
Scrimmage Yards
85.8 takeover
Loss driven by a workhorse rushing load.
184 scrimmage yards and 39.3 usage.
#5
@ Utah State
Week 12 · L 27-31 · Conference game
139
Scrimmage Yards
83.1 takeover
Loss with 139 yards from scrimmage and efficient touch value.
139 scrimmage yards and 32.1 usage.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2016 Regular Season · Nevada
1,717 primary output · 54.5 efficiency · 43.7 usage
82.6
#2
2015 Postseason · Nevada
74.7
1,389 primary · 62.5 efficiency · 29.5 usage
#3
2015 Regular Season · Nevada
74.7
1,389 primary · 62.5 efficiency · 29.5 usage
Milestones
16
100+ rush yards
8
150+ scrimmage yards
8
2+ TD games
Next best actions
Keep exploring James Butler
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