Ruing Backs with Highest Yards Per Carry Averages in NFL History

The following is a list of the ruing backs with the highest yards per carry averages in NFL history. These are not the players with the highest yards per carry averages in NFL history. All of the top five players with the highest rushing averages in NFL history are quarterbacks. I'm not including quarterbacks on this list. This list is just for ruing backs. I'm including stats for the AAFC, which existed from 1946 1949. The AAFC had many star players, and the best teams from the league merged with the NFL in 1949.

Ruing Backs with Highest Yards Per Carry Average in NFL History

Jamaal Charles of the Kansas City Chiefs, the only active player on this list, has the highest yards per carry average among ruing backs in NFL history at 5.79. Over his five year career, Jamaal Charles has gained 4,536 yards on 784 Cheap Panthers Jerseys carries.

Included among Jamaal Charles rushing yards are TD runs of 91, 86, 80, 76, 56, 56, 47, 44 and 41 yards. Charles has 17 total rushing TDs, so better than half his rushing TDs were for 40 or more yards. He also has a 97 yard kickoff retu for a TD in his career, and a 80 yard run that did not go for a TD, plus a 75 yard reception.

2. Marion Motley 5.70

Marion Motley currently has the second highest yards per carry average in NFL history among ruing backs at 5.70. Motley has the highest yards per carry among retired players, which is important because if Jamaal Charles caot maintain his current rushing average, Motley will go back to being the highest yards per carry ruing back in NFL history.

I'm including Marion Motley's stats here from the Cleveland Browns in the AAFC. The Bowns played in the AAFC from 1946 to 1949, and then joined the NFL in 1950. Motley played for the Browns from 1946 1953. For his career, Marion Motley gained 4,720 yards on 828 carries.

3. Bo Jackson 5.40

In his NFL career, Bo Jackson Wholesale Arizona Cardinals Jerseys ran for 2,782 yards on 515 carries, for a 5.40 yards per carry average. The third highest average for a ruing back in NFL history. Over just a four year career, Bo Jackson had TD runs of 92, 91, 73, 62, and 55 yards. He also had a 80 yard run that did not go for a TD.

Bo Jackson was such a great athlete he also played major league baseball with the Kansas City Royals. Unfortunately, his NFL career ended after just four seasons due to a bone condition called Avascular Necrosis, that forced him to get a hip replacement at age 30.

Avascular Necrosis, also called Osteonecrosis, is often associated with long term steroid use. Bo Jackson has vehemently denied that he ever used steroids.

4. Spec Sanders 5.37

Spec Sanders ran for 2,900 yards on 540 carries playing for the New York Yankees in the AAFC from 1946 to 1950. Sanders had TD runs of 75, 70, 60, 56, 56, and 52 yards in his career.

Spec Sanders also threw 23 TDs, had a 76 yard punt retu for a TD, had kickoff retus of 103 and 92 yards for TDs, caught a 49 yard TD, and he even retued an interception 50 yards for a TD in his career.

5. Bobby Mitchell 5.33

Bobby Mitchell was a hybrid player I'm including here because he primarily played ruing back for four seasons, gaining 2,297 rushing yards for the Cleveland Browns from 1958 1961. Mitchell then played for the Washington Redskins from 1962 1967, where Wholesale Buffalo Bills Jerseys he was primarily a wide receiver.

For his career, Bobby Mitchell ran for 2,713 yard on 513 carriers. His career rushing average of 5.33 yard per carry is fifth best in NFL history. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

6. Jim Brown 5.22

The great Jim Brown averaged 5.22 rushing yards per carry in his career. The sixth best total in NFL history, but the highest total for any ruing back who gained over 10,000 yards in his career.

For his career, Jim Brown ran for 12,312 yards on 2,359 carries. Brown played nine years in the NFL, all for the Cleveland Browns, and led the league in rushing yards eight times. He is the only player in NFL history to average over 100 rushing yards per game (104.3).

7. Eie Caddel 5.217

Eie Caddel ran for 2,311 yards on 443 carries playing primarily for the Detriot Lions in the 1930s.

8. Chet Mutryn 5.199

Chet Mutryn ran for 3,031 yards on 583 carries playing primarily for the Buffalo Bills in the AAFC in the late 1940s. Mutryn also played for the Baltimore Colts in the NFL in 1950.

9. Dan Towler 5.196

Playing for the Los Angeles Rams from 1950 1955, Dan Towler ran for 3,493 yards on 672 carries in his NFL career.

10. Johy Strzykalski 5.16

Playing for the San Francisco 49ers, Johy Strzykalski ran for 3,415 yards on 662 carries in his NFL career. With a 5.16 yards per carry average, Johy Strzykalski has the 10th highest rushing average in NFL history among ruing backs.