highest rushing yards per rush average career nfl player

Emmitt Smith has the most career rushing yards per rushing yard per attempt, with 4,409.

NAMEYDS/YPCRUSH YDSYPCGPATTRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
4,409
18,355
4.2
226
4,409
81.2
164
3,224
515
130
6.3
14.3
11
2Walter Payton
W. Payton
3,838
16,726
4.4
190
3,838
88.0
110
4,538
492
9.2
23.9
15
3Frank Gore
F. Gore
3,735
16,000
4.3
241
3,735
66.4
81
3,985
484
696
8.2
16.5
18
4Curtis Martin
C. Martin
3,518
14,101
4.0
168
3,518
83.9
90
3,329
484
409
6.9
19.8
10
5Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
3,479
13,662
3.9
192
3,479
71.2
91
1,449
200
100
7.2
7.5
3
6Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
3,230
14,918
4.6
184
3,230
81.1
120
2,474
305
423
8.1
13.4
6
7LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
3,174
13,684
4.3
170
3,174
80.5
145
4,772
624
868
7.6
28.1
17
8Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
3,062
15,269
5.0
153
3,062
99.8
99
2,921
352
8.3
19.1
10
9Edgerrin James
E. James
3,028
12,246
4.0
148
3,028
82.7
80
3,364
433
584
7.8
22.7
11
10Marcus Allen
M. Allen
3,022
12,243
4.1
222
3,022
55.1
123
5,411
587
9.2
24.4
21
11Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
2,996
13,259
4.4
146
2,996
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
12Franco Harris
F. Harris
2,949
12,120
4.1
173
2,949
70.1
91
2,287
307
7.4
13.2
9
13Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
2,936
12,739
4.3
173
2,936
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
14John Riggins
J. Riggins
2,916
11,352
3.9
175
2,916
64.9
104
2,090
250
8.4
11.9
12
15Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
2,877
12,074
4.2
182
2,877
66.3
65
4,458
472
29
9.4
24.5
23
16Eddie George
E. George
2,865
10,441
3.6
141
2,865
74.0
68
2,227
268
269
8.3
15.8
10
17Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
2,836
12,279
4.3
176
2,836
69.8
100
6,875
767
606
9.0
39.1
36
18Steven Jackson
S. Jackson
2,764
11,438
4.1
160
2,764
71.5
69
3,683
461
627
8.0
23.0
9
19Thomas Jones
T. Jones
2,678
10,591
4.0
180
2,678
58.8
68
2,023
308
410
6.6
11.2
3
20Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
2,669
10,967
4.1
181
2,669
60.6
49
4,339
510
594
8.5
24.0
15
21Derrick Henry
D. Henry
2,662
13,018
4.9
153
2,662
85.1
122
1,801
189
245
9.5
11.8
5
22Ricky Watters
R. Watters
2,622
10,643
4.1
144
2,622
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
23Corey Dillon
C. Dillon
2,618
11,241
4.3
150
2,618
74.9
82
1,913
244
278
7.8
12.8
7
24Ottis Anderson
O. Anderson
2,562
10,273
4.0
182
2,562
56.4
81
3,062
376
8.1
16.8
5
25Jamal Lewis
J. Lewis
2,542
10,607
4.2
131
2,542
81.0
58
1,879
221
298
8.5
14.3
4
StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards and rushing yards per attempt going back to the 1932 season.

More Cowboys Stats

Team Leaders

PASS

4,552

Prescott

Dak Prescott

RUSH

1,201

Williams

Javonte Williams

REC

1,429

Pickens

George Pickens
Team Rankings

PPG

27.7

7th

OPP PPG

30.1

32nd

RUSH YDS/G

125.6

9th

PASS YDS/G

278.5

1st

2025 Division Standings
TEAMWLTPCT
11
6
0
.647
Cowboys Cowboys
7
9
1
.441
5
12
0
.294
4
13
0
.235
Last Game
DAL Cowboys

7 - 9 - 1

17

Final

34

NYG Giants

4 - 13

Sun 4 Jan 2026

NFL 2025 Leaders

NFL 2025 Rankings

NFL Fantasy 2025

NFL 2025 Betting

NFL 2025 Standings

AFC EastWLTPCT
14
3
0
.824
Bills Bills - w
12
5
0
.706
7
10
0
.412
Jets Jets - e
3
14
0
.176
AFC NorthWLTPCT
10
7
0
.588
8
9
0
.471
6
11
0
.353
5
12
0
.294
AFC SouthWLTPCT
13
4
0
.765
12
5
0
.706
Colts Colts - e
8
9
0
.471
3
14
0
.176
AFC WestWLTPCT
14
3
0
.824
11
6
0
.647
6
11
0
.353
3
14
0
.176
NFC EastWLTPCT
11
6
0
.647
7
9
1
.441
5
12
0
.294
4
13
0
.235
NFC NorthWLTPCT
Bears Bears - y
11
6
0
.647
9
7
1
.559
9
8
0
.529
Lions Lions - e
9
8
0
.529
NFC SouthWLTPCT
8
9
0
.471
8
9
0
.471
8
9
0
.471
6
11
0
.353
NFC WestWLTPCT
14
3
0
.824
Rams Rams - w
12
5
0
.706
49ers 49ers - w
12
5
0
.706
3
14
0
.176

NFL 2025 Scores & Schedule

Scores

DATEMATCHUPSCORE
Wed
10/8
@
17-34
Sat
10/11
@
13-11
Sat
10/11
@
27-31
Sat
10/11
@
17-3
Sat
10/11
@
9-23

Schedule

DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Sat
1/17
@
4:30 PM
Sat
1/17
@
8:00 PM
Sun
1/18
@
3:00 PM
Sun
1/18
@
6:30 PM