Through his first two seasons, Bills quarterback Josh Allen has shown that he has a howitzer of an arm, though he’s not always effective with it. Last season, Allen completed just 18 of 74 passes of 20 or more air yards, per Pro Football Focus, and his 61.4 passer rating on deep balls was fourth-worst in the NFL among quarterbacks who took at least 50% of their snaps, behind Philip Rivers, Jared Goff, and Kyle Allen. Perhaps Stefon Diggs can help him with that.
But if there’s one thing Allen’s proven to do well at a historical rate for his position, it’s getting the ball in the end zone with his feet. Allen has 17 rushing touchdowns in his first two seasons, which is the second-highest for a quarterback in NFL history. Cam Newton amassed 22 rushing touchdowns in 2011 and 2012.
To put Allen’s total in perspective, Shaun Alexander, Nick Chubb, Todd Gurley, Duane Thomas, Marshawn Lynch, Chuck Foreman, Franco Harris, and Marion Motley weren’t able to amass 17 rushing touchdowns in their first two seasons. Allen was selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2018 draft. The second pick in that same draft, Giants running back Saquon Barkley, also has 17 rushing touchdowns.
(Earl Campbell and Eric Dickerson are tied with the most rushing touchdowns in their first two seasons with 32).
This 15-yard touchdown scramble against the Cowboys in Week 13 last season shows how much of a pain Allen can be to deal with as a runner when your defense is trying to defend five receivers. At 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds, he requires help if you’re a smaller defensive back.
Two quarterbacks are tied with 15 rushing touchdowns in their first two seasons. Billy Kilmer of the 49ers in 1961-62, and Steve Grogan for the Patriots in 1975-76. Kilmer was one of three quarterbacks San Francisco had on its roster in those seasons — John Brodie and Bob Waters were the others — in head coach Red Hickey’s dream to bring the shotgun formation to the NFL. Brodie was the passer, while Kilmer and Waters were more versatile in what looked at times like a nebulous option offense. Kilmer ran for 987 yards in his first two seasons, placing him sixth all-time behind Lamar Jackson, Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III, Allen, Michael Vick, and Russell Wilson.
Pretty good for a guy who later filled out his uniform in this fashion.
Now, if Allen wants to pass Newton for the top of the leaderboard in his third season, he’ll have to total 12 rushing touchdowns in 2020 — at the end of his third season, Newton had 28, and Dak Prescott snuck up into second place with 18.