I'm no fan of Michael Vick, but he is usually the first name you think of when you think of elite NFL QBs that could run the ball like a running back, i.e. dual threat QBs. Basically the best running QB in NFL history. But the knock on his game that most agree with is he wasn't a great throwing QB.
And the numbers bare that out. He played in 143 games from 2001-2015 where he completed only 56.2% of his passes. That's not good, borderline terrible. Good QBs are at least in the 60% percentile. And the great QBS complete on avg in their career 65-68%.
But since he was such a duel and unique threat, most forgave Vick for not being a great thrower. He avg 42.7 rushing yards a game. That's pretty incredible. And 6.1 yards per attempt over his career, outdoing a slew of actual NFL running backs.
Now we have other QBs that should be in this conversation of best dual threat QBS ever: Steve Young, Frank Tarkenton, Randall Cunningham are three of the best ever not currently playing. Then I would definitely put Cam Newton and Russell Wilson firmly in that conversation.
And now we have Lamar Jackson. I don't think it's going out on too far a limb to say he is on pace to be the best dual threat NFL quarterback of all time. Lamar has only played in 27 NFL games, but his numbers are staggering to look at:
He is averaging 58.2 yards rushing per game (better than Vick's career), avg 5.8 yards per carry (but 7.1 yards per attempt in his second season). And more impressive, his passing #s - he is completing 63.8% of his passes (66.9% in 2019 so far) and averaging 7.7 yards per throw (both of those are elite stats for any QB, any season.)
What prompted me to write this thread is that Lamar Jackson is 9th in the NFL in rushing through Week 12 in 2019. He is 9TH in the whole league in rushing, barely behind Ezekiel Elliott and Chris Carson. And he is currently 27th in passing yards, but look at the totality of those numbers: 66.9% completion rate, 2,427 yards thrown with 24 TDs and only 5 picks.
Vick's best season throwing the ball was 2010, with 21 TDS and 6 picks, with 3018 yards. In that same year, he avg 56.3 yards per carry. So Lamar is outpacing Vick in every single category, even if you cherry pick Vick's most impressive year.
Barring injuries I think Lamar Jackson has the real opportunity to become thought of as the greatest dual threat QB to ever play the game. I love Young, Tarktenton and Cunningham, but none of them were a consistent top 10 RB in the league AND one of the best throwing QBs in the league simultaneously.
I'm not saying he is the best QB ever. But when it comes to defenses having to respect and game plan for a QBs throwing and running game, he is currently on pace to outdo every QB in the NFL's 100+ history.
What do you think? Where does Lamar currently rank and do you agree he can be the best dual threat QB ever?