NFL: Why The Mobile Quarterback Isn’t Just A Fad

Despite recent talking points to the contrary, there is no reason to suspect that the mobile quarterback is just an NFL fad.

There has been a constant debate in recent years about the current prototype for the NFL quarterback. There is still the old guard that won’t budge off of the classic statue-like pocket passer as the league’s ideal prototype, and point to Denver’s Peyton Manning as the ideal player.

There are also those who support the new-breed of mobile quarterbacks that have been slowly taking over the NFL in the last few seasons. As their prototype, they often point to Carolina’s Cam Newton.

There has been a definite shift away from the pocket passer and toward their more mobile counterparts in recent years. Now, Peter King of Sport Illustrated says that the league going to correct that and move back to only drafting pocket passers.

"Look at the young, athletic playoff quarterbacks last year. Colin Kaepernick, declining. Cam Newton, declining. Russell Wilson, treading water. Andrew Luck is athletic but also effectively functions in the pocket; he’s certainly a rising star. But there’s been a hey-wait-a-minute moment when it comes to mobile quarterback as the wave of the future. And it’s because, obviously, mobile quarterbacks are getting the tar beaten out of them in the NFL today."

King has a point, but his conclusion is based on flawed arguments. While there’s reason to pull back the reigns on the “death of the pocket passer” narrative from last year, there’s no reason for begin talking about the death of the mobile quarterback either.

The (Lack of) Evidence

At first glance, there does seem to be strong evidence that NFL defenses have figured out how to stop the mobile quarterback. Robert Griffin has been awful this season. The same is true for Colin Kaepernick. Cam Newton has struggled at times this season as well. Even Russell Wilson’s development has stalled.

Unfortunately, four players isn’t a sufficient enough sample size a generalized evaluation. Take a closer look at each player and you’ll see that each one’s struggles has nothing to do with their playing style. The things that ail each of these quarterbacks would hurt packet passers in their situation as well.

Newton is playing behind one of the league’s worst offensive lines. Carolina has had catastrophic injuries at running back, and lacks talent at wide receiver. Throw in that Newton has been playing through a litany of injuries this season, and of course he has struggled this season.

Kaepernick’s apparent regression has coincided with San Francisco moving away from Kaepernick’s running ability to a move pass-orientated offense. He has never shown signs that he can read a defense fast enough to get deep into his progression. This isn’t evidence of the NFL figuring out how to beat him so much as it is the 49ers changing how they’re using him.

With Griffin, the reports out of Washington are that he lacks the necessary work ethic. Apparently he’d rather punt the football to himself after practice than study film. Even Fran Tarkenton, a great mobile quarterback from yesteryear, has taken a shot at Griffin’s work ethic.

Wilson’s case is a bit more complicated. Statistically he hasn’t been as good as 2013, but there are a lot of forces at work here. The Seahawks actually changed their offense in the offseason to try and integrate wide receiver Percy Harvin. It didn’t work, and now Harvin is gone. It has taken a few weeks, but Wilson and Seattle’s offense is back to its 2013 form.

That’s vintage Wilson right there. So while he slumped statistically earlier in the season, he clearly hasn’t regressed in a way that justifies the idea that he isn’t going to be successful any more in the NFL.

If fact, Seattle’s resurgence in the latter parts of the season has coincided with an increase in Wilson’s rushing yards. Wilson is on pace to finish with just under 900 rushing yards this season, which is an increase of over 30 percent from last year’s Super Bowl season.

The Numbers Game

Perhaps the biggest reason why the mobile quarterback isn’t going to go away is simple numbers. There aren’t 32 good pocket passers on Earth at any one time.

Those teams without a pocket passer will still be searching for a way to win games. Even if NFL defenses have caught up offensive scheme designed around quarterbacks who run, it wont prevent teams from trying to win games by letting their mobile quarterback make play with their legs.

Like all aspects of player acquisition in the NFL, it becomes a cost-benefit issue. If the league begins to operate under the idea that mobile quarterbacks aren’t as valuable, then it will only make acquiring them easier through the draft or cheaper in free agency.

If a team can suddenly get a quarterback like Oregon’s Marcus Mariota in the second round instead of having to using the first overall pick for him, why wouldn’t they take that chance?

Besides, more and more college teams are adopting spread zone concepts every year. The means that the talent pool available to NFL is being skewed in that direction as well. It is inevitable that this will have a serious impact on the NFL game.

We’ve already seen the beginnings of this. The use of shotgun in the NFL is at an all-time high. This is because the younger quarterbacks in league are often more comfortable in the shotgun than under center.

With so many college programs grooming a generation of mobile passers, the idea that the NFL will reject them all simply out of principle is a bit silly.

The Endgame

As is the case with any of these debates, reality lies somewhere in the middle. There’s no place in the NFL for a quarterback who can run but can’t throw. If there was, Tim Tebow would still be on a roster. At the same time, Russell Wilson has shown that a quarterback can be a natural runner and still have sustainable success in the NFL.

Steve Young, who had a hall-of-fame career as a mobile quarterback, said recently on ESPN that being mobile slows a quarterback’s growth in the pocket. He would know, and the evidence supports his point.

Any quarterback, mobile or not, must be able to play from the pocket. Being mobile and adding that element to an offense can help, but without a certain level of competence from the pocket a quarterback is bound to eventually fail.

And that will eventually be the deciding factor. Mobile quarterbacks aren’t going away. What is going away is the notion that being a great runner means you can get away with being a mediocre passer.

And that, is nothing new.

Next: Ranking all 32 teams historically by best QB's