most rushing yards in nfl from 1950 to 2007

Between the 1950 and 2007 seasons, Emmitt Smith had the most rushing yards, with 18,355 yards.

Interpreted as:
most rushing yards by a player in NFL from 1950 to 2007
NAMERUSH YDSGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
18,355
226
4,409
4.2
81.2
164
3,224
515
130
6.3
14.3
11
2Walter Payton
W. Payton
16,726
190
3,838
4.4
88.0
110
4,538
492
9.2
23.9
15
3Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
15,269
153
3,062
5.0
99.8
99
2,921
352
8.3
19.1
10
4Curtis Martin
C. Martin
14,101
168
3,518
4.0
83.9
90
3,329
484
409
6.9
19.8
10
5Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
13,662
192
3,479
3.9
71.2
91
1,449
200
100
7.2
7.5
3
6Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
7Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
8Jim Brown
J. Brown
12,312
118
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
9Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
12,279
176
2,836
4.3
69.8
100
6,875
767
606
9.0
39.1
36
10Marcus Allen
M. Allen
12,243
222
3,022
4.1
55.1
123
5,411
587
9.2
24.4
21
11Franco Harris
F. Harris
12,120
173
2,949
4.1
70.1
91
2,287
307
7.4
13.2
9
12Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
12,074
182
2,877
4.2
66.3
65
4,458
472
29
9.4
24.5
23
13Edgerrin James
E. James
11,607
128
2,849
4.1
90.7
77
3,260
418
563
7.8
25.5
11
14John Riggins
J. Riggins
11,352
175
2,916
3.9
64.9
104
2,090
250
8.4
11.9
12
15Corey Dillon
C. Dillon
11,241
150
2,618
4.3
74.9
82
1,913
244
278
7.8
12.8
7
16O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
11,236
135
2,404
4.7
83.2
61
2,142
203
10.6
15.9
14
17Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
10,715
127
2,285
4.7
84.4
61
2,263
270
320
8.4
17.8
8
18LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
10,650
111
2,365
4.5
95.9
115
3,375
458
621
7.4
30.4
14
19Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,643
144
2,622
4.1
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
20Tiki Barber
T. Barber
10,449
154
2,217
4.7
67.9
55
5,183
586
707
8.8
33.7
12
21Eddie George
E. George
10,441
141
2,865
3.6
74.0
68
2,227
268
269
8.3
15.8
10
22Ottis Anderson
O. Anderson
10,273
182
2,562
4.0
56.4
81
3,062
376
8.1
16.8
5
23Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
10,181
166
2,483
4.1
61.3
47
4,009
463
526
8.7
24.2
15
24Shaun Alexander
S. Alexander
9,429
119
2,176
4.3
79.2
100
1,511
214
315
7.1
12.7
12
25Earl Campbell
E. Campbell
9,407
115
2,187
4.3
81.8
74
806
121
6.7
7.0
0
StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1932 season.

More Cowboys Stats

Team Leaders

PASS

4,552

Prescott

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RUSH

1,201

Williams

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REC

1,429

Pickens

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PPG

27.7

7th

OPP PPG

30.1

32nd

RUSH YDS/G

125.6

9th

PASS YDS/G

278.5

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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

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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
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AFC SouthWLTPCT
13
4
0
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12
5
0
.706
Colts Colts - e
8
9
0
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14
0
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AFC WestWLTPCT
14
3
0
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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
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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