With all the mobile quarterbacks in the NFL today, you’d expect that one of them could lead his team in rushing yards. Of course, Lamar Jackson broke Michael Vick’s single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback against the Jets on Thursday. Jackson now stands with 1,103 yards on the season, and he’s far enough ahead of running back Mark Ingram (963 yards) to make you think he could finish up the season with the team lead — unless Baltimore grabs the one-seed this week or next week and the Ravens rest Jackson for the playoffs.
When Vick became the first quarterback with over 1,000 rushing yards in a season in 2006 with 1,039, he was still behind Warrick Dunn and his 1,140 rushing yards. Josh Allen of the Bills came into Week 15 with 439 rushing yards, but both Frank Gore and Devin Singletary are ahead of him, so that’s probably not going to happen.
You know which other quarterback could lead his team in rushing yards this season? Take a guess. No, take another guess. Yeah, try again.
Give up? It’s Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who came into Week 15’s game against the Giants with 186 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 40 carries. Mark Walton was ahead of him, “leading” the ‘Fins with 201 yards on 53 carries. Walton is no longer with the team; he was suspended by the NFL and then waived for a particularly egregious violation of the personal conduct policy. Kenyan Drake had 174 yards on 47 carries before Miami traded him to the Cardinals in late October. Kalen Ballage had 135 yards on 74 carries before he was placed on injured reserve with a leg injury in early December.
So, when Fitzpatrick gained 24 rushing yards on two carries in the first half of the Giants game, he went ahead of Walton. This is a 37-year-old quarterback whose previous season high in rushing yards was 308 for the 2008 Bengals. Fitzpatrick hasn’t even started every game for the Dolphins this season, so we’re not really sure whether this is more a statement regarding Fitzpatrick’s do-it-all demeanor, or an indictment of Miami’s depleted run game. Guys like Patrick Laird and Myles Gaskin are Fitzpatrick’s only rivals at this point.
In truth, no matter how weak the competition, it’s exceedingly rare for a quarterback to lead his team in rushing yards for a season. It requires an odd set of circumstances. As Chase Stuart of Football Perspective points out, the last time it happened was in 2017, when Russell Wilson led the Seahawks with 586 rushing yards. Mike Davis was second on the team with 240 yards, so that wasn’t even close. 2017 was also offensive line coach Tom Cable’s last year with the Seahawks, and that wasn’t a coincidence.
Before that, you’d have to go back to Randall Cunningham, who did it four straight seasons for the Eagles — 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1990. Anthony Toney, Keith Byars, and the rest of Philly’s running backs during that era, hang your heads in shame.
There was also Chicago’s Bobby Douglass, who ran for 968 yards for the Bears in 1972 and established the single-season record Vick eventually broke. Douglass was basically a running back with a quarterback’s number who threw once in a while — in 1972, he completed just 75 of 198 passes for 1,246 yards, nine touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. The next time you bemoan Mitchell Trubisky’s down moments, Bears fans, remember that it has been far, far, worse.
Bobby Douglass, professional quarterback: https://t.co/ay0fHU45ja pic.twitter.com/ssgQ8qfWwi
— Jack M Silverstein (@readjack) December 13, 2019
So, yes… it’s entirely possible that two quarterbacks could lead their teams in rushing yards this season: Lamar Jackson, and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Just like we all predicted.