NFL Winners

All-Time NFL Rushing Leaders List

June 27, 2024

This list features National Football League running backs ranked by total career rushing yards and includes the 31 players who have rushed for at least 10,000 yards. Sixteen of these players have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Emmitt Smith tops the list with 18,355 rushing yards and also leads in postseason rushing with 1,586 yards. He has held the all-time rushing yards record since 2002 and is the only player with over 17,000 regular season rushing yards.

NFL All-Time Rushing Leaders

Below is a list of the all-time leading rushers in NFL history.

Rank	Player	Rushing Yards	Games Played	Rushing TDs
1	Emmitt Smith	18,355	226	164
2	Walter Payton	16,726	190	110
3	Frank Gore	16,000	241	81
4	Barry Sanders	15,269	153	99
5	Adrian Peterson	14,918	184	120
6	Curtis Martin	14,101	168	90
7	LaDainian Tomlinson	13,684	170	145
8	Jerome Bettis	13,662	192	91
9	Eric Dickerson	13,259	146	90
10	Tony Dorsett	12,739	173	77
11	Jim Brown	12,312	118	106
12	Marshall Faulk	12,279	176	100
13	Edgerrin James	12,246	148	80
14	Marcus Allen	12,243	222	123
15	Franco Harris	12,120	173	91
16	Thurman Thomas	12,074	182	65
17	Fred Taylor	11,695	153	66
18	Steven Jackson	11,438	160	69
19	John Riggins	11,352	175	104
20	Corey Dillon	11,241	150	82
21	O.J. Simpson	11,236	135	61
22	Warrick Dunn	10,967	181	49
23	Ricky Watters	10,643	144	78
24	Jamal Lewis	10,607	131	58
25	Thomas Jones	10,591	180	68
26	Tiki Barber	10,449	154	55
27	Eddie George	10,441	141	68
28	Marshawn Lynch	10,413	149	85
29	Ottis Anderson	10,273	182	81
30	Joe Perry	9,723	181	71