nfl rushing yard leaders in a decade

Emmitt Smith has the most rushing yards in a decade, with 13,963 yards in the 1990s.

NAMERUSH YDSDECADEGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
13,963
1990s
155
3,243
4.3
90.1
136
2,728
442
32
6.2
17.6
11
2Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
13,799
1990s
138
2,782
5.0
100.0
85
2,639
328
8.0
19.1
10
3LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
12,490
2000s
141
2,880
4.3
88.6
138
3,955
530
728
7.5
28.0
15
4Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
11,226
1980s
105
2,450
4.6
106.9
82
1,633
202
8.1
15.6
4
5Edgerrin James
E. James
10,693
2000s
132
2,659
4.0
81.0
67
2,778
371
497
7.5
21.0
7
6Jamal Lewis
J. Lewis
10,607
2000s
131
2,542
4.2
81.0
58
1,879
221
298
8.5
14.3
4
7O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
10,539
1970s
122
2,223
4.7
86.4
59
1,799
173
10.4
14.7
11
8LeSean McCoy
L. McCoy
10,434
2010s
144
2,292
4.6
72.5
69
3,489
463
591
7.5
24.2
16
9Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
9,813
1990s
142
2,344
4.2
69.1
57
3,464
378
5
9.2
24.4
16
10Walter Payton
W. Payton
9,800
1980s
117
2,290
4.3
83.8
51
3,114
336
9.3
26.6
11
11Frank Gore
F. Gore
9,786
2010s
153
2,380
4.1
64.0
47
2,065
244
359
8.5
13.5
11
12Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
9,732
2010s
118
2,121
4.6
82.5
71
1,536
206
277
7.5
13.0
5
13Clinton Portis
C. Portis
9,696
2000s
108
2,176
4.5
89.8
73
1,963
242
329
8.1
18.2
5
14Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
9,585
2000s
121
2,068
4.6
79.2
46
1,874
234
330
8.0
15.5
5
15Tiki Barber
T. Barber
9,514
2000s
110
1,967
4.8
86.5
52
3,927
444
616
8.8
35.7
6
16Shaun Alexander
S. Alexander
9,453
2000s
123
2,187
4.3
76.9
100
1,520
215
316
7.1
12.4
12
17Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
9,300
1980s
129
2,188
4.3
72.1
52
2,528
287
8.8
19.6
9
18Thomas Jones
T. Jones
9,217
2000s
148
2,280
4.0
62.3
62
1,858
289
383
6.4
12.6
3
19Derrick Henry
D. Henry
9,185
2020s
91
1,858
4.9
100.9
84
1,223
132
171
9.3
13.4
2
20Ricky Watters
R. Watters
9,083
1990s
123
2,272
4.0
73.8
70
3,528
393
62
9.0
28.7
11
21Ahman Green
A. Green
8,876
2000s
118
1,995
4.4
75.2
59
2,881
375
493
7.7
24.4
14
22Franco Harris
F. Harris
8,563
1970s
111
2,012
4.3
77.1
72
1,311
174
7.5
11.8
4
23Jim Brown
J. Brown
8,514
1960s
82
1,610
5.3
103.8
66
2,116
206
10.3
25.8
18
24Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
8,463
1990s
109
2,106
4.0
77.6
41
1,075
149
28
7.2
9.9
3
25Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
8,347
2000s
134
2,005
4.2
62.3
43
2,944
363
511
8.1
22.0
10
StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1932 season.

More Cowboys Stats

Team Leaders

PASS

4,552

Prescott

Dak Prescott

RUSH

1,201

Williams

Javonte Williams

REC

1,429

Pickens

George Pickens
Team Rankings

PPG

27.7

7th

OPP PPG

30.1

32nd

RUSH YDS/G

125.6

9th

PASS YDS/G

278.5

1st

2025 Division Standings
TEAMWLTPCT
11
6
0
.647
Cowboys Cowboys
7
9
1
.441
5
12
0
.294
4
13
0
.235
Last Game
DAL Cowboys

7 - 9 - 1

17

Final

34

NYG Giants

4 - 13

Sun 4 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

NFL 2025 Scores & Schedule

Scores

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Sat
10/11
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10/11
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10/11
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10/11
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27-30
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10/11
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25-19

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Sun
1/25
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1/25
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