This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/JPAnalyst on 2024-06-30 13:22:12+00:00.
Here is a year-by-year list of the record holder for passing yards through every number of years played up to the all-time record holder Emmit Smith with 18,355 through 15 years.
Eric Dickerson dominates the early years, averaging over 1,900 yards per season through two years, over 1,700 through four years, and holding it down through eight years, before Barry Sanders takes over years 9-12. Sanders had such a big lead, that he grabbed the 11th year record while in retirement. He ended his career averaging 100 yards per game.
Walter Payton stops by to say hello with the record through 12 seasons (Thankfully. He’s my favorite player ever. Love you Sweetness! RIP).
Emmit Smith closes it out with his longevity leading to records starting in years 1-13 and up to the overall record.
Obligatory caveats
- 14-game era up to 1978 (3 of Walter Payton’s years); 16-game era 1978-2020 (the rest played in the 16-gm era); 17-game era 2021+ (no one on this list)
- This is straight up volume, and I’m not attempting to make any era adjustments or evaluate efficiency. Different eras have various rules, pace of play, and pass/run rates which is a factor when looking at historical numbers.
- I agree that suggestions to do this by games played instead of by years would be cool, but my spreadsheets and process are set up nicely to do this by year, and I don’t want to do the extra work required for that right now. I have added a column for games played and per-game to the table for that additional context though.