nfl rushing leaders 1940 to 1995

Between the 1940 and 1995 seasons, Walter Payton had the most rushing 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
2Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
3Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
4Jim Brown
J. Brown
12,312
118
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
5Franco Harris
F. Harris
12,120
173
2,949
4.1
70.1
91
2,287
307
7.4
13.2
9
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
8Marcus Allen
M. Allen
10,908
190
2,692
4.1
57.4
103
5,055
549
9.2
26.6
21
9Ottis Anderson
O. Anderson
10,273
182
2,562
4.0
56.4
81
3,062
376
8.1
16.8
5
10Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
10,172
105
2,077
4.9
96.9
73
2,180
258
8.4
20.8
7
11Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
9,729
123
2,285
4.3
79.1
54
3,622
371
9.8
29.4
20
12Earl Campbell
E. Campbell
9,407
115
2,187
4.3
81.8
74
806
121
6.7
7.0
0
13Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
8,956
93
2,007
4.5
96.3
96
1,951
301
6.5
21.0
4
14Jim Taylor
J. Taylor
8,597
129
1,941
4.4
66.6
83
1,756
225
7.8
13.6
10
15Joe Perry
J. Perry
8,378
156
1,737
4.8
53.7
53
1,796
241
7.5
11.5
8
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
18Herschel Walker
H. Walker
8,122
155
1,938
4.2
52.4
60
4,621
491
9.4
29.8
19
19Larry Csonka
L. Csonka
8,081
146
1,891
4.3
55.3
64
820
106
7.7
5.6
4
20Freeman McNeil
F. McNeil
8,074
144
1,798
4.5
56.1
38
2,961
295
10.0
20.6
12
21James Brooks
J. Brooks
7,962
162
1,685
4.7
49.1
49
3,621
383
9.5
22.4
30
22Mike Pruitt
M. Pruitt
7,378
152
1,844
4.0
48.5
51
1,860
270
6.9
12.2
5
23Earnest Byner
E. Byner
7,314
179
1,852
3.9
40.9
52
4,207
461
9.1
23.5
14
24Leroy Kelly
L. Kelly
7,274
136
1,727
4.2
53.5
74
2,281
190
12.0
16.8
13
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