Perhaps I should start this discussion by asking if quarterbacks who happen to be born black really do think rushing is a necessary aspect of their game in order to be successful. Is every black quarterback measured by their rushing statistics, feeling predisposed to make plays with their legs? If they are then possibly the viewing public is to blame.

SPEED KILLS

Joe Six-pack watches the Olympics every four years and when the 100 meter final is aired most of the finalists are black. If they are fast, therefore they should use that speed to run right? This sounds like an argument straight out of the mouth of someone like Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder. I have no intention of making any such assumptions about which race produces the faster athletes. Perhaps the general populous is predisposed to believe black quarterbacks are all fast though. Think about it for a moment. Anyone who watches the New York City marathon highlights knows that runners from Kenya can run 26.2 miles better than anyone in the world. It would seem logical to think the same of black athletes dominating the 100 meters as a reason to associate running fast with their race.

PASSING THE VICK

Michael Vick of Atlanta is fast, there is no disputing that. The criticism of him has been that he cannot throw a deep forward pass. Evidence is pretty strong that passing the football is not his strength. In this his fifth year in the NFL he has yet to pass for even 3,000 yards although in fairness he has also missed plenty of playing time due to injury. At press time (through 14 games of 2005) his career spanning 56 games played and 49 started has produced only 8,755 yards passing. Some consider 300 yards to be a successful game throwing the football. I think 250 is at least a solid effort. How many times do you suppose he has reached even 250? That would be five times, including three in the 2002 season. He had a career high 337 during the same campaign and earlier this year had only his second visit into three bill territory at 306. It is worth noting that this year's big effort marked the first time Atlanta lost when he threw for more than 250 yards, leaving them 3-1-1 in such games. Sort of ruins the argument that they are better off if he does not throw the ball a lot huh?

THE STATUE OF DONOVAN

Donovan McNabb is another black quarterback who entered the NFL in 1999, but whose perception is the opposite. He used to run a lot more and now recently has been reeled in. His career has spanned 94 games and 88 starts across seven seasons. Already four times he has surpassed 3,200 yards in a season and struck for 134 passing touchdowns. Over the last 24 games he started in 2004 and 2005 he has only run with the football for a gain 2.75 times per start. Contrast that to the previous 4 seasons in which he started 58 games with an average of 5.21 rushes and I think you see my point. We are talking about roughly slicing his carries in half. Clearly the presence of Terrell Owens impacted this decision and helped him to throw for at least 330 yards in an astounding 33% of his starts during that period of time. The interesting fact is comparing the yards per attempt for his career. McNabb stands at 6.60 while Michael Vick's is 6.78. Remind me again who is better at getting the football down the field?

BYRON IN THE MIDDLE

The most overlooked and underappreciated black quarterback in the game today is Byron Leftwich. Entering the NFL in 2003 he has had his share of issues staying healthy, but in his rookie year went 5-8 as a starter. If you need a reminder what Peyton Manning did as a rookie, his record was 3-13. He followed it up with an 8-6 season and the team was 8-3 when he went down. If you are running out of fingers to count on that would be a 21-17 record. Since winning is the bottom line for a quarterback and 55% translates to just about 9-7 I consider him a very successful player. His rushing statistics certainly paint him as a pocket passer. Only 95 times has he run with the ball in 40 appearances and 38 total starts. The 323 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns are just about what a scrambling quarterback would accumulate in a single mediocre season. In roughly 25% fewer starts than Vick, Leftwich has double the number of games throwing for at least 250 yards (10) although his team is a mere 5-5 in those contests.

THREE'S COMPANY?

Based on the three marquee black quarterbacks I think I can draw some conclusions. Vick is perceived as a suspect passer in the media, yet his team succeeds more than Leftwich when he does throw for a lot of yards and averages more per attempt than McNabb. Maybe I have yet to answer the question of whether or not they feel it necessary to run in order to succeed. More than 3 rushes per game seems to be the standard for scrambling more than necessary in the general flow of the game plan. Leftwich is 7-0 when he is credited with at least 4 carries. Vick is 30-19-1 and of course rarely plays a game without that many rushes. He also lost his first 6 fitting that criteria and has therefore has won 69% of his "running" games over the past 44. McNabb had won all 9 of his games with 4+ rushes since Owens signed with the team until his team lost a 21-20 heartbreaker to Dallas in his final 2005 appearance. Adding up the recent scrambling games of these three you get 46-20-1 which translated to a single full season of play equals an 11-5 record. I think every team in the NFL would accept that mark so this could explain why general managers are seeking quarterbacks who can move whether they are black or white.  

PAGING THE GENERAL MANAGER

Do general managers draft black quarterbacks with the specific intention of having them scramble and gain yards rushing? That argument does not hold much water these days though. Especially after speedy white guy Matt Jones was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars out of Arkansas and converted to wide receiver. Oh by the way, they already have three black quarterbacks on their roster, the only such team in the NFL with that distinction. Having a quarterback who can move is probably a good idea. Vick had 90 rushes to lead the NFL through 14 weeks of play this season. His team is 8-6 overall so while they are still treading water in the playoff race at least they are winning. The next highest rushing attempt total is David Carr at 52. That guy is running for his life behind a terrible offensive line, and it brings up a great point. Vick and Carr have an identical number of times that they were either sacked or ran with the football - 116. Vick has 90 rushes for 534 yards while getting sacked 26 for 139. Carr's 52 rushes produced 292 yards, but has gotten sacked 64 times for 392 yards worth of losses. Let's analyze that. Vick moves forward on 77.6% of the plays when he does not hand off or throw the ball, Carr loses yardage 55.2% of the time. On those 116 plays, Vick averages a net gain of 3.41 yards per play whereas Carr loses 0.86. This has to be a clear argument for the value of mobility.

CHIME IN ANY TIME

This will be an evolving article and hopefully I have stimulated some thought so far. Feel free to add your own commentary.