Emmitt Smith has held one of sports' most prestigious records since 2002, when he broke Walter Payton's 16,726-yard rushing record, set in 1984. Smith stretched the record to 18,355 yards before retiring after the 2004 season. No one has seriously come close to matching Smith.
Frank Gore, who broke into the NFL a year after Smith retired, came closest this century with 16,000 rushing yards. The only current back that has a legitimate chance to eventually catch Smith is Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who is currently 10th all-time with 13,162 yards. While Henry still has a ways to go, Smith feels that Henry could make a strong chase at his record and could possibly surpass him as the NFL's career rushing king.
"Oh yeah, I think it's possible," Smith recently said. "Derrick Henry is a bigger back. He takes good care of his body.
Y'all don't know this, but Derrick Henry broke my high school record. He broke my state high school record. So I believe he can do it again." While Henry has the best chance of any current running back to eventually break Smith's record, it's anything but a sure thing.
Henry is currently 5,193 yards from matching Smith's record. For him to pass Smith, Henry either needs three seasons of at least 1,731 rushing yards or four years of roughly 1,300 yards. Since 2018, Henry has averaged 1,473 rushing yards per season.
That stretch included a 2,000-yard season (in 2020) and the greatest season for a running back in NFL history over the age of 30 in 2024, when he ran for 1,921 yards. Last season, Henry ran for an impressive 1,595 yards, the third-most-prolific season for an age-31 running back in league history, behind only Curtis Martin (2004) and Tiki Barber (2006). Henry showed no signs of slowing down in Week 1.
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