1971 NFL Running Back Leaders
Every 1971 board running backs are read on, one page, top ten in each.
Floyd Little led all running backs in rushing yards in 1971, with 1,133. John Fuqua led in receiving yards (427), receptions (49) and receiving yards per game (35.6). Floyd Little also led in rushing yards per game (80.9) and yards from scrimmage (1,388).
Rushing Every NFL rushing board →
The rate boards count qualified players only: 6.25 carries per team game.
Rushing Yards
YDS- 1 Floyd Little 1,133
- 2 John Brockington 1,105
- 3 Larry Csonka 1,051
- 4 Steve Owens 1,035
- 5 Willie Ellison 1,000
- 6 Larry Brown 948
- 7 Marv Hubbard 867
- 8 Ken Willard 855
- 9 Duane Thomas 793
- 10 John Riggins 769
- 1 Duane Thomas 11
- 2 Bo Scott 9
- 3 Pete Banaszak 8
- 3 Tom Matte 8
- 3 Steve Owens 8
- 3 Norm Bulaich 8
- 3 Calvin Hill 8
- 8 Larry Csonka 7
- 8 Fred Willis 7
- 10 Floyd Little 6
Yards per Carry
Y/A- 1 Larry Csonka 5.39
- 2 John Brockington 5.12
- 3 Norm Bulaich 4.88
- 4 Marv Hubbard 4.79
- 5 Willie Ellison 4.74
- 6 Preston Pearson 4.62
- 7 Jim Kiick 4.56
- 8 Les Josephson 4.54
- 9 Duane Thomas 4.53
- 10 Jess Phillips 4.47
Rushing Attempts
ATT- 1 Floyd Little 284
- 2 Larry Brown 253
- 3 Steve Owens 246
- 4 John Brockington 216
- 4 Ken Willard 216
- 6 Willie Ellison 211
- 7 Larry Csonka 195
- 8 Emerson Boozer 188
- 9 Cannonball Butler 186
- 10 O.J. Simpson 183
- 1 Floyd Little 80.9
- 2 John Brockington 78.9
- 3 Larry Csonka 75.1
- 4 Steve Owens 73.9
- 5 Larry Brown 72.9
- 6 Duane Thomas 72.1
- 7 Willie Ellison 71.4
- 8 Marv Hubbard 61.9
- 9 Ken Willard 61.1
- 10 Calvin Hill 58.5
Receiving Every NFL receiving board →
The rate boards count qualified players only: 1.875 receptions per team game.
Receiving Yards
YDS- 1 John Fuqua 427
- 2 Joe Morrison 411
- 3 Walt Garrison 396
- 4 Art Malone 380
- 5 Mike Montgomery 361
- 6 Bobby Anderson 353
- 7 Steve Owens 350
- 8 Jim Kiick 338
- 9 Wayne Patrick 327
- 10 Larry Smith 324
Receptions
REC- 1 John Fuqua 49
- 2 Mike Garrett 41
- 3 Walt Garrison 40
- 3 Jim Kiick 40
- 3 Joe Morrison 40
- 6 Bobby Anderson 37
- 7 Wayne Patrick 36
- 7 John Riggins 36
- 9 Art Malone 34
- 10 Willie Ellison 32
- 1 Jeff Queen 3
- 1 Mike Garrett 3
- 1 Calvin Hill 3
- 4 Essex Johnson 2
- 4 Les Josephson 2
- 4 George Nock 2
- 4 Steve Owens 2
- 4 Preston Pearson 2
- 4 John Riggins 2
- 4 Larry Brown 2
- 1 Mike Montgomery 12.89
- 2 Art Malone 11.18
- 3 Steve Owens 10.94
- 4 Larry Smith 10.45
- 5 MacArthur Lane 10.28
- 6 Joe Morrison 10.28
- 7 Walt Garrison 9.90
- 8 Bobby Anderson 9.54
- 9 Wayne Patrick 9.08
- 10 John Fuqua 8.71
- 1 John Fuqua 35.6
- 2 Mike Montgomery 32.8
- 3 Joe Morrison 31.6
- 4 Walt Garrison 30.5
- 5 Art Malone 29.2
- 6 Bobby Anderson 27.2
- 7 Jim Kiick 26.0
- 8 Steve Owens 25.0
- 9 Wayne Patrick 23.4
- 10 Larry Smith 23.1
Yards from Scrimmage
YScm- 1 Floyd Little 1,388
- 2 Steve Owens 1,385
- 3 Willie Ellison 1,238
- 4 John Brockington 1,203
- 5 Larry Csonka 1,164
- 6 Larry Brown 1,124
- 7 Jim Kiick 1,076
- 8 Ken Willard 1,057
- 9 John Fuqua 1,052
- 10 Marv Hubbard 1,034