rookie rushing leaders 1989

Barry Sanders rushed for the most yards by a rookie in 1989, with 1,470 yards.

NAME RUSH YDS SEASON TM GP ATT YPC RUSH YDS/G RUSH TD REC YDS REC TRG AVG REC YDS/G REC TD
1 Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
1,470
1989
DET DET
15
280
5.3
98.0
14
282
24
11.8
18.8
0
2 Bobby Humphrey
B. Humphrey
1,151
1989
DEN DEN
16
294
3.9
71.9
7
156
22
7.1
9.8
1
3 Tim Worley
T. Worley
770
1989
PIT PIT
15
195
3.9
51.3
5
113
15
7.5
7.5
0
4 Marion Butts
M. Butts
683
1989
SD SD
15
170
4.0
45.5
9
21
7
3.0
1.4
0
5 Sammie Smith
S. Smith
659
1989
MIA MIA
13
200
3.3
50.7
6
81
7
11.6
6.2
0
6 Eric Metcalf
E. Metcalf
633
1989
CLE CLE
16
187
3.4
39.6
6
397
54
7.4
24.8
4
7 Eric Ball
E. Ball
391
1989
CIN CIN
15
98
4.0
26.1
3
44
6
7.3
2.9
0
8 Troy Aikman
T. Aikman
302
1989
DAL DAL
11
38
7.9
27.5
0
-13
1
-13.0
-1.2
0
9 Lewis Tillman
L. Tillman
290
1989
NYG NYG
16
79
3.7
18.1
0
9
1
9.0
0.6
0
10 Daryl Johnston
D. Johnston
212
1989
DAL DAL
16
67
3.2
13.3
0
133
16
8.3
8.3
3
11 Keith Jones
K. Jones
202
1989
ATL ATL
14
52
3.9
14.4
6
396
41
9.7
28.3
0
12 Heath Sherman
H. Sherman
177
1989
PHI PHI
15
40
4.4
11.8
2
85
8
10.6
5.7
0
13 Cleveland Gary
C. Gary
163
1989
RAM RAM
10
37
4.4
16.3
1
13
2
6.5
1.3
0
14 Keith Jones
K. Jones
160
1989
CLE CLE
16
43
3.7
10.0
1
126
15
8.4
7.9
0
15 Rodney Peete
R. Peete
148
1989
DET DET
8
33
4.5
18.5
4
0
0
0.0
0
16 Jeff Alexander
J. Alexander
146
1989
DEN DEN
14
45
3.2
10.4
2
84
8
10.5
6.0
0
17 Robert Drummond
R. Drummond
127
1989
PHI PHI
16
32
4.0
7.9
0
180
17
10.6
11.3
1
18 Todd McNair
T. McNair
121
1989
KC KC
14
23
5.3
8.6
0
372
34
10.9
26.6
1
19 Dave Meggett
D. Meggett
117
1989
NYG NYG
16
28
4.2
7.3
0
531
34
15.6
33.2
4
20 Paul Frazier
P. Frazier
112
1989
NO NO
15
25
4.5
7.5
1
25
3
8.3
1.7
0
21 Craig Taylor
C. Taylor
111
1989
CIN CIN
12
30
3.7
9.3
3
44
4
11.0
3.7
2
22 Mel Bratton
M. Bratton
108
1989
DEN DEN
16
30
3.6
6.8
1
69
10
6.9
4.3
3
23 Dana Brinson
D. Brinson
64
1989
SD SD
10
17
3.8
6.4
0
71
12
5.9
7.1
0
24 A.B. Brown
A.B. Brown
63
1989
NYJ NYJ
16
12
5.3
3.9
0
10
4
2.5
0.6
0
25 Ivy Joe Hunter
I. Joe Hunter
47
1989
IND IND
16
13
3.6
2.9
0
0
0
0.0
0
StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1932 season.

More Lions Stats

Team Rankings

PPG

34.3

2nd

OPP PPG

26.0

23rd

RUSH YDS/G

149.0

4th

PASS YDS/G

253.7

9th

2025 Division Standings
TEAM W L T PCT
Packers Packers
2
1
0
.667
Lions Lions
2
1
0
.667
Vikings Vikings
2
1
0
.667
Bears Bears
1
2
0
.333
Schedule
DATE MATCHUP TIME (ET)
Sun
9/28
CLE CLE
@
DET DET
1:00 PM
Sun
10/5
DET DET
@
CIN CIN
4:25 PM
Sun
10/12
DET DET
@
KC KC
8:20 PM
Mon
10/20
TB TB
@
DET DET
7:00 PM
Sun
11/2
MIN MIN
@
DET DET
1:00 PM
Last Game
BAL Ravens

1 - 2 - 0

30

Final

38

DET Lions

2 - 1 - 0

Mon 22 Sep 2025

NFL 2025 Leaders

NFL 2025 Rankings

NFL Fantasy 2025

NFL 2025 Betting

NFL 2025 Division Standings

NFC East W L T PCT
Eagles Eagles
3
0
0
1.000
Commanders Commanders
2
1
0
.667
NFC North W L T PCT
Packers Packers
2
1
0
.667
Vikings Vikings
2
1
0
.667
NFC South W L T PCT
Buccaneers Buccaneers
3
0
0
1.000
Panthers Panthers
1
2
0
.333
NFC West W L T PCT
49ers 49ers
3
0
0
1.000
Rams Rams
2
1
0
.667
AFC East W L T PCT
Bills Bills
3
0
0
1.000
Patriots Patriots
1
2
0
.333
AFC North W L T PCT
Bengals Bengals
2
1
0
.667
Steelers Steelers
2
1
0
.667
AFC South W L T PCT
Colts Colts
3
0
0
1.000
Jaguars Jaguars
2
1
0
.667
AFC West W L T PCT
Chargers Chargers
3
0
0
1.000
Raiders Raiders
1
2
0
.333

NFL 2025 Scores & Schedule

Scores

DATE MATCHUP SCORE
Wed
9/3
DAL DAL
@
PHI PHI
20-24
Thu
9/4
KC KC
@
LAC LAC
21-27
Sat
9/6
PIT PIT
@
NYJ NYJ
34-32
Sat
9/6
TB TB
@
ATL ATL
23-20
Sat
9/6
LV LV
@
NE NE
20-13

Schedule

DATE MATCHUP TIME (ET)
Sun
9/28
MIN MIN
@
PIT PIT
9:30 AM
Sun
9/28
NO NO
@
BUF BUF
1:00 PM
Sun
9/28
TEN TEN
@
HOU HOU
1:00 PM
Sun
9/28
CLE CLE
@
DET DET
1:00 PM
Sun
9/28
WAS WAS
@
ATL ATL
1:00 PM