Between the 1980 and 1989 seasons, Herschel Walker had the most rushing yards, with 5,259 yards.

Interpreted as:

most rushing yards by a player in the 1980s

	NAME	RUSH YDS	GP	ATT	YPC	RUSH YDS/G	RUSH TD	REC YDS	REC	AVG	REC YDS/G	REC TD
1	Herschel Walker H. Walker	5,259	33	994	5.3	159.4	49	243	26	9.3	7.4	3
2	Anthony Thompson A. Thompson	4,965	44	1,089	4.6	112.8	64	713	94	7.6	16.2	1
3	Paul Palmer P. Palmer	4,895	44	944	5.2	111.3	39	709	87	8.1	16.1	4
4	Steve Bartalo S. Bartalo	4,813	43	1,211	4.0	111.9	46	1,079	132	8.2	25.1	3
5	Mike Rozier M. Rozier	4,780	35	668	7.2	136.6	49	216	20	10.8	6.2	2
6	Thurman Thomas T. Thomas	4,595	44	898	5.1	104.4	42	551	78	7.1	12.5	1
7	Darrell Thompson D. Thompson	4,518	44	911	5.0	102.7	40	337	47	7.2	7.7	3
8	Lorenzo White L. White	4,513	43	991	4.6	105.0	41	268	36	7.4	6.2	0
9	Bo Jackson B. Jackson	4,303	45	650	6.6	95.6	43	272	26	10.5	6.0	2
10	Reggie Taylor R. Taylor	4,242	44	876	4.8	96.4	24	776	105	7.4	17.6	2
11	Napoleon McCallum N. McCallum	4,179	55	908	4.6	76.0	31	796	96	8.3	14.5	2
12	George Swarn G. Swarn	4,172	44	881	4.7	94.8	22	1,057	117	9.0	24.0	7
13	Curtis Adams C. Adams	4,162	38	761	5.5	109.5	43	220	32	6.9	5.8	1
14	Allen Pinkett A. Pinkett	4,131	43	889	4.6	96.1	49	774	73	10.6	18.0	3
15	James Gray J. Gray	4,066	44	742	5.5	92.4	45	715	65	11.0	16.3	7
16	Robert Lavette R. Lavette	4,066	43	914	4.4	94.6	45	862	114	7.6	20.0	1
17	Dalton Hilliard D. Hilliard	4,050	44	882	4.6	92.0	44	1,133	120	9.4	25.8	6
18	Eric Dickerson E. Dickerson	3,973	33	675	5.9	120.4	41	155	13	11.9	4.7	1
19	Jamie Morris J. Morris	3,943	45	745	5.3	87.6	21	703	91	7.7	15.6	3
20	Emmitt Smith E. Smith	3,928	31	700	5.6	126.7	36	463	56	8.3	14.9	1
21	Marcus Allen M. Allen	3,905	22	757	5.2	177.5	36	448	59	7.6	20.4	2
22	Eric Wilkerson E. Wilkerson	3,830	42	739	5.2	91.2	36	506	44	11.5	12.0	0
23	Reggie Dupard R. Dupard	3,772	44	635	5.9	85.7	41	304	23	13.2	6.9	2
24	Greg Allen G. Allen	3,769	40	624	6.0	94.2	43	376	34	11.1	9.4	1
25	Tony Jeffery T. Jeffery	3,749	40	665	5.6	93.7	31	637	51	12.5	15.9	3