most rushing yards from scrimmage nfl running backs career

Emmitt Smith has the most career rushing yards by a running back, with 18,355 yards.

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
3Frank Gore
F. Gore
16,000
241
3,735
4.3
66.4
81
3,985
484
696
8.2
16.5
18
4Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
15,269
153
3,062
5.0
99.8
99
2,921
352
8.3
19.1
10
5Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
14,918
184
3,230
4.6
81.1
120
2,474
305
423
8.1
13.4
6
6Curtis Martin
C. Martin
14,101
168
3,518
4.0
83.9
90
3,329
484
409
6.9
19.8
10
7LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
13,684
170
3,174
4.3
80.5
145
4,772
624
868
7.6
28.1
17
8Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
13,662
192
3,479
3.9
71.2
91
1,449
200
100
7.2
7.5
3
9Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
10Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
11Jim Brown
J. Brown
12,312
118
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
12Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
12,279
176
2,836
4.3
69.8
100
6,875
767
606
9.0
39.1
36
13Edgerrin James
E. James
12,246
148
3,028
4.0
82.7
80
3,364
433
584
7.8
22.7
11
14Marcus Allen
M. Allen
12,243
222
3,022
4.1
55.1
123
5,411
587
9.2
24.4
21
15Franco Harris
F. Harris
12,120
173
2,949
4.1
70.1
91
2,287
307
7.4
13.2
9
16Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
12,074
182
2,877
4.2
66.3
65
4,458
472
29
9.4
24.5
23
17Derrick Henry
D. Henry
11,933
143
2,464
4.8
83.4
112
1,695
179
233
9.5
11.9
5
18Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
11,695
153
2,534
4.6
76.4
66
2,384
290
348
8.2
15.6
8
19Steven Jackson
S. Jackson
11,438
160
2,764
4.1
71.5
69
3,683
461
627
8.0
23.0
9
20John Riggins
J. Riggins
11,352
175
2,916
3.9
64.9
104
2,090
250
8.4
11.9
12
21Corey Dillon
C. Dillon
11,241
150
2,618
4.3
74.9
82
1,913
244
278
7.8
12.8
7
22O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
11,236
135
2,404
4.7
83.2
61
2,142
203
10.6
15.9
14
23LeSean McCoy
L. McCoy
11,102
170
2,457
4.5
65.3
73
3,898
518
665
7.5
22.9
16
24Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
10,967
181
2,669
4.1
60.6
49
4,339
510
594
8.5
24.0
15
25Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,643
144
2,622
4.1
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1932 season.

More Cowboys Stats

Team Rankings

PPG

30.8

2nd

OPP PPG

31.3

31st

RUSH YDS/G

120.4

13th

PASS YDS/G

271.0

3rd

2025 Division Standings
TEAMWLTPCT
Eagles Eagles
6
2
0
.750
Cowboys Cowboys
3
4
1
.438
Commanders Commanders
3
4
0
.429
Giants Giants
2
6
0
.250
Schedule
DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Mon
11/3
ARI ARI
@
DAL DAL
8:15 PM
Mon
11/17
DAL DAL
@
LV LV
8:15 PM
Sun
11/23
PHI PHI
@
DAL DAL
4:25 PM
Thu
11/27
KC KC
@
DAL DAL
4:30 PM
Thu
12/4
DAL DAL
@
DET DET
8:15 PM
Last Game
DAL Cowboys

3 - 4 - 1

24

Final

44

DEN Broncos

6 - 2 - 0

Sun 26 Oct 2025

NFL 2025 Leaders

NFL 2025 Rankings

NFL Fantasy 2025

NFL 2025 Betting

NFL 2025 Division Standings

AFC EastWLTPCT
Patriots Patriots
6
2
0
.750
Bills Bills
5
2
0
.714
AFC NorthWLTPCT
Steelers Steelers
4
3
0
.571
Bengals Bengals
3
5
0
.375
AFC SouthWLTPCT
Colts Colts
7
1
0
.875
Jaguars Jaguars
4
3
0
.571
AFC WestWLTPCT
Broncos Broncos
6
2
0
.750
Chargers Chargers
5
3
0
.625
NFC EastWLTPCT
Eagles Eagles
6
2
0
.750
Cowboys Cowboys
3
4
1
.438
NFC NorthWLTPCT
Packers Packers
5
1
1
.786
Lions Lions
5
2
0
.714
NFC SouthWLTPCT
Buccaneers Buccaneers
6
2
0
.750
Panthers Panthers
4
4
0
.500
NFC WestWLTPCT
Seahawks Seahawks
5
2
0
.714
Rams Rams
5
2
0
.714

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)
Mon
10/27
WAS WAS
@
KC KC
8:15 PM
Thu
10/30
BAL BAL
@
MIA MIA
8:15 PM
Sun
11/2
CAR CAR
@
GB GB
1:00 PM
Sun
11/2
MIN MIN
@
DET DET
1:00 PM
Sun
11/2
CHI CHI
@
CIN CIN
1:00 PM