what is the most career rushing yards without a start

Emmitt Smith has rushed for the most career yards by a player as a starter, with 17,309 yards.

Interpreted as:
What is the most career rushing yards by a player without a start?
NAME RUSH YDS GP ATT YPC RUSH YDS/G RUSH TD REC YDS REC TRG AVG REC YDS/G REC TD
1 Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
17,309
204
4,135
4.2
84.8
152
2,913
482
121
6.0
14.3
11
2 Walter Payton
W. Payton
16,047
177
3,642
4.4
90.7
103
4,325
459
9.4
24.4
15
3 Frank Gore
F. Gore
15,155
218
3,532
4.3
69.5
77
3,867
468
673
8.3
17.7
18
4 Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
14,117
167
3,056
4.6
84.5
116
2,303
291
405
7.9
13.8
5
5 Curtis Martin
C. Martin
13,976
166
3,484
4.0
84.2
89
3,288
478
409
6.9
19.8
10
6 Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
13,799
138
2,782
5.0
100.0
85
2,639
328
8.0
19.1
10
7 LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
13,280
155
3,082
4.3
85.7
144
4,318
579
801
7.5
27.9
15
8 Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
12,385
153
3,130
4.0
80.9
64
1,334
185
94
7.2
8.7
3
9 Edgerrin James
E. James
11,987
135
2,957
4.1
88.8
80
3,333
428
577
7.8
24.7
11
10 Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
11,899
156
2,732
4.4
76.3
100
6,496
707
533
9.2
41.6
35
11 Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
11,607
160
2,767
4.2
72.5
63
4,139
433
3
9.6
25.9
21
12 Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
11,048
137
2,398
4.6
80.6
61
2,276
277
341
8.2
16.6
8
13 Steven Jackson
S. Jackson
10,939
147
2,660
4.1
74.4
66
3,568
448
612
8.0
24.3
9
14 Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,607
142
2,609
4.1
74.7
78
4,230
465
173
9.1
29.8
13
15 LeSean McCoy
L. McCoy
10,405
141
2,276
4.6
73.8
69
3,430
452
581
7.6
24.3
16
16 Jamal Lewis
J. Lewis
10,405
126
2,487
4.2
82.6
58
1,866
220
296
8.5
14.8
4
17 Derrick Henry
D. Henry
10,402
111
2,161
4.8
93.7
96
1,505
154
199
9.8
13.6
5
18 Eddie George
E. George
10,401
136
2,844
3.7
76.5
67
2,227
268
268
8.3
16.4
10
19 Corey Dillon
C. Dillon
10,346
132
2,423
4.3
78.4
74
1,738
224
267
7.8
13.2
6
20 Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
9,960
104
2,219
4.5
95.8
73
1,622
211
7.7
15.6
5
21 Marshawn Lynch
M. Lynch
9,786
135
2,319
4.2
72.5
80
2,060
266
366
7.7
15.3
8
22 Clinton Portis
C. Portis
9,680
108
2,185
4.4
89.6
73
1,973
241
330
8.2
18.3
5
23 Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
9,625
154
2,361
4.1
62.5
43
3,675
433
513
8.5
23.9
12
24 Matt Forte
M. Forte
9,570
137
2,292
4.2
69.9
54
4,444
526
690
8.4
32.4
21
25 Franco Harris
F. Harris
9,191
127
2,297
4.0
72.4
73
1,835
252
7.3
14.4
7
StatMuse has game-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1960 season.

More Cowboys Stats

Team Rankings

PPG

29.7

3rd

OPP PPG

30.7

31st

RUSH YDS/G

117.2

15th

PASS YDS/G

276.3

3rd

2025 Division Standings
TEAM W L T PCT
Eagles Eagles
4
2
0
.667
Commanders Commanders
3
3
0
.500
Cowboys Cowboys
2
3
1
.417
Giants Giants
2
4
0
.333
Schedule
DATE MATCHUP TIME (ET)
Sun
10/19
WAS WAS
@
DAL DAL
4:25 PM
Sun
10/26
DAL DAL
@
DEN DEN
4:25 PM
Mon
11/3
ARI ARI
@
DAL DAL
8:15 PM
Mon
11/17
DAL DAL
@
LV LV
8:15 PM
Sun
11/23
PHI PHI
@
DAL DAL
4:25 PM
Last Game
CAR Panthers

3 - 3 - 0

30

Final

27

DAL Cowboys

2 - 3 - 1

Sun 12 Oct 2025

NFL 2025 Leaders

NFL 2025 Rankings

NFL Fantasy 2025

NFL 2025 Betting

NFL 2025 Division Standings

AFC East W L T PCT
Patriots Patriots
4
2
0
.667
Bills Bills
4
2
0
.667
AFC North W L T PCT
Steelers Steelers
4
1
0
.800
Bengals Bengals
2
4
0
.333
AFC South W L T PCT
Colts Colts
5
1
0
.833
Jaguars Jaguars
4
2
0
.667
AFC West W L T PCT
Chargers Chargers
4
2
0
.667
Broncos Broncos
4
2
0
.667
NFC East W L T PCT
Eagles Eagles
4
2
0
.667
Commanders Commanders
3
3
0
.500
NFC North W L T PCT
Packers Packers
3
1
1
.700
Lions Lions
4
2
0
.667
NFC South W L T PCT
Buccaneers Buccaneers
5
1
0
.833
Falcons Falcons
3
2
0
.600
NFC West W L T PCT
49ers 49ers
4
2
0
.667
Seahawks Seahawks
4
2
0
.667

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)
Thu
10/16
PIT PIT
@
CIN CIN
8:15 PM
Sun
10/19
LAR LAR
@
JAX JAX
9:30 AM
Sun
10/19
NE NE
@
TEN TEN
1:00 PM
Sun
10/19
NO NO
@
CHI CHI
1:00 PM
Sun
10/19
MIA MIA
@
CLE CLE
1:00 PM