Ranking the greatest running backs in NFL history – Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith and Marshall Faulk
Kenneth Walker and Kyren Williams rank among the best running backs in the NFL today.
But the Seattle Seahawks bruiser and Los Angeles Rams slasher have a long way to go before they can crack the ultimate top 10 list.
Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith put up huge career numbers, and were honored with gold jackets and busts in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Derrick Henry recently knocked Earl Campbell out of talkSPORT’s all-time top 10 running backs list, as the Baltimore Ravens star surpassed 13,000 career rushing yards and 120 rushing touchdowns.
From Franco Harris and Thurman Thomas to Marcus Allen and Jerome Bettis, the NFL was once dominated by fast and powerful runners who were tough to defend and harder to bring down.
Frank Gore, Curtis Martin, Tony Dorsett, Edgerrin James, Marcus Allen, Fred Taylor, Steven Jackson and John Riggins all ran for more than 11,000 yards.
As the NFL playoffs return reach Championship Sunday, Walker and Williams are trying to run toward Super Bowl LX.
Below, talkSPORT ranks the best running backs in history.
10. Derrick Henry (Titans, Ravens)
Forty-four players were drafted before the former Alabama star.
Ten years after team after team missed on Henry, the old-school runner is still making NFL opponents pay.
“It’s one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen,” said Ravens coach John Harbaugh, after Henry humbled the Packers in Week 17 by running for 216 yards.
He only started four games during his initial two seasons with the Tennessee Titans.
But Henry reminded the NFL of the power of running backs when he galloped for 2,027 yards, 17 touchdowns and 98 first downs during a jaw-dropping 2020 campaign that resulted in an Offensive Player of the Year award.
His greatest accomplishment has been modern longevity.
Henry, 32, ranks 10th all-time in NFL rushing yards, while his 2025 season was among his best.
Career statistics: 13,018 rushing yards, 122 rushing touchdowns
9. Gale Sayers (Chicago Bears)
Sayers had one of the most unique careers in NFL history.
Like Earl Campbell, the Kansas Comet was limited by injuries.
But there’s a reason that Barry Sanders was often compared to Sayers, who could blow by defenses and leave opponents grasping at air.
Sayers totalled 1,374 rushing and receiving yards as a rookie with the Chicago Bears in 1965, adding 20 touchdowns as he leapt into the NFL spotlight.
Even more impressive was Sayers’ 17.5 yards-per-reception average, highlighting his elusiveness in the open field.
Sayers only played five full seasons but he was an All Pro each year.
That’s the definition of dominance in the backfield.
Stats: 4,956 yards, 39 TDs
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8. Marshall Faulk (Colts, Rams)
Faulk was so good that he won the NFL MVP during a time when Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were in the league.
Starting his career with the Indianapolis Colts as a No. 2 overall pick, the San Diego State speedster was dangerous in the open field and a highly reliable receiver.
In 1999, Fault caught 87 passes for 1,048 receiving yards and five TDs.
The dual-threat back also ran for 1,381 yards in the same season.
It marked the first of three consecutive Offensive Player of the Year awards for Faulk, who excelled with the high-scoring St. Louis Rams and earned seven Pro Bowl selections on the way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Stats: 12,279 yards, 100 TDs
7. Adrian Peterson (Vikings, Saints, Cardinals, Redskins, Lions, Titans, Seahawks)
Peterson came nine yards away from setting the NFL single season record for rushing yards, during an era when passing quarterbacks were taking over the sport.
That’s how impressive AP was — he could run all day, then spent the end of his career bouncing around the league because he wanted to keep running more.
Peterson rushed for at least 1,298 yards during his initial four seasons, then won NFL MVP in his sixth year.
He’s a surefire future Hall of Famer who will always be associated with Minnesota Vikings.
Peterson is also the last running back to be named MVP (2012).
Stats: 14,918 yards, 120 TDs
6. LaDainian Tomlinson (Chargers, Jets)
Tomlinson could win the debate for the most underrated running back of all-time.
From 2001-09, the other famous LT was a touchdown machine.
The only thing that held back Tomlinson’s legacy was the San Diego Chargers’ shortcomings in the playoffs.
The No. 5 overall pick in 2001 out of TCU, Tomlinson scored 28 rushing touchdowns in ’06 and added three more through the air, while totalling 2,323 yards.
It was one of the greatest individual statistical seasons in NFL history and showed how much Tomlinson meant to Philip Rivers and San Diego’s offense.
Stats: 13,684 yards, 145 TDs
5. Eric Dickerson (Rams, Colts, Raiders, Falcons)
At the start of his career, Dickerson was a lock to become the greatest running back in NFL history.
Already famous (and controversial) in college at SMU, Dickerson was so talented that he followed John Elway at No. 2 overall in the legendary 1983 NFL Draft and preceded future Hall of Famers Bruce Matthews, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino and Darrell Green.
As a rookie, Dickerson finished second in MVP voting with 1,808 rushing yards, 18 TDs and 404 receiving yards.
Then he answered that historic campaign by making real history, recording 2,105 rushing yards and setting an NFL mark that still stands today.
Dickerson trailed off in his final years but no one was better in the 1980s.
Stats: 13,259 yards, 90 TDs
From Tyler to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Honorable mention: Earl Campbell (Oilers, Saints)
Before Derrick Henry was running over NFL defenses, there was the unstoppable Campbell.
The ‘Tyler Rose’ from Texas was brutal between the lines, overpowering opponents and becoming must-watch TV as soon as the ball touched his hands.
Campbell entered the NFL as a No. 1 overall pick with the Houston Oilers in 1978.
His initial four seasons were legendary, as Campbell almost broke 2,000 yards on the ground, won three Offensive Player of the Year awards and was named NFL MVP.
Campbell’s career was short but incredibly sweet.
While injuries limited his dominance, it’s impossible to forget how powerful Campbell was at his peak.
Stats: 9,407 yards, 74 TDs
4. Jim Brown (Cleveland Browns)
Barry Sanders’ dad might have been right.
For many, Brown was the best running back of all-time and it’s easy to understand why.
Brown played nine seasons and made nine Pro Bowls, while earning eight All Pro selections.
He was fast, powerful, intuitive and fearless.
Brown led the NFL in rushing during eight of his nine seasons, averaging 5.2 yards per carry while also recording 9.5 yards per reception.
The Syracuse product and No. 6 overall pick is still one of the most famous players in NFL history, almost 60 years after his last game.
Brown was a man among men on the field and helped establish football as America’s new pastime.
Stats: 12,312 yards, 106 TDs
3. Barry Sanders (Detroit Lions)
Sanders was a unicorn in the NFL.
The “Bye Bye Barry” documentary on Amazon highlighted Sanders’ unbelievable feats on the field.
But only NFL defenders can fully appreciate what it was like to try and tackle Sanders, who blended Sayers with Brown but was his own unique force.
Like several other running backs on this Top 10 list, Sanders was limited by his team and never reached a Super Bowl.
It took years for him to reconnect with the Lions.
“What it took to get Barry back, I think it just took time,” Eric Woodyard, Detroit beat writer for ESPN, exclusively told talkSPORT.
“I mean a lot of people were bitter towards him the way he left the game here in Michigan, and I think it took time from him and it took time from the organization.”
No one doubts just how brilliant Sanders was from 1989-98.
He rushed for at least 1,115 yards in all 10 of his NFL seasons, won MVP and two Offensive Player of the Year honors, and suddenly walked away after a 1,491-yard campaign.
If Sanders had kept playing, he would have topped this all-time list.
Stats: 15,269 yards, 99 TDs
2. Walter Payton (Chicago Bears)
Consistency is everything for a running back, and no one was more dependable than Sweetness.
Payton turned Jackson State into the No. 4 overall pick, then became a name that Chicago Bears fans will never forget.
He broke the 1,000-yard mark 10 times and was still making the Pro Bowl in his 12th season.
While Sanders was on pace to eclipse Payton’s career rushing yards record, Sweetness’ dependability set him apart in NFL history.
Stats: 16,726 yards, 110 TDs
1. Emmitt Smith (Cowboys, Cardinals)
Jim Brown changed the way that running backs were viewed.
Barry Sanders was the modern version of Brown and impossible to contain.
But only one runner leads NFL history in rushing yards and TDs, and that’s the three-time Super Bowl champion who helped the Dallas Cowboys become a dynasty again.
Smith was great in college but wasn’t drafted until No. 17 overall in 1990.
He spent the next 15 seasons outlasting Sanders and surpassing Payton in the record book.
Longevity separated Smith, who almost broke 1,000 yards as a 35-year-old with Arizona, which was nearly a decade after he scored 25 TDs in a single season with the world champion Cowboys.
Stats: 18,355 yards, 164 TDs
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