Bijan Robinson has taken over the NFL rushing lead. After five weeks of the 2026 regular season, the Atlanta Falcons running back leads the league with 580 rushing yards on 102 carries, a 5.7-yard average.
He moved past Kansas City’s Kenneth Walker III while the Chiefs were on their Week 5 bye. Walker sits second with 537 yards, Buffalo’s James Cook is a close third at 532, and Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs (504) and Baltimore’s Derrick Henry (476) round out the top five, according to league statistics through Monday night.
The top 10 after Week 5
| # | Player | Team | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bijan Robinson | ATL | 102 | 580 | 5.7 | 4 |
| 2 | Kenneth Walker III | KC | 87 | 537 | 6.2 | 4 |
| 3 | James Cook | BUF | 95 | 532 | 5.6 | 5 |
| 4 | Jahmyr Gibbs | DET | 105 | 504 | 4.8 | 7 |
| 5 | Derrick Henry | BAL | 113 | 476 | 4.2 | 7 |
| 6 | Aaron Jones | MIN | 97 | 410 | 4.2 | 2 |
| 6 | Jaylen Warren | PIT | 70 | 410 | 5.9 | 1 |
| 8 | Bucky Irving | TB | 77 | 406 | 5.3 | 2 |
| 9 | Jonathan Taylor | IND | 101 | 398 | 3.9 | 6 |
| 10 | D’Andre Swift | CHI | 78 | 354 | 4.5 | 4 |
How Robinson got there
Robinson’s season has come in two bursts. He opened with 83 yards at Pittsburgh and 72 against Carolina, then exploded for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries at Green Bay in Week 3. He followed that with 145 yards and two more scores on 19 carries in the Monday night win at New Orleans, a game that included his season-long 59-yard run.
In Sunday’s overtime loss to Baltimore he added 86 yards on 17 carries. His 116.0 rushing yards per game projects to roughly 1,970 over a 17-game season, which would clear the 1,478 he posted in 2025. He has six runs of 20-plus yards, two of them longer than 40, and 29 rushing first downs. He has also caught 18 passes for 152 yards.
Walker’s per-game edge
Walker has the better rate stats in a smaller sample. His 537 yards came in four games, an average of 134.3 per game, and his 6.2 yards per carry is the best among the top 10. He also owns the longest run among the leaders, a 76-yarder. If Walker matches his average against the winless Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, he would pass Robinson’s current total.
Volume and touchdowns
Henry has carried the ball more than anyone in the top 10, with 113 attempts, and shares the touchdown lead among running backs with Gibbs at seven apiece. Only Josh Allen, with eight, has more rushing scores. Gibbs has done the most damage as a receiver among the top five, adding 27 catches for 243 yards for 747 yards from scrimmage.
Pittsburgh’s Jaylen Warren is the efficiency outlier in the group, tied for sixth with 410 yards on only 70 carries, or 5.9 per attempt.
What Week 6 could change
Robinson and Swift meet directly when Chicago visits Atlanta on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (8 p.m. Cairo). Walker and the Chiefs host the Chargers at 4:25 p.m. ET (11:25 p.m. Cairo), and Cook’s Bills visit Las Vegas in the same window. Henry’s Ravens play at Cleveland, and Warren’s Steelers face Irving’s Buccaneers in Tampa.
Gibbs and Jones will not add to their totals this week: Detroit and Minnesota are both on bye in Week 6.
No published comments yet. Start the conversation.