who has the most rushing yards since 1981

Since 1981, Emmitt Smith has rushed for the most 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
2Frank Gore
F. Gore
16,000
241
3,735
4.3
66.4
81
3,985
484
696
8.2
16.5
18
3Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
15,269
153
3,062
5.0
99.8
99
2,921
352
8.3
19.1
10
4Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
14,918
184
3,230
4.6
81.1
120
2,474
305
423
8.1
13.4
6
5Curtis Martin
C. Martin
14,101
168
3,518
4.0
83.9
90
3,329
484
409
6.9
19.8
10
6LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
13,684
170
3,174
4.3
80.5
145
4,772
624
868
7.6
28.1
17
7Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
13,662
192
3,479
3.9
71.2
91
1,449
200
100
7.2
7.5
3
8Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
9Derrick Henry
D. Henry
13,018
153
2,662
4.9
85.1
122
1,801
189
245
9.5
11.8
5
10Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
12,279
176
2,836
4.3
69.8
100
6,875
767
606
9.0
39.1
36
11Edgerrin James
E. James
12,246
148
3,028
4.0
82.7
80
3,364
433
584
7.8
22.7
11
12Marcus Allen
M. Allen
12,243
222
3,022
4.1
55.1
123
5,411
587
9.2
24.4
21
13Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
12,074
182
2,877
4.2
66.3
65
4,458
472
29
9.4
24.5
23
14Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
11,695
153
2,534
4.6
76.4
66
2,384
290
348
8.2
15.6
8
15Steven Jackson
S. Jackson
11,438
160
2,764
4.1
71.5
69
3,683
461
627
8.0
23.0
9
16Corey Dillon
C. Dillon
11,241
150
2,618
4.3
74.9
82
1,913
244
278
7.8
12.8
7
17LeSean McCoy
L. McCoy
11,102
170
2,457
4.5
65.3
73
3,898
518
665
7.5
22.9
16
18Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
10,967
181
2,669
4.1
60.6
49
4,339
510
594
8.5
24.0
15
19Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,643
144
2,622
4.1
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
20Jamal Lewis
J. Lewis
10,607
131
2,542
4.2
81.0
58
1,879
221
298
8.5
14.3
4
21Thomas Jones
T. Jones
10,591
180
2,678
4.0
58.8
68
2,023
308
410
6.6
11.2
3
22Tiki Barber
T. Barber
10,449
154
2,217
4.7
67.9
55
5,183
586
707
8.8
33.7
12
23Eddie George
E. George
10,441
141
2,865
3.6
74.0
68
2,227
268
269
8.3
15.8
10
24Marshawn Lynch
M. Lynch
10,413
149
2,453
4.2
69.9
85
2,214
287
391
7.7
14.9
9
25Ricky Williams
R. Williams
10,009
147
2,431
4.1
68.1
66
2,606
342
466
7.6
17.7
8
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

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TEAMWLTPCT
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6
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.647
Cowboys Cowboys
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9
1
.441
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12
0
.294
4
13
0
.235
Last Game
DAL Cowboys

7 - 9 - 1

17

Final

34

NYG Giants

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Sun 4 Jan 2026

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Bills Bills - w
12
5
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10
0
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Jets Jets - e
3
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AFC NorthWLTPCT
10
7
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8
9
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11
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12
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11
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.441
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12
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11
6
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9
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8
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14
3
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12
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49ers 49ers - w
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5
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.706
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14
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.176