rushing leaders last 50 years

Between December 4, 1975 and December 4, 2025, Emmitt Smith has the most rushing yards, with 18,355 yards.

NAMERUSH YDSGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
18,355
226
4,409
4.2
81.2
164
3,224
515
130
6.3
14.3
11
2Walter Payton
W. Payton
16,304
180
3,711
4.4
90.6
107
4,433
470
9.4
24.6
15
3Frank Gore
F. Gore
16,000
241
3,735
4.3
66.4
81
3,985
484
696
8.2
16.5
18
4Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
15,269
153
3,062
5.0
99.8
99
2,921
352
8.3
19.1
10
5Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
14,918
184
3,230
4.6
81.1
120
2,474
305
423
8.1
13.4
6
6Curtis Martin
C. Martin
14,101
168
3,518
4.0
83.9
90
3,329
484
409
6.9
19.8
10
7LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
13,684
170
3,174
4.3
80.5
145
4,772
624
868
7.6
28.1
17
8Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
13,662
192
3,479
3.9
71.2
91
1,449
200
100
7.2
7.5
3
9Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
10Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
11Derrick Henry
D. Henry
12,354
148
2,552
4.8
83.5
116
1,793
188
242
9.5
12.1
5
12Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
12,279
176
2,836
4.3
69.8
100
6,875
767
606
9.0
39.1
36
13Edgerrin James
E. James
12,246
148
3,028
4.0
82.7
80
3,364
433
584
7.8
22.7
11
14Marcus Allen
M. Allen
12,243
222
3,022
4.1
55.1
123
5,411
587
9.2
24.4
21
15Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
12,074
182
2,877
4.2
66.3
65
4,458
472
29
9.4
24.5
23
16Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
11,695
153
2,534
4.6
76.4
66
2,384
290
348
8.2
15.6
8
17Steven Jackson
S. Jackson
11,438
160
2,764
4.1
71.5
69
3,683
461
627
8.0
23.0
9
18Corey Dillon
C. Dillon
11,241
150
2,618
4.3
74.9
82
1,913
244
278
7.8
12.8
7
19LeSean McCoy
L. McCoy
11,102
170
2,457
4.5
65.3
73
3,898
518
665
7.5
22.9
16
20Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
10,967
181
2,669
4.1
60.6
49
4,339
510
594
8.5
24.0
15
21Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,643
144
2,622
4.1
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
22Jamal Lewis
J. Lewis
10,607
131
2,542
4.2
81.0
58
1,879
221
298
8.5
14.3
4
23Thomas Jones
T. Jones
10,591
180
2,678
4.0
58.8
68
2,023
308
410
6.6
11.2
3
24Tiki Barber
T. Barber
10,449
154
2,217
4.7
67.9
55
5,183
586
707
8.8
33.7
12
25Eddie George
E. George
10,441
141
2,865
3.6
74.0
68
2,227
268
269
8.3
15.8
10
StatMuse has game-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1960 season.

More Cowboys Stats

Team Rankings

PPG

29.3

2nd

OPP PPG

28.5

31st

RUSH YDS/G

121.8

13th

PASS YDS/G

280.0

1st

2025 Division Standings
TEAMWLTPCT
Eagles Eagles
8
4
0
.667
Cowboys Cowboys
6
5
1
.542
Commanders Commanders
3
9
0
.250
Giants Giants
2
11
0
.154
Schedule
DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Thu
12/4
DAL DAL
@
DET DET
8:15 PM
Sun
12/14
MIN MIN
@
DAL DAL
8:20 PM
Sun
12/21
LAC LAC
@
DAL DAL
1:00 PM
Thu
12/25
DAL DAL
@
WAS WAS
1:00 PM
Sun
1/4
DAL DAL
@
NYG NYG
1:00 PM
Last Game
KC Chiefs

6 - 6

28

Final

31

DAL Cowboys

6 - 5 - 1

Thu 27 Nov 2025

NFL 2025 Leaders

NFL 2025 Rankings

NFL Fantasy 2025

NFL 2025 Betting

NFL 2025 Division Standings

AFC EastWLTPCT
Patriots Patriots
11
2
0
.846
Bills Bills
8
4
0
.667
AFC NorthWLTPCT
Ravens Ravens
6
6
0
.500
Steelers Steelers
6
6
0
.500
AFC SouthWLTPCT
Jaguars Jaguars
8
4
0
.667
Colts Colts
8
4
0
.667
AFC WestWLTPCT
Broncos Broncos
10
2
0
.833
Chargers Chargers
8
4
0
.667
NFC EastWLTPCT
Eagles Eagles
8
4
0
.667
Cowboys Cowboys
6
5
1
.542
NFC NorthWLTPCT
Bears Bears
9
3
0
.750
Packers Packers
8
3
1
.708
NFC SouthWLTPCT
Buccaneers Buccaneers
7
5
0
.583
Panthers Panthers
7
6
0
.538
NFC WestWLTPCT
Rams Rams
9
3
0
.750
Seahawks Seahawks
9
3
0
.750

NFL 2025 Scores & Schedule

Scores

DATEMATCHUPSCORE
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

DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Thu
12/4
DAL DAL
@
DET DET
8:15 PM
Sun
12/7
PIT PIT
@
BAL BAL
1:00 PM
Sun
12/7
SEA SEA
@
ATL ATL
1:00 PM
Sun
12/7
TEN TEN
@
CLE CLE
1:00 PM
Sun
12/7
IND IND
@
JAX JAX
1:00 PM