most rushing yards by a rookie for the lions

Barry Sanders has the most rushing yards by a Lions rookie, with 1,470 yards in 1989.

	NAME	RUSH YDS	SEASON	TM	GP	ATT	YPC	RUSH YDS/G	RUSH TD	REC YDS	REC	TRG	AVG	REC YDS/G	REC TD
1	Barry Sanders B. Sanders	1,470	1989	DET	15	280	5.3	98.0	14	282	24		11.8	18.8	0
2	Billy Sims B. Sims	1,303	1980	DET	16	313	4.2	81.4	13	621	51		12.2	38.8	3
3	Kevin Jones K. Jones	1,133	2004	DET	15	241	4.7	75.5	5	180	28	41	6.4	12.0	1
4	Kevin Smith K. Smith	976	2008	DET	16	238	4.1	61.0	8	286	39	54	7.3	17.9	0
5	Jahmyr Gibbs J. Gibbs	945	2023	DET	15	182	5.2	63.0	10	316	52	71	6.1	21.1	1
6	Mel Farr M. Farr	860	1967	DET	13	206	4.2	66.2	3	317	39		8.1	24.4	3
7	Mikel Leshoure M. Leshoure	798	2012	DET	14	215	3.7	57.0	9	214	34	48	6.3	15.3	0
8	Garry James G. James	688	1986	DET	16	159	4.3	43.0	3	219	34		6.4	13.7	0
9	Lawrence Gaines L. Gaines	659	1976	DET	14	155	4.3	47.1	4	130	23		5.7	9.3	1
10	Kerryon Johnson K. Johnson	641	2018	DET	10	118	5.4	64.1	3	213	32	39	6.7	21.3	1
11	Ameer Abdullah A. Abdullah	597	2015	DET	16	143	4.2	37.3	2	183	25	38	7.3	11.4	1
12	Jahvid Best J. Best	555	2010	DET	16	171	3.2	34.7	4	487	58	80	8.4	30.4	2
13	D'Andre Swift D. Swift	521	2020	DET	13	114	4.6	40.1	8	357	46	57	7.8	27.5	2
14	James Jones J. Jones	475	1983	DET	14	135	3.5	33.9	6	467	46		10.2	33.4	1
15	Nick Pietrosante N. Pietrosante	447	1959	DET	10	76	5.9	44.7	3	140	16		8.8	14.0	0
16	Rick Kane R. Kane	421	1977	DET	14	124	3.4	30.1	4	186	18		10.3	13.3	0
17	Howard Cassady H. Cassady	413	1956	DET	12	97	4.3	34.4	0	83	9		9.2	6.9	0
18	Elmer Schaake E. Schaake	412	1933	POR	10	125	3.3	41.2	0	23	4		5.8	2.3	1
19	Derrick Moore D. Moore	405	1993	DET	13	88	4.6	31.2	3	169	21		8.0	13.0	1
20	Bill Bowman B. Bowman	397	1954	DET	12	96	4.1	33.1	2	288	34		8.5	24.0	2
21	Doak Walker D. Walker	386	1950	DET	12	83	4.7	32.2	5	534	35		15.3	44.5	6
22	Bo Scarbrough B. Scarbrough	377	2019	DET	6	89	4.2	62.8	1	5	1	4	5.0	0.8	0
23	Don McIlhenny D. McIlhenny	372	1956	DET	9	87	4.3	41.3	3	70	8		8.8	7.8	2
24	Fred Enke F. Enke	365	1948	DET	12	74	4.9	30.4	0	6	1		6.0	0.5	0
25	Altie Taylor A. Taylor	348	1969	DET	10	118	2.9	34.8	0	86	13		6.6	8.6	0

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StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1932 season.

More Lions Stats

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RUSH

1,223

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120.1

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TEAM	W	L	T	PCT
Bears	11	6	0	.647
Packers	9	7	1	.559
Lions	9	8	0	.529
Vikings	9	8	0	.529

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Sun 4 Jan 2026

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Rec Yards Leaders

1,793

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1,715

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1,429

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Pass TD Leaders

46

Stafford

34

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Rush TD Leaders

18

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16

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14

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Rec TD Leaders

14

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QB Rating Leaders

113.5

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109.2

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105.5

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Sack Leaders

23.0

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NFL 2025 Rankings

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28.8

28.4

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Opp PPG Rankings

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17.4

18.3

18.8

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Total Yards Rankings

394.6

391.9

379.4

376.3

373.2

369.5

Rush Yards Rankings

159.6

156.6

144.5

134.7

129.1

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Pass Yards Rankings

278.5

276.9

268.6

262.3

256.1

254.0

Sack Leaders

68.0

57.0

53.0

49.0

48.0

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Fantasy RB Rankings

316.3

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Fantasy WR Rankings

246

Nacua

240.9

Smith-Njigba

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Fantasy TE Rankings

189.9

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Worst Record ATS

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NFL 2025 Standings

AFC East	W	L	T	PCT
Patriots - y	14	3	0	.824
Bills - w	12	5	0	.706
Dolphins - e	7	10	0	.412
Jets - e	3	14	0	.176
AFC North	W	L	T	PCT
Steelers - y	10	7	0	.588
Ravens - e	8	9	0	.471
Bengals - e	6	11	0	.353
Browns - e	5	12	0	.294
AFC South	W	L	T	PCT
Jaguars - y	13	4	0	.765
Texans - w	12	5	0	.706
Colts - e	8	9	0	.471
Titans - e	3	14	0	.176
AFC West	W	L	T	PCT
Broncos - z*	14	3	0	.824
Chargers - w	11	6	0	.647
Chiefs - e	6	11	0	.353
Raiders - e	3	14	0	.176

NFC East	W	L	T	PCT
Eagles - y	11	6	0	.647
Cowboys - e	7	9	1	.441
Commanders - e	5	12	0	.294
Giants - e	4	13	0	.235
NFC North	W	L	T	PCT
Bears - y	11	6	0	.647
Packers - w	9	7	1	.559
Vikings - e	9	8	0	.529
Lions - e	9	8	0	.529
NFC South	W	L	T	PCT
Panthers - y	8	9	0	.471
Buccaneers - e	8	9	0	.471
Falcons - e	8	9	0	.471
Saints - e	6	11	0	.353
NFC West	W	L	T	PCT
Seahawks - z*	14	3	0	.824
Rams - w	12	5	0	.706
49ers - w	12	5	0	.706
Cardinals - e	3	14	0	.176