what running backs had the most rushing yards in the 1970s

Between the 1970 and 1979 seasons, O.J. Simpson rushed for the most yards by a running back, with 10,539 yards.

NAMERUSH YDSGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
10,539
122
2,223
4.7
86.4
59
1,799
173
10.4
14.7
11
2Franco Harris
F. Harris
8,563
111
2,012
4.3
77.1
72
1,311
174
7.5
11.8
4
3Larry Csonka
L. Csonka
6,975
124
1,622
4.3
56.3
56
519
74
7.0
4.2
2
4Walter Payton
W. Payton
6,926
73
1,548
4.5
94.9
59
1,424
156
9.1
19.5
4
5John Riggins
J. Riggins
6,822
111
1,666
4.1
61.5
42
1,891
216
8.8
17.0
12
6Lydell Mitchell
L. Mitchell
6,518
109
1,668
3.9
59.8
30
3,182
374
8.5
29.2
17
7Lawrence McCutcheon
L. McCutcheon
6,186
89
1,435
4.3
69.5
23
1,683
184
9.1
18.9
12
8Chuck Foreman
C. Foreman
5,887
93
1,533
3.8
63.3
52
3,057
336
9.1
32.9
23
9Greg Pruitt
G. Pruitt
5,255
87
1,087
4.8
60.4
25
1,942
208
9.3
22.3
8
10John Brockington
J. Brockington
5,185
95
1,347
3.8
54.6
30
1,297
157
8.3
13.7
4
11Sam Cunningham
S. Cunningham
5,163
90
1,290
4.0
57.4
39
1,813
198
9.2
20.1
6
12Calvin Hill
C. Hill
5,107
114
1,243
4.1
44.8
34
2,096
207
10.1
18.4
15
13Larry Brown
L. Brown
4,987
88
1,328
3.8
56.7
31
2,183
204
10.7
24.8
20
14Delvin Williams
D. Williams
4,927
84
1,125
4.4
58.7
31
1,208
121
10.0
14.4
6
15Mark van Eeghen
M. van Eeghen
4,919
88
1,214
4.1
55.9
28
1,148
126
9.1
13.0
3
16Floyd Little
F. Little
4,629
84
1,207
3.8
55.1
33
1,858
170
10.9
22.1
7
17MacArthur Lane
M. Lane
4,489
110
1,158
3.9
40.8
29
2,725
278
9.8
24.8
7
18Ed Podolak
E. Podolak
4,451
100
1,157
3.8
44.5
34
2,456
288
8.5
24.6
6
19Marv Hubbard
M. Hubbard
4,425
89
930
4.8
49.7
23
598
83
7.2
6.7
1
20Jim Otis
J. Otis
4,350
116
1,160
3.8
37.5
19
549
90
6.1
4.7
3
21Robert Newhouse
R. Newhouse
4,187
111
1,005
4.2
37.7
24
860
111
7.7
7.7
5
22Dave Hampton
D. Hampton
4,171
79
1,068
3.9
52.8
21
940
104
9.0
11.9
4
23Mercury Morris
M. Morris
4,023
85
781
5.2
47.3
30
478
48
10.0
5.6
1
24Otis Armstrong
O. Armstrong
3,983
87
917
4.3
45.8
21
1,279
124
10.3
14.7
7
25Altie Taylor
A. Taylor
3,949
81
1,047
3.8
48.8
24
1,437
160
9.0
17.7
6
StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1932 season.

More Bills Stats

Team Leaders

PASS

3,276

Allen

Josh Allen

RUSH

1,415

Cook

James Cook III

REC

650

Shakir

Khalil Shakir
Team Rankings

PPG

29.4

3rd

OPP PPG

23.1

16th

RUSH YDS/G

158.5

1st

PASS YDS/G

237.9

11th

2025 Division Standings
TEAMWLTPCT
Patriots Patriots
11
3
0
.786
Bills Bills
10
4
0
.714
Dolphins Dolphins
6
8
0
.429
Jets Jets
3
11
0
.214
Schedule
DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Sun
12/21
BUF BUF
@
CLE CLE
1:00 PM
Sun
12/28
PHI PHI
@
BUF BUF
4:25 PM
Sun
1/4
NYJ NYJ
@
BUF BUF
1:00 PM
Last Game
BUF Bills

10 - 4

35

Final

31

NE Patriots

11 - 3

Sun 14 Dec 2025

NFL 2025 Leaders

NFL 2025 Rankings

NFL Fantasy 2025

NFL 2025 Betting

NFL 2025 Division Standings

AFC EastWLTPCT
Patriots Patriots
11
3
0
.786
Bills Bills
10
4
0
.714
AFC NorthWLTPCT
Steelers Steelers
8
6
0
.571
Ravens Ravens
7
7
0
.500
AFC SouthWLTPCT
Jaguars Jaguars
10
4
0
.714
Texans Texans
9
5
0
.643
AFC WestWLTPCT
Broncos Broncos
12
2
0
.857
Chargers Chargers
10
4
0
.714
NFC EastWLTPCT
Eagles Eagles
9
5
0
.643
Cowboys Cowboys
6
7
1
.464
NFC NorthWLTPCT
Bears Bears
10
4
0
.714
Packers Packers
9
4
1
.679
NFC SouthWLTPCT
Buccaneers Buccaneers
7
7
0
.500
Panthers Panthers
7
7
0
.500
NFC WestWLTPCT
Rams Rams
11
3
0
.786
Seahawks Seahawks
11
3
0
.786

NFL 2025 Scores & Schedule

Scores

DATEMATCHUPSCORE
Sat
9/13
SF SF
@
NO NO
26-21
Sat
9/13
NE NE
@
MIA MIA
33-27
Sat
9/13
CAR CAR
@
ARI ARI
22-27
Sat
9/13
DEN DEN
@
IND IND
28-29
Sat
9/13
PHI PHI
@
KC KC
20-17

Schedule

DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Thu
12/18
LAR LAR
@
SEA SEA
8:15 PM
Sat
12/20
PHI PHI
@
WAS WAS
5:00 PM
Sat
12/20
GB GB
@
CHI CHI
8:20 PM
Sun
12/21
BUF BUF
@
CLE CLE
1:00 PM
Sun
12/21
LAC LAC
@
DAL DAL
1:00 PM