In 2010, Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Ben Roethlisberger dominated the QB position in the NFL. One aspect those men all share is the inability to run like today’s quarterbacks, such as Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels, and Kyler Murray. In just a little longer than a decade, the quarterback market has completely changed. Quarterbacks coming out of college are judged more and more every year on their ability to rush the ball, and less on their capability to throw the ball, which is what the quarterback’s job is, and running the ball is the running back’s job.
The pocket passer is a dying breed of quarterbacks, with the only ones remaining being Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford. There are quarterbacks like Justin Fields, Anthony Richardson, and Jalen Hurts, who are better at running the ball than throwing it, which doesn’t make sense because quarterbacks are supposed to throw the ball, not take the running back’s job of running the ball.
When a quarterback does a passing play, they know the risk of no one being open. Passing plays shouldn’t become a “pass if someone’s open, run if someone’s not” type of play. With the touchbacks on kickoffs moving further up the field, and with kickers becoming more accurate and being able to kick further every season, a QB is only a few rushes up the field to get to field goal range and get the team easy points. This makes the game feel too easy, and that can get boring. With rules in the NFL favoring quarterbacks, defenders are scared to tackle quarterbacks and get flags drawn, and pray that they take a slide instead of faking the defenders out.
I’m not saying quarterbacks shouldn’t be able to run, but far too often in today’s age of football, many quarterbacks don’t throw the ball as much as quarterbacks should, unless it’s a close game and the clock is dwindling down. For example, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts currently has 889 yards, 22nd in the league, 7 passing touchdowns, 15th in the league, 0 interceptions, and a 67.5 quarterback rating. Many people rank Hurts as a top 5 quarterback in the league, but the only stat he’s in the top 15th in is interceptions, and he doesn’t have any since he doesn’t throw the ball often. Sure, Jalen Hurts is a very good player, but as a running back, not a quarterback.
Hurts has an insane supporting cast on his team with A.J. Brown, Saquon Barkley, and Davonta Smith, but he is not using these players to their full potential. Hurts is taking many touchdowns away from Barkley by using the tush push to get easy touchdowns, and he isn’t throwing to Brown or Smith because he would rather keep the ball and run for easy yards, not willing to take the risk of passing the ball. Taking risks makes NFL games more entertaining and exciting.
Quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts have changed the position ever since they came into the league, and it has made teams prioritize drafting mobile quarterbacks, even if they aren’t good passers. The role of quarterbacks who sit in the pocket and would rather throw it away than run is almost extinct in the NFL right now, as today’s age of football is calling for running quarterbacks. Being a quarterback no longer requires you to be an accurate and strong passer, but rather to be able to run whenever the pocket collapses.
