Runnin' Down a Dream

By Joe Schackman


The quarterback position is changing. It is not the Michael Vick revolution but there is a new premium on dual threat quarterbacks.

During my high school days, I did very little of the talking to girls thing. Seriously, like none (this was helped by the fact that there were about six girls in my grade). So the normally critical hour of lunch, where most guys spent their time trying to find a prom date, was spent in the gymnasium with my friends, alternating between pickup football and basketball. This included fellow Began in ’96 writer Adam Cancryn, whom if you’ve never met him, likes to hurt people while playing sports. He swears it is by accident or due to the “heat of the moment.” He is lying.

Having a solid arm, I found myself playing quarterback in most of our football games. On one particular play, Adam decided to blitz me. Anyone who has played pickup football knows this is the cue to run for your life, so I took off. I knew I couldn’t outrun Adam, so I attempted to juke him but failed spectacularly. He laid his shoulder into my chest and sent me flying, my head whiplashing into the gym floor. I hit the ground so hard I bruised my right ear. Yes, ears can bruise. I realized at that moment, I was not athletic enough to play quarterback beyond our lunchroom games.

However, for many years athleticism was not considered a necessary attribute for a quarterback at even the highest levels. Quarterback’s were notoriously immobile and unathletic. Their main job was to plant in the pocket and deliver a dart. Think Dan Marino, Vinny Testeverde or Troy Aikman . This is changing, however. With the rise of spread offenses in college and the freak athletic ability of defensive players, it is now critical for the modern quarterback to be mobile and make plays on the run. This is not a position revolution, but it is a deviation from the typical quarterback mold.

Aaron Rodgers is the quintessential “new-age” quarterback. He has a rocket arm, and the speed and athletic ability that allows him to take make plays on some of the most talented defenses. He does not outrun defensive backs or bulldoze linebackers. But he has the speed to escape the rush or reach the edge on a short run. Since 2008, when Rodgers first took over for the aging Brett Favre, he has led the league in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 13.

The necessary distinction here is that we are not talking about Michael Vick-type speed and athleticism. Vick is one of the most exceptionally talented players ever to play football, but that has not turned him into one of the best quarterbacks ever. There are diminishing returns on a quarterback’s athleticism; once you pass the minimum threshold, you are not that much better because you are that much more athletic.

In fact, no “running quarterback” has ever won a Super Bowl or, in recent years, played in one. Donovan McNabb is the closest it comes, and even he reached the championship during his strongest statistical passing year. You don’t have to be able to break ankles or create top-10 highlight plays to be an effective dual threat QB.

Rodger’s is not the only example of this new mold of quarterbacks. Ben Roethlisberger, Josh Freeman, Mark Sanchez, Cam Newton, Blaine Gabbert and Tony Romo have all been lauded for their ability to make plays on the run. Colt McCoy is quickly becoming one of the more promising QB talents in the league and in 2008, in the midst of breaking Texas Longhorn passing records, McCoy also led the team in rushing yards and touchdowns.

One of the biggest reasons we have this new rise of mobile quarterbacks is the proliferation of the spread offenses in college football. The offensive schemes spread the field out so much and cause such chaos and mismatches that running lanes and opportunities open up for the quarterback. A player who can take advantage of defensive lapses with his feet has a much higher chance of playing and getting the recognition necessary to be drafted. Often, becoming a star player is simply being in the right place at the right time.

The defensive players have also become such forces on the opposite side of the ball that in many ways a quarterback has to be able to move effectively in order to survive. Matt Stafford, who is your typical statue quarterback, has had a number of injuries through his first few seasons, helped in part by his inability to escape the rush.

Ironically, this relatively easily measurable attribute has not made drafting quarterbacks any easier on pro football teams. In the 2005 NFL draft, the 49ers had the first pick and chose the supremely athletic quarterback, Alex Smith, who ran Urban Meyer’s spread option attack at Utah (before he went to Florida). In the process, the Niners passed on another high level QB prospect named Aaron Rodgers. The ol’ gunslingers might be fading into the sunset, but drafting a franchise quarterback hasn’t gotten any easier.