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. He’s in great shape. 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.”
Can Henry break Smith’s record?
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. In addition to rushing for 144 yards, Henry scored three touchdowns while moving into third all time in career touchdown runs.
Despite being 32 (the age when most running backs are either already retired or in steep decline), Henry continues to play at an extremely high level. That will have to continue for him to have a chance to break Smith’s record.
While extremely rare, a running back continuing to pile up big numbers in his mid-30s has happened before. John Riggins, whose number the Commanders will retire this season, ran for 1,347 yards in his age-34 season and 1,239 yards in his age-35 season. It should be noted that Riggins took a year off during his prime and starred during a nine-game, strike-shortened season, so his success late in his career was at least partly a byproduct of less wear and tear earlier in his career.
Henry has displayed incredible longevity and, as Smith alluded, takes exceptionally good care of himself, which is undoubtedly a reason for his sustained success. That said, Henry will need a truly historic run to catch Smith. At this point, given how many yards Henry still needs, the odds of him eventually passing Smith are slim, though not certainly impossible.
Other milestones Henry can reach
Smith aside, Henry has a chance to pass several other NFL icons in the record books this season.
On the all-time rushing list, Henry is 98 yards from passing Eric Dickerson, 501 yards from passing Jerome Bettis, 523 yards from passing LaDainian Tomlinson, and 940 yards from passing Curtis Martin, who is currently sixth. Barring injury, Henry should pass each of these Hall of Fame running backs in 2026.
Next season, Henry should be in position to pass Adrian Peterson (14,918 yards) and Barry Sanders (15,269 yards). If he does that, Henry would enter the 2028 season trailing only Smith, Payton and Gore on the all-time list.
In career touchdown runs, Henry trails only Smith (164 touchdowns) and Tomlinson (145). It’s possible that Henry passes Tomlinson this season and will only have Smith ahead of him entering the 2027 season.
What does this mean for Henry’s legacy?
Henry’s future spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is already secure and has been for some time. Of the eligible running backs with 12,000 career rushing yards, every one of them is in the Hall of Fame. Henry will join them in Canton, Ohio, as soon as he is eligible. Everything he does now is icing on the cake.
