The best running backs in the NFL don’t typically have the longest career lengths. The position is punishing, and anyone who makes it longer than a decade is worthy of pain threshold Hall of Fame if nothing else.
So when a team can identify the truly elite, those with both skills and physical wherewithal to remain mainstays in the league for several seasons, plaudits are deserved.
Take a look across the NFL, though, and you’ll see that even on individual teams’ own Mount Rushmores, there’s always a player who didn’t crack the 10-year mark. It’s that brutal.
But with that in mind, let’s take a look at the five best teams when it comes to drafting running back talent in NFL history.
5. Dallas Cowboys
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- Emmitt Smith
- Tony Dorsett
- Ezekiel Elliott
- Herschel Walker
Smith and Dorsett are both Hall of Famers and the former remains the NFL’s all-time leading rusher since his retirement after the 2004 season. It’s hard to imagine, the way the game is played now, anyone catching him. Elliott made three Pro Bowls and led the league in rushing twice before the physicality caught up with him at age 29. Walker may not have lived up to his collegiate hype, but he made two Pro Bowls and played 12 years.
4. Buffalo Bills
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- OJ Simpson
- Thurman Thomas
- Marshawn Lynch
- Willis McGahee
Simpson was a five-time first-team All-NFL selection and won Most Valuable Player in 1973 while finishing in the top five three other times. Thomas ran for 1,000 yards or more eight seasons in a row and helped the Bills to four straight Super Bowls. Lynch did his best work in Seattle but played 12 years with five Pro Bowls. And McGahee ran for 1,000 yards with three different teams before retiring after the 2013 season.
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3. Denver Broncos
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- Terrell Davis
- Floyd Little
- Clinton Portis
- Javonte Williams
Like the Bills and Cowboys before, the Broncos have two Hall of Fame running backs. Injuries limited Davis to just 16 games over the final three seasons of his seven-year career, but what a first four years. Little made the Pro Bowl five times from the late 1960s to the early 1970s with the Broncos, while Portis ran for more than 1,000 yards six times with each being his only fully healthy seasons. Williams cracked the century mark on the ground for the first time in 2025 with the Cowboys.
2. Tennessee Titans
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- Earl Campbell
- Eddie George
- Derrick Henry
- Chris Johnson
Campbell had the best first three seasons of any player in NFL history. He finished second in MVP voting and won Rookie of the Year after 1,450 yards and 13 touchdowns. He won MVP the next season and ran for 1,934 yards the year after. George ran for 1,000 yards in seven of his nine seasons with four Pro Bowls. Henry and Johnson both eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark in a single season with the Titans, as well.
1. Los Angeles Rams
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- Eric Dickerson
- Jerome Bettis
- Steven Jackson
- Todd Gurley II
About a decade after Campbell did it, Dickerson won Rookie of the Year and finished second in the MVP race his first season in the league. He won Offensive Player of the Year in 1986 and was a first-team All-NFL selection five times. Bettis ranks one spot ahead him on the all-time rushing yardage list in eighth with 13,062 yards. Jackson hit the century mark on the ground in eight straight seasons and played for 12 years, while Gurley is the NFL’s all-time leader in touchdowns (79) by a player who never made it to 100 career games (88).
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