{"id":833646,"date":"2026-07-30T15:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T15:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/833646\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T15:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T15:03:16","slug":"nfl-all-time-rushing-leaders-how-much-higher-can-derrick-henry-climb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/833646\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL all-time rushing leaders: How much higher can Derrick Henry climb?"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 30, 2026, 8:55 a.m. CT<\/p>\n

Our final installment of the all-time leaders series is finally here, and today we’re wrapping things up by ranking the NFL’s all-time leaders in career rushing yards. This list is packed with Hall of Famers who dominated on the ground for years, shattered countless records, and cemented themselves among the greatest running backs in NFL history.<\/p>\n

Among the names featured is one active player who continues to climb the leaderboard. Heading into his 11th NFL season, Derrick Henry is fresh off another remarkable campaign in which he rushed for nearly 1,600 yards and 16 touchdowns, giving him a legitimate chance to move even higher before his career comes to an end. The rest of the list is filled with legendary figures such as Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Adrian Peterson, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Eric Dickerson — running backs whose dominance defined generations and set the standard for greatness at the position.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top 10 rushing yards leaders in NFL history.<\/p>\n

10. Derrick Henry: 13,018 rushing yards\"CLEVELAND,<\/p>\n

Teams: Tennessee Titans<\/a> (2016 to 2023) and Baltimore Ravens<\/a> (2024 to 2025)<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a>9. Eric Dickerson: 13,259 rushing yards\"Dec<\/p>\n

Teams: Los Angeles Rams<\/a> (1983 to 1987), Indianapolis (1987 to 1991), and Los Angeles Raiders<\/a> (1992)<\/p>\n

8. Jerome Bettis: 13,662 rushing yards\"8<\/p>\n

Teams: Los Angeles Rams (1993 to 1995) and Pittsburgh Steelers (1996 to 2005)<\/p>\n

7. LaDainian Tomlinson: 13,684 rushing yards\"Nov<\/p>\n

Teams: San Diego Chargers (2001 to 2009) and New York Jets (2010 to 2011)<\/p>\n

6. Curtis Martin: 14,101 rushing yards\"New<\/p>\n

Teams: New England Patriots (1995 to 1997) and New York Jets (1998-2005)<\/p>\n

5. Adrian Peterson: 14,918 rushing yards\"Minnesota<\/p>\n

Teams: Minnesota Vikings (2007 to 2016), New Orleans Saints<\/a> (2017), Arizona Cardinals<\/a> (2017), Washington Redskins<\/a>\/Football Team (2018 to 2019), Detroit Lions<\/a> (2020), Tennessee Titans (2021) and Seattle Seahawks<\/a> (2021)<\/p>\n

4. Barry Sanders: 15,269 rushing yards\"Barry<\/p>\n

Team: Detroit Lions (1989 to 1998)<\/p>\n

3. Frank Gore: 16,000 rushing yards\"FILE<\/p>\n

Teams: San Francisco 49ers (2005 to 2014), Indianapolis Colts<\/a> (2015 to 2017), Miami Dolphins<\/a> (2018), Buffalo Bills<\/a> (2019) and New York Jets (2020)<\/p>\n

2. Walter Payton: 16,726 rushing yards\"34:<\/p>\n

Team: Chicago Bears<\/a> (1975 to 1987)<\/p>\n

1. Emmitt Smith: 18,355 rushing yards\"Jan<\/p>\n

Teams: Dallas Cowboys (1990 to 2002) and Arizona Cardinals (2003 to 2004)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"July 30, 2026, 8:55 a.m. CT Our final installment of the all-time leaders series is finally here, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":833647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[202558,64,63,593,368401,85,368402,368403,203469,203485,203486,203482,203480,275120,203470,380636,203487,212583,203904,203477,207308,203146,203905,203142,203149,202563,212569,203903,203134,203498,203139,210946,255430,203914,202561],"class_list":["post-833646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-accessfree","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sourcesaints-wire","tag-sports","tag-sstssportsnflsaints","tag-sstsnsaints","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagarizona-cardinals","tag-tagbaltimore-ravens","tag-tagbuffalo-bills","tag-tagcalifornia-gold-rush","tag-tagcgr-sports","tag-tagchicago-bears","tag-tagderrick-henry","tag-tagdetroit-lions","tag-tagindianapolis-colts","tag-taglas-vegas-raiders","tag-taglos-angeles-rams","tag-tagmiami-dolphins","tag-tagnational-sports","tag-tagnew-orleans-saints","tag-tagnfl","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagpro-football-hall-of-fame","tag-tagseattle-seahawks","tag-tagsmg-listicle","tag-tagsport-scores-statistics","tag-tagsports-news","tag-tagtennessee-titans","tag-tagwalter-payton","tag-tagwashington-commanders","tag-typestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/833647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}