nfl most rushing yards by a rb 1975 to 2000

Between the 1975 and 2000 seasons, Walter Payton had the most rushing yards by a running back, with 16,726 yards.

NAMERUSH YDSGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Walter Payton
W. Payton
16,726
190
3,838
4.4
88.0
110
4,538
492
9.2
23.9
15
2Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
15,269
153
3,062
5.0
99.8
99
2,921
352
8.3
19.1
10
3Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
15,166
171
3,537
4.3
88.7
145
2,807
453
46
6.2
16.4
11
4Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
5Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
6Marcus Allen
M. Allen
12,243
222
3,022
4.1
55.1
123
5,411
587
9.2
24.4
21
7Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
12,074
182
2,877
4.2
66.3
65
4,458
472
29
9.4
24.5
23
8Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,325
139
2,550
4.0
74.3
77
4,141
456
154
9.1
29.8
13
9Ottis Anderson
O. Anderson
10,273
182
2,562
4.0
56.4
81
3,062
376
8.1
16.8
5
10Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
9,804
125
2,461
4.0
78.4
49
1,172
162
47
7.2
9.4
3
11Earl Campbell
E. Campbell
9,407
115
2,187
4.3
81.8
74
806
121
6.7
7.0
0
12Franco Harris
F. Harris
9,361
135
2,365
4.0
69.3
73
1,838
253
7.3
13.6
7
13John Riggins
J. Riggins
8,477
128
2,226
3.8
66.2
87
1,291
151
8.5
10.1
7
14Earnest Byner
E. Byner
8,261
211
2,095
3.9
39.2
56
4,605
512
9.0
21.8
15
15Herschel Walker
H. Walker
8,225
187
1,954
4.2
44.0
61
4,859
512
9.5
26.0
21
16Roger Craig
R. Craig
8,189
165
1,991
4.1
49.6
56
4,911
566
8.7
29.8
17
17Gerald Riggs
G. Riggs
8,188
129
1,989
4.1
63.5
69
1,516
201
7.5
11.8
0
18Freeman McNeil
F. McNeil
8,074
144
1,798
4.5
56.1
38
2,961
295
10.0
20.6
12
19Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
8,060
107
1,895
4.3
75.3
67
4,682
465
216
10.1
43.8
22
20James Brooks
J. Brooks
7,962
162
1,685
4.7
49.1
49
3,621
383
9.5
22.4
30
21Terry Allen
T. Allen
7,956
119
1,984
4.0
66.9
70
1,533
187
20
8.2
12.9
6
22Curtis Martin
C. Martin
7,754
92
2,010
3.9
84.3
54
2,022
275
158
7.4
22.0
8
23Chris Warren
C. Warren
7,696
162
1,791
4.3
47.5
52
1,935
273
89
7.1
11.9
5
24Mike Pruitt
M. Pruitt
7,378
152
1,844
4.0
48.5
51
1,860
270
6.9
12.2
5
25George Rogers
G. Rogers
7,176
92
1,692
4.2
78.0
54
368
55
6.7
4.0
0
StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1932 season.

More Bears Stats

Team Leaders

PASS

3,942

Williams

Caleb Williams

RUSH

1,087

Swift

D'Andre Swift

REC

713

Loveland

Colston Loveland
Team Rankings

PPG

25.9

9th

OPP PPG

24.4

23rd

RUSH YDS/G

144.5

3rd

PASS YDS/G

234.8

12th

2025 Division Standings
TEAMWLTPCT
Bears Bears
11
6
0
.647
9
7
1
.559
9
8
0
.529
9
8
0
.529
Last Game
LAR Rams

2 - 0

20

Final

17

CHI Bears

1 - 1

Sun 18 Jan 2026

NFL 2025 Leaders

NFL 2025 Rankings

NFL Fantasy 2025

NFL 2025 Betting

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
.294
AFC SouthWLTPCT
13
4
0
.765
12
5
0
.706
Colts Colts - e
8
9
0
.471
3
14
0
.176
AFC WestWLTPCT
14
3
0
.824
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
.529
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