Christian McCaffrey (RB, SF) led running backs in air yards in 2025 at 335. 151 players recorded air yards in 2025.
Air yards count the distance the ball travelled in the air on every target, caught or not. It separates a receiver who is genuinely being thrown downfield from one whose yards come after the catch, and it is the raw material behind target share's more useful cousins.
| Rank | Player | Pos | Team | Air Yards | Targets | Rec Yards | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian McCaffrey | RB | SF | 335 | 129 | 924 | 17 |
| 2 | Rhamondre Stevenson | RB | NE | 159 | 37 | 345 | 14 |
| 3 | Kyren Williams | RB | LA | 125 | 50 | 281 | 17 |
| 4 | Bijan Robinson | RB | ATL | 101 | 103 | 820 | 17 |
| 5 | Woody Marks | RB | HOU | 77 | 36 | 208 | 16 |
| 6 | Michael Carter | RB | ARI | 75 | 45 | 267 | 13 |
| 7 | James Cook | RB | BUF | 56 | 40 | 291 | 17 |
| 8 | Jahmyr Gibbs | RB | DET | 54 | 94 | 616 | 17 |
| 9 | Chase Brown | RB | CIN | 46 | 88 | 437 | 17 |
| 10 | Zach Charbonnet | RB | SEA | 40 | 24 | 144 | 16 |
| 11 | Bam Knight | RB | ARI | 37 | 31 | 160 | 12 |
| 12 | De'Von Achane | RB | MIA | 35 | 85 | 488 | 16 |
| 13 | Alvin Kamara | RB | NO | 33 | 39 | 186 | 11 |
| 14 | Isaiah Davis | RB | NYJ | 32 | 28 | 186 | 16 |
| 15 | Saquon Barkley | RB | PHI | 31 | 50 | 273 | 16 |
| 16 | RJ Harvey | RB | DEN | 28 | 58 | 356 | 17 |
| 17 | Blake Corum | RB | LA | 25 | 14 | 36 | 17 |
| 18 | Dare Ogunbowale | RB | HOU | 24 | 13 | 76 | 14 |
| 19 | Julius Chestnut | RB | TEN | 22 | 2 | 0 | 16 |
| 20 | Reggie Gilliam | RB | BUF | 22 | 2 | 24 | 11 |
| 21 | Tyrone Tracy Jr. | RB | NYG | 19 | 48 | 288 | 15 |
| 22 | Malik Davis | RB | DAL | 18 | 5 | 16 | 10 |
| 23 | Zavier Scott | RB | MIN | 17 | 16 | 98 | 11 |
| 24 | Chris Rodriguez Jr. | RB | WAS | 16 | 4 | 30 | 12 |
| 25 | Elijah Mitchell | RB | KC | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Nick Chubb | RB | HOU | 15 | 20 | 67 | 15 |
| 27 | Breece Hall | RB | NYJ | 14 | 48 | 350 | 16 |
| 28 | Raheim Sanders | RB | CLE | 14 | 4 | 21 | 4 |
| 29 | AJ Dillon | RB | PHI | 12 | 3 | 21 | 6 |
| 30 | Austin Ekeler | RB | WAS | 12 | 7 | 38 | 2 |
| 31 | David Montgomery | RB | DET | 12 | 29 | 192 | 17 |
| 32 | Derrick Henry | RB | BAL | 12 | 21 | 150 | 17 |
| 33 | Emari Demercado | RB | ARI | 12 | 20 | 101 | 12 |
| 34 | Tony Pollard | RB | TEN | 12 | 41 | 206 | 17 |
| 35 | Corey Kiner | RB | ARI | 11 | 3 | 15 | 4 |
| 36 | Najee Harris | RB | LAC | 10 | 3 | 25 | 3 |
| 37 | Bhayshul Tuten | RB | JAX | 8 | 14 | 79 | 15 |
| 38 | Braelon Allen | RB | NYJ | 8 | 3 | 17 | 4 |
| 39 | Chris Brooks | RB | GB | 6 | 17 | 91 | 17 |
| 40 | Patrick Ricard | RB | BAL | 6 | 2 | 8 | 5 |
| 41 | Brittain Brown | RB | CHI | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 42 | Kyle Monangai | RB | CHI | 2 | 30 | 164 | 17 |
| 43 | Terrell Jennings | RB | NE | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 |
| 44 | Trevor Etienne | RB | CAR | 2 | 3 | 13 | 17 |
| 45 | Ray Davis | RB | BUF | 1 | 13 | 86 | 17 |
| 46 | Avery Williams | RB | NYJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 47 | Brady Russell | RB | SEA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 48 | Brian Robinson | RB | SF | 0 | 12 | 25 | 17 |
| 49 | British Brooks | RB | HOU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 50 | Chase Edmonds | RB | WAS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Showing the top 50 of 151 qualified players. Narrow it down by position: wide receivers · tight ends · running backs.
Air Yards leaders, all positions
Air Yards by position: wide receivers · tight ends
More 2025 leaderboards: Average Depth of Target leaders · Yards After Catch leaders · WOPR leaders · Air Yards Share leaders · all NFL stats
Christian McCaffrey (RB, SF) led running backs in air yards in 2025 at 335. Rhamondre Stevenson (RB, NE) was next at 159.
Air yards count the distance the ball travelled in the air on every target, caught or not. It separates a receiver who is genuinely being thrown downfield from one whose yards come after the catch, and it is the raw material behind target share's more useful cousins.
151 players qualified for the 2025 air yards leaderboard among running backs. The table above lists the top 50.
Stats as of July 28, 2026. Data from nflverse (nflverse-data), licensed CC BY 4.0. Source: nflverse-data. License: CC-BY-4.0.