College Football Stat Leaders
Source-provided CFBD Predicted Points Added allowed per defensive play.
Seasons Covered
2004-2025
Current Leader
James Madison (-0.069)
Best Season
Texas State 2004 (-0.213)
Scope
All Conferences • 2017
Crawl sibling stat pages without leaving the shared leaderboard template.
Route-specific context pulled from the current leaderboard, winner trend, and historical baseline.
Defensive PPA is CFBD's source-provided scoring-value metric allowed by a defense, so lower numbers are better because they indicate opponents created less value per play. On this 2017 leaderboard, the visible range runs -0.069 to -0.011, with James Madison setting the pace.
Big Ten Conference places 2 of the current top 5 teams, while Mid-American Conference owns the most recent yearly winner slot in the trend table.
The gap from No. 1 James Madison to No. 5 Michigan is 0.059, which shows how tightly packed the top of this leaderboard is.
The yearly winning mark improved from -0.010 in 2024 to -0.078 in 2025, a swing of 0.067. James Madison's current mark of -0.069 sits above the all-time average leader benchmark of -0.009 held by Alabama.
Top 25 rows for the current route scope.
Yearly winning values for the current filter scope.
| Season | Team | Conference at time | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Toledo | Mid-American Conference | -0.078 |
| 2024 | Ohio State | Big Ten Conference | -0.010 |
| 2023 | Penn State | Big Ten Conference | -0.014 |
| 2022 | Marshall | Sun Belt Conference | -0.043 |
| 2021 | Georgia | Southeastern Conference | -0.046 |
| 2020 | San Diego State | Mountain West Conference | 0.001 |
| 2019 | Ohio State | Big Ten Conference | -0.011 |
| 2018 | Mississippi State | Southeastern Conference | -0.053 |
| 2017 | James Madison | Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference | -0.069 |
| 2016 | Alabama | Southeastern Conference | -0.102 |
| 2015 | Boston College | Atlantic Coast Conference | -0.086 |
| 2014 | Penn State | Big Ten Conference | -0.045 |
| 2013 | Georgia Southern | Southern Conference | -0.086 |
| 2012 | Michigan State | Big Ten Conference | -0.080 |
| 2011 | Alabama | Southeastern Conference | -0.137 |
| 2010 | Georgia Southern | Southern Conference | -0.080 |
| 2009 | Texas | Big 12 Conference | -0.099 |
| 2008 | USC | Pacific-10 Conference | -0.106 |
| 2007 | Oregon State | Pac-12 Conference | -0.113 |
| 2006 | Western Kentucky | Missouri Valley Football Conference | -0.168 |
| 2005 | UL Monroe | Sun Belt Conference | -0.184 |
| 2004 | Texas State | Southland Conference | -0.213 |
Average across seasons for each team in the current filter scope.
| Rank | Team | Seasons | Average | Best Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | -0.009 | 2004 (-0.177) |
| 2 | Clemson | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.011 | 2004 (-0.065) |
| 3 | Ohio State | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.018 | 2004 (-0.104) |
| 4 | Iowa | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.031 | 2004 (-0.134) |
| 5 | Penn State | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.033 | 2014 (-0.045) |
| 6 | Georgia | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.036 | 2004 (-0.071) |
| 7 | Wisconsin | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.037 | 2006 (-0.095) |
| 8 | Michigan | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.038 | 2004 (-0.146) |
| 9 | Boise State | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.051 | 2004 (-0.139) |
| 10 | TCU | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.053 | 2008 (-0.097) |
| 11 | Utah | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.053 | 2004 (-0.106) |
| 12 | LSU | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.055 | 2004 (-0.115) |
| 13 | Florida State | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.058 | 2004 (-0.149) |
| 14 | Florida | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.060 | 2008 (-0.060) |
| 15 | Notre Dame | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.061 | 2004 (-0.029) |
| 16 | Virginia Tech | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.061 | 2004 (-0.186) |
| 17 | Miami | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.061 | 2004 (-0.116) |
| 18 | Oregon | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.061 | 2004 (-0.077) |
| 19 | Texas | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.066 | 2009 (-0.099) |
| 20 | Oklahoma | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.067 | 2004 (-0.103) |
| 21 | San Diego State | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.067 | 2004 (-0.047) |
| 22 | Auburn | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.069 | 2004 (-0.117) |
| 23 | Boston College | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.070 | 2008 (-0.095) |
| 24 | Pittsburgh | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.072 | 2004 (-0.081) |
| 25 | Michigan State | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 | 0.073 | 2012 (-0.080) |
James Madison ranks first at -0.069 in 2017.
The top of the 2017 leaderboard is separated by 0.059 from No. 1 to No. 5, which shows whether this season had a runaway leader or a tightly packed race.
James Madison's 2017 mark of -0.069 clears the all-time average leader benchmark of -0.009 held by Alabama.