nfl rushing leaders 1940 to 1985

Between the 1940 and 1985 seasons, Walter Payton rushed for the most yards, with 14,860 yards.

NAMERUSH YDSGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Walter Payton
W. Payton
14,860
162
3,371
4.4
91.7
98
3,939
422
9.3
24.3
11
2Jim Brown
J. Brown
12,312
118
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
3Franco Harris
F. Harris
12,120
173
2,949
4.1
70.1
91
2,287
307
7.4
13.2
9
4John Riggins
J. Riggins
11,352
175
2,916
3.9
64.9
104
2,090
250
8.4
11.9
12
5O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
11,236
135
2,404
4.7
83.2
61
2,142
203
10.6
15.9
14
6Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
10,832
132
2,441
4.4
82.1
66
2,988
338
8.8
22.6
11
7Earl Campbell
E. Campbell
9,407
115
2,187
4.3
81.8
74
806
121
6.7
7.0
0
8Jim Taylor
J. Taylor
8,597
129
1,941
4.4
66.6
83
1,756
225
7.8
13.6
10
9Joe Perry
J. Perry
8,378
156
1,737
4.8
53.7
53
1,796
241
7.5
11.5
8
10Larry Csonka
L. Csonka
8,081
146
1,891
4.3
55.3
64
820
106
7.7
5.6
4
11Ottis Anderson
O. Anderson
7,843
95
1,807
4.3
82.6
44
2,404
289
8.3
25.3
5
12Leroy Kelly
L. Kelly
7,274
136
1,727
4.2
53.5
74
2,281
190
12.0
16.8
13
13Mike Pruitt
M. Pruitt
6,930
137
1,705
4.1
50.6
49
1,804
262
6.9
13.2
5
14John Henry Johnson
J. Henry Johnson
6,803
143
1,571
4.3
47.6
48
1,478
186
7.9
10.3
7
15Wilbert Montgomery
W. Montgomery
6,789
107
1,540
4.4
63.4
45
2,502
273
9.2
23.4
12
16Chuck Muncie
C. Muncie
6,702
110
1,561
4.3
60.9
71
2,323
263
8.8
21.1
3
17Mark van Eeghen
M. van Eeghen
6,651
136
1,652
4.0
48.9
37
1,583
174
9.1
11.6
4
18Lawrence McCutcheon
L. McCutcheon
6,578
109
1,521
4.3
60.3
26
1,799
198
9.1
16.5
13
19Lydell Mitchell
L. Mitchell
6,534
111
1,675
3.9
58.9
30
3,203
376
8.5
28.9
17
20Floyd Little
F. Little
6,323
117
1,641
3.9
54.0
43
2,418
215
11.2
20.7
9
21Wendell Tyler
W. Tyler
6,251
103
1,313
4.8
60.7
50
1,816
202
9.0
17.6
16
22Don Perkins
D. Perkins
6,217
107
1,500
4.1
58.1
42
1,310
146
9.0
12.2
3
23Ken Willard
K. Willard
6,105
132
1,622
3.8
46.3
45
2,184
277
7.9
16.5
17
24Calvin Hill
C. Hill
6,083
156
1,452
4.2
39.0
42
2,861
271
10.6
18.3
23
25Chuck Foreman
C. Foreman
5,950
109
1,556
3.8
54.6
53
3,156
350
9.0
29.0
23
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