As potentially unbreakable NFL records go, the all-time rushing mark seems to be one of the most untouchable.
If any current player has a chance to get close enough to make things interesting, it’s Ravens running back Derrick Henry.
He’s the active leading rusher, with 11,423 yards. That puts him at 19th on the list, already ahead of Hall of Famers like John Riggins, O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell, Jim Taylor, Larry Csonka, and Terrell Davis.
In the early weeks of the 2025 season, Henry will leapfrog Steven Jackson and Fred Taylor. Barring serious injury, Henry likely will finish 2025 in the top 10.
Here’s the real question. How high will he go? He’s 2,628 yards away from the top six, and 3,495 away from the top five.
And the Emmitt Smith record of 18,355 yards is a mere 6,932 yards away.
Yes, Henry (now 31) will need several more years of high-end performance to get there. That said, he has shown no sign of slowing down. While the end can come quickly (and Father Time remains undefeated), maybe Henry is the outlier — like Emmitt was.
Smith played through the year in which he turned 35, generating 937 rushing yards in his final season. Henry is 5.5 seasons away from catching Smith, based on Henry’s average of 1,269 yards per season.
He had 1,921 yards last year, at 30. He’s playing with a generational quarterback, whose mere presence makes it easier for Henry to find daylight.
It won’t be easy. But here’s the point. It’s never really been a serious consideration that Henry could catch Emmitt.
Maybe it should be. And Emmitt would be fine with that; he [told us several years ago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB3nSl6nXTY) at the Super Bowl that he wishes Walter Payton would have been alive to congratulate Emmitt when he broke Payton’s record. Put simply, Emmitt wants to be able to shake the hand of the person who breaks his record.
While it’s hardly anything close to a lock, there’s a non-zero chance that Emmitt will eventually be shaking Derrick Henry’s hand. Much of it will depend on the rest of Henry’s body will defy the hourglass long enough to keep running through, over, and around defenders.