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

Barry Sanders rushed for the most yards by a player in his first 9 seasons, with 13,778 yards.

NAMERUSH YDSGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
13,778
137
2,719
5.1
100.6
95
2,632
315
8.4
19.2
10
2Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
12,566
140
2,914
4.3
89.8
125
2,609
415
6.3
18.6
9
3LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
12,490
141
2,880
4.3
88.6
138
3,955
530
728
7.5
28.0
15
4Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
12,439
126
2,783
4.5
98.7
88
1,994
261
7.6
15.8
5
5Jim Brown
J. Brown
12,312
118
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
6Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
11,675
120
2,381
4.9
97.3
97
1,937
238
327
8.1
16.1
5
7Curtis Martin
C. Martin
11,669
140
2,927
4.0
83.4
73
2,966
419
330
7.1
21.2
8
8Walter Payton
W. Payton
11,625
130
2,666
4.4
89.4
78
3,088
328
9.4
23.8
9
9Edgerrin James
E. James
11,607
128
2,849
4.1
90.7
77
3,260
418
563
7.8
25.5
11
10Derrick Henry
D. Henry
11,423
136
2,355
4.9
84.0
106
1,651
174
224
9.5
12.1
5
11Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
10,876
136
2,686
4.0
80.0
53
1,220
170
57
7.2
9.0
3
12Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
10,832
132
2,441
4.4
82.1
66
2,988
338
8.8
22.6
11
13Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
10,762
138
2,566
4.2
78.0
62
3,876
397
9.8
28.1
20
14Jamal Lewis
J. Lewis
10,607
131
2,542
4.2
81.0
58
1,879
221
298
8.5
14.3
4
15Eddie George
E. George
10,441
141
2,865
3.6
74.0
68
2,227
268
269
8.3
15.8
10
16Corey Dillon
C. Dillon
10,429
134
2,419
4.3
77.8
69
1,766
229
262
7.7
13.2
7
17Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
10,395
135
2,367
4.4
77.0
87
5,984
628
422
9.5
44.3
33
18Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,325
139
2,550
4.0
74.3
77
4,141
456
154
9.1
29.8
13
19O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
10,183
112
2,123
4.8
90.9
57
1,924
175
11.0
17.2
12
20Steven Jackson
S. Jackson
10,138
131
2,396
4.2
77.4
56
3,324
407
550
8.2
25.4
8
21LeSean McCoy
L. McCoy
10,092
133
2,185
4.6
75.9
66
3,378
441
566
7.7
25.4
15
22Frank Gore
F. Gore
9,967
132
2,187
4.6
75.5
60
2,772
331
483
8.4
21.0
10
23Clinton Portis
C. Portis
9,923
113
2,230
4.4
87.8
75
2,018
247
338
8.2
17.9
5
24Chris Johnson
C. Johnson
9,537
126
2,118
4.5
75.7
55
2,212
302
418
7.3
17.6
9
25Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
9,513
112
2,062
4.6
84.9
56
2,205
261
306
8.4
19.7
8
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

12th

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
7
4
0
.636
AFC WestWLTPCT
Broncos Broncos
9
2
0
.818
Chargers Chargers
7
4
0
.636
NFC EastWLTPCT
Eagles Eagles
8
3
0
.727
Cowboys Cowboys
5
5
1
.500
NFC NorthWLTPCT
Bears Bears
8
3
0
.727
Packers Packers
7
3
1
.682
NFC SouthWLTPCT
Buccaneers Buccaneers
6
5
0
.545
Panthers Panthers
6
6
0
.500
NFC WestWLTPCT
Rams Rams
9
2
0
.818
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)
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
Fri
11/28
CHI CHI
@
PHI PHI
3:00 PM
Sun
11/30
JAX JAX
@
TEN TEN
1:00 PM