most career yards from scrimmage by running backs

Emmitt Smith has the most career scrimmage yards by a running back, with 21,579 yards.

NAMEYDSGPRUSH YDSATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
21,579
226
18,355
4,409
4.2
81.2
164
3,224
515
130
6.3
14.3
11
2Walter Payton
W. Payton
21,264
190
16,726
3,838
4.4
88.0
110
4,538
492
9.2
23.9
15
3Frank Gore
F. Gore
19,985
241
16,000
3,735
4.3
66.4
81
3,985
484
696
8.2
16.5
18
4Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
19,154
176
12,279
2,836
4.3
69.8
100
6,875
767
606
9.0
39.1
36
5LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
18,456
170
13,684
3,174
4.3
80.5
145
4,772
624
868
7.6
28.1
17
6Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
18,190
153
15,269
3,062
5.0
99.8
99
2,921
352
8.3
19.1
10
7Marcus Allen
M. Allen
17,654
222
12,243
3,022
4.1
55.1
123
5,411
587
9.2
24.4
21
8Curtis Martin
C. Martin
17,430
168
14,101
3,518
4.0
83.9
90
3,329
484
409
6.9
19.8
10
9Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
17,392
184
14,918
3,230
4.6
81.1
120
2,474
305
423
8.1
13.4
6
10Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
16,532
182
12,074
2,877
4.2
66.3
65
4,458
472
29
9.4
24.5
23
11Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
16,293
173
12,739
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
12Tiki Barber
T. Barber
15,632
154
10,449
2,217
4.7
67.9
55
5,183
586
707
8.8
33.7
12
13Edgerrin James
E. James
15,610
148
12,246
3,028
4.0
82.7
80
3,364
433
584
7.8
22.7
11
14Derrick Henry
D. Henry
15,583
162
13,707
2,837
4.8
84.6
130
1,876
201
259
9.3
11.6
6
15Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
15,396
146
13,259
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
16Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
15,306
181
10,967
2,669
4.1
60.6
49
4,339
510
594
8.5
24.0
15
17Steven Jackson
S. Jackson
15,121
160
11,438
2,764
4.1
71.5
69
3,683
461
627
8.0
23.0
9
18Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
15,111
192
13,662
3,479
3.9
71.2
91
1,449
200
100
7.2
7.5
3
19LeSean McCoy
L. McCoy
15,000
170
11,102
2,457
4.5
65.3
73
3,898
518
665
7.5
22.9
16
20Ricky Watters
R. Watters
14,891
144
10,643
2,622
4.1
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
21Jim Brown
J. Brown
14,811
118
12,312
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
22Matt Forte
M. Forte
14,468
146
9,796
2,356
4.2
67.1
54
4,672
554
724
8.4
32.0
21
23Franco Harris
F. Harris
14,407
173
12,120
2,949
4.1
70.1
91
2,287
307
7.4
13.2
9
24Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
14,079
153
11,695
2,534
4.6
76.4
66
2,384
290
348
8.2
15.6
8
25Christian McCaffrey
C. McCaffrey
13,706
120
8,046
1,760
4.6
67.1
71
5,660
662
823
8.5
47.2
37

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