nfl rushing leaders 1940 to 1990

Between the 1940 and 1990 seasons, Walter Payton rushed for the most yards, 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
2Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
3Jim Brown
J. Brown
12,312
118
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
4Franco Harris
F. Harris
12,120
173
2,949
4.1
70.1
91
2,287
307
7.4
13.2
9
5Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
11,903
116
2,616
4.6
102.6
86
1,725
220
7.8
14.9
4
6John Riggins
J. Riggins
11,352
175
2,916
3.9
64.9
104
2,090
250
8.4
11.9
12
7O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
11,236
135
2,404
4.7
83.2
61
2,142
203
10.6
15.9
14
8Ottis Anderson
O. Anderson
10,101
159
2,499
4.0
63.5
80
3,021
365
8.3
19.0
5
9Earl Campbell
E. Campbell
9,407
115
2,187
4.3
81.8
74
806
121
6.7
7.0
0
10Jim Taylor
J. Taylor
8,597
129
1,941
4.4
66.6
83
1,756
225
7.8
13.6
10
11Joe Perry
J. Perry
8,378
156
1,737
4.8
53.7
53
1,796
241
7.5
11.5
8
12Larry Csonka
L. Csonka
8,081
146
1,891
4.3
55.3
64
820
106
7.7
5.6
4
13Marcus Allen
M. Allen
7,957
121
1,960
4.1
65.8
75
3,850
403
9.6
31.8
17
14Gerald Riggs
G. Riggs
7,940
113
1,911
4.2
70.3
58
1,511
200
7.6
13.4
0
15Freeman McNeil
F. McNeil
7,604
119
1,704
4.5
63.9
36
2,751
272
10.1
23.1
12
16Mike Pruitt
M. Pruitt
7,378
152
1,844
4.0
48.5
51
1,860
270
6.9
12.2
5
17James Brooks
J. Brooks
7,347
141
1,515
4.8
52.1
47
3,274
341
9.6
23.2
28
18Leroy Kelly
L. Kelly
7,274
136
1,727
4.2
53.5
74
2,281
190
12.0
16.8
13
19George Rogers
G. Rogers
7,176
92
1,692
4.2
78.0
54
368
55
6.7
4.0
0
20Roger Craig
R. Craig
7,064
121
1,686
4.2
58.4
50
4,442
508
8.7
36.7
16
21Curt Warner
C. Warner
6,844
100
1,698
4.0
68.4
56
1,467
193
7.6
14.7
7
22John Henry Johnson
J. Henry Johnson
6,803
143
1,571
4.3
47.6
48
1,478
186
7.9
10.3
7
23Wilbert Montgomery
W. Montgomery
6,789
107
1,540
4.4
63.4
45
2,502
273
9.2
23.4
12
24Chuck Muncie
C. Muncie
6,702
110
1,561
4.3
60.9
71
2,323
263
8.8
21.1
3
25Mark van Eeghen
M. van Eeghen
6,651
136
1,652
4.0
48.9
37
1,583
174
9.1
11.6
4
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