most rushing yards by an nfl player in the first eleven years of their career

Barry Sanders rushed for the most yards by a player in his first 11 seasons, with 15,269 yards.

NAMERUSH YDSGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
15,269
153
3,062
5.0
99.8
99
2,921
352
8.3
19.1
10
2Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
15,166
171
3,537
4.3
88.7
145
2,807
453
46
6.2
16.4
11
3Walter Payton
W. Payton
14,860
162
3,371
4.4
91.7
98
3,939
422
9.3
24.3
11
4Curtis Martin
C. Martin
14,101
168
3,518
4.0
83.9
90
3,329
484
409
6.9
19.8
10
5LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
13,684
170
3,174
4.3
80.5
145
4,772
624
868
7.6
28.1
17
6Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
7Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
12,353
165
3,119
4.0
74.9
69
1,363
190
88
7.2
8.3
3
8Jim Brown
J. Brown
12,312
118
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
9Derrick Henry
D. Henry
12,294
147
2,542
4.8
83.6
115
1,749
187
241
9.4
11.9
5
10Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
12,276
133
2,574
4.8
92.3
99
2,015
252
352
8.0
15.2
5
11Edgerrin James
E. James
12,246
148
3,028
4.0
82.7
80
3,364
433
584
7.8
22.7
11
12Frank Gore
F. Gore
12,040
164
2,702
4.5
73.4
70
3,150
376
560
8.4
19.2
12
13Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,036
157
2,755
4.4
76.7
72
3,432
382
9.0
21.9
13
14Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
11,987
160
2,771
4.3
74.9
100
6,584
723
548
9.1
41.2
35
15Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
11,786
168
2,813
4.2
70.2
65
4,304
453
9.5
25.6
21
16Steven Jackson
S. Jackson
11,388
158
2,743
4.2
72.1
68
3,663
460
626
8.0
23.2
9
17Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
11,271
140
2,428
4.6
80.5
62
2,361
286
342
8.3
16.9
8
18Corey Dillon
C. Dillon
11,241
150
2,618
4.3
74.9
82
1,913
244
278
7.8
12.8
7
19O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
11,236
135
2,404
4.7
83.2
61
2,142
203
10.6
15.9
14
20LeSean McCoy
L. McCoy
11,071
160
2,447
4.5
69.2
73
3,797
503
646
7.5
23.7
16
21Franco Harris
F. Harris
10,943
149
2,602
4.2
73.4
86
2,006
272
7.4
13.5
7
22Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,643
144
2,622
4.1
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
23Jamal Lewis
J. Lewis
10,607
131
2,542
4.2
81.0
58
1,879
221
298
8.5
14.3
4
24Tiki Barber
T. Barber
10,449
154
2,217
4.7
67.9
55
5,183
586
707
8.8
33.7
12
25Eddie George
E. George
10,441
141
2,865
3.6
74.0
68
2,227
268
269
8.3
15.8
10
StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1932 season.

More Lions Stats

Team Rankings

PPG

29.6

2nd

OPP PPG

22.1

11th

RUSH YDS/G

139.8

3rd

PASS YDS/G

252.0

9th

2025 Division Standings
TEAMWLTPCT
Bears Bears
8
3
0
.727
Packers Packers
7
3
1
.682
Lions Lions
7
4
0
.636
Vikings Vikings
4
7
0
.364
Schedule
DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Thu
11/27
GB GB
@
DET DET
1:00 PM
Thu
12/4
DAL DAL
@
DET DET
8:15 PM
Sun
12/14
DET DET
@
LAR LAR
4:25 PM
Sun
12/21
PIT PIT
@
DET DET
4:25 PM
Thu
12/25
DET DET
@
MIN MIN
4:30 PM
Last Game
NYG Giants

2 - 10

27

Final

34

DET Lions

7 - 4

Sun 23 Nov 2025

NFL 2025 Leaders

NFL 2025 Rankings

NFL Fantasy 2025

NFL 2025 Betting

NFL 2025 Division Standings

AFC EastWLTPCT
Patriots Patriots
10
2
0
.833
Bills Bills
7
4
0
.636
AFC NorthWLTPCT
Ravens Ravens
6
5
0
.545
Steelers Steelers
6
5
0
.545
AFC SouthWLTPCT
Colts Colts
8
3
0
.727
Jaguars Jaguars
6
4
0
.600
AFC WestWLTPCT
Broncos Broncos
9
2
0
.818
Chargers Chargers
7
4
0
.636
NFC EastWLTPCT
Eagles Eagles
8
2
0
.800
Cowboys Cowboys
4
5
1
.450
NFC NorthWLTPCT
Bears Bears
8
3
0
.727
Packers Packers
7
3
1
.682
NFC SouthWLTPCT
Buccaneers Buccaneers
6
4
0
.600
Panthers Panthers
6
5
0
.545
NFC WestWLTPCT
Rams Rams
8
2
0
.800
Seahawks Seahawks
8
3
0
.727

NFL 2025 Scores & Schedule

Scores

DATEMATCHUPSCORE
Wed
9/3
DAL DAL
@
PHI PHI
20-24
Thu
9/4
KC KC
@
LAC LAC
21-27
Sat
9/6
PIT PIT
@
NYJ NYJ
34-32
Sat
9/6
TB TB
@
ATL ATL
23-20
Sat
9/6
LV LV
@
NE NE
20-13

Schedule

DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Sun
11/23
TB TB
@
LAR LAR
8:20 PM
Mon
11/24
CAR CAR
@
SF SF
8:15 PM
Thu
11/27
GB GB
@
DET DET
1:00 PM
Thu
11/27
KC KC
@
DAL DAL
4:30 PM
Thu
11/27
CIN CIN
@
BAL BAL
8:20 PM