nfl most rushing yards in a player's first twelve seasons

Walter Payton rushed for the most yards by a player in his first 12 seasons, with 16,193 yards.

NAMERUSH YDSGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Walter Payton
W. Payton
16,193
178
3,692
4.4
91.0
106
4,321
459
9.4
24.3
14
2Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
16,187
185
3,798
4.3
87.5
148
2,923
470
67
6.2
15.8
11
3Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
15,269
153
3,062
5.0
99.8
99
2,921
352
8.3
19.1
10
4Curtis Martin
C. Martin
14,101
168
3,518
4.0
83.9
90
3,329
484
409
6.9
19.8
10
5LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
13,684
170
3,174
4.3
80.5
145
4,772
624
868
7.6
28.1
17
6Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
13,318
149
2,825
4.7
89.4
106
2,223
272
378
8.2
14.9
6
7Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
13,294
180
3,369
3.9
73.9
82
1,409
196
96
7.2
7.8
3
8Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
9Frank Gore
F. Gore
13,065
180
2,965
4.4
72.6
74
3,427
414
607
8.3
19.0
16
10Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
11Jim Brown
J. Brown
12,312
118
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
12Derrick Henry
D. Henry
12,294
147
2,542
4.8
83.6
115
1,749
187
241
9.4
11.9
5
13Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
12,279
176
2,836
4.3
69.8
100
6,875
767
606
9.0
39.1
36
14Edgerrin James
E. James
12,246
148
3,028
4.0
82.7
80
3,364
433
584
7.8
22.7
11
15Franco Harris
F. Harris
11,950
165
2,881
4.1
72.4
91
2,284
306
7.5
13.8
9
16Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
11,938
173
2,849
4.2
69.0
65
4,341
456
5
9.5
25.1
22
17Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
11,540
146
2,491
4.6
79.0
66
2,378
288
345
8.3
16.3
8
18Steven Jackson
S. Jackson
11,438
160
2,764
4.1
71.5
69
3,683
461
627
8.0
23.0
9
19Corey Dillon
C. Dillon
11,241
150
2,618
4.3
74.9
82
1,913
244
278
7.8
12.8
7
20O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
11,236
135
2,404
4.7
83.2
61
2,142
203
10.6
15.9
14
21LeSean McCoy
L. McCoy
11,102
170
2,457
4.5
65.3
73
3,898
518
665
7.5
22.9
16
22Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
10,967
181
2,669
4.1
60.6
49
4,339
510
594
8.5
24.0
15
23Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,643
144
2,622
4.1
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
24Jamal Lewis
J. Lewis
10,607
131
2,542
4.2
81.0
58
1,879
221
298
8.5
14.3
4
25Thomas Jones
T. Jones
10,591
180
2,678
4.0
58.8
68
2,023
308
410
6.6
11.2
3
StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1932 season.

More Bears Stats

Team Rankings

PPG

26.3

8th

OPP PPG

26.5

27th

RUSH YDS/G

142.3

2nd

PASS YDS/G

237.9

12th

2025 Division Standings
TEAMWLTPCT
Bears Bears
8
3
0
.727
Packers Packers
7
3
1
.682
Lions Lions
7
4
0
.636
Vikings Vikings
4
7
0
.364
Schedule
DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Fri
11/28
CHI CHI
@
PHI PHI
3:00 PM
Sun
12/7
CHI CHI
@
GB GB
4:25 PM
Sun
12/14
CLE CLE
@
CHI CHI
1:00 PM
Sat
12/20
GB GB
@
CHI CHI
1:00 PM
Sun
12/28
CHI CHI
@
SF SF
8:20 PM
Last Game
PIT Steelers

6 - 5

28

Final

31

CHI Bears

8 - 3

Sun 23 Nov 2025

NFL 2025 Leaders

NFL 2025 Rankings

NFL Fantasy 2025

NFL 2025 Betting

NFL 2025 Division Standings

AFC EastWLTPCT
Patriots Patriots
10
2
0
.833
Bills Bills
7
4
0
.636
AFC NorthWLTPCT
Ravens Ravens
6
5
0
.545
Steelers Steelers
6
5
0
.545
AFC SouthWLTPCT
Colts Colts
8
3
0
.727
Jaguars Jaguars
7
4
0
.636
AFC WestWLTPCT
Broncos Broncos
9
2
0
.818
Chargers Chargers
7
4
0
.636
NFC EastWLTPCT
Eagles Eagles
8
3
0
.727
Cowboys Cowboys
5
5
1
.500
NFC NorthWLTPCT
Bears Bears
8
3
0
.727
Packers Packers
7
3
1
.682
NFC SouthWLTPCT
Buccaneers Buccaneers
6
5
0
.545
Panthers Panthers
6
6
0
.500
NFC WestWLTPCT
Rams Rams
9
2
0
.818
Seahawks Seahawks
8
3
0
.727

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
11/27
GB GB
@
DET DET
1:00 PM
Thu
11/27
KC KC
@
DAL DAL
4:30 PM
Thu
11/27
CIN CIN
@
BAL BAL
8:20 PM
Fri
11/28
CHI CHI
@
PHI PHI
3:00 PM
Sun
11/30
JAX JAX
@
TEN TEN
1:00 PM