Lamar Jackson named the NFL MVP for 2019

I’m going to pushback just a little.

There is a difference between a running QB and a QB who can run. The Russell Wilson’s, Steve Young’s, Donovan McNabb’s of the world are qb’s who prefer to throw the ball, but take off when lanes open. They may even do the occasional qb designed run, but their sprinting ability is a tool and not the main feature.

The Kaep’s, Jackson’s, Vick’s and Tebow’s are wired to run first and throw as a back up option. Their default set is to take off and not sit in a pocket. Those types of players do risk injury at a higher rate.

Though Vick had a long career, he spent a good portion of it being mediocre as well because once defenses could neutralize him, his inaccuracy doomed his game. It’s the same with Kaep. And likely will be the same with Jackson if he doesn’t learn to throw with more accuracy.

Is it possible that you've got some hindsight happening, though? It seems to me like you're retroactively classifying QBs as "running QB" or not based on how you perceive them.

The stats would bear out that a lot of the players you're saying are "QBs who prefer to throw the ball" leaned heavily on the run. In 2014 the Seahawks made the Super Bowl behind Wilson's 860 yards rushing - the 5th most rushing yards by a QB in a single season in history. McNabb had 3,500 yards rushing for his career - about 200 yards less than Pierre Thomas had.

Steve Young has the 4th most rushing yards by a QB in NFL history. Wilson is 5th. Elway is 8th. Rodgers 9th. Those guys are amongst the most prolific runners in NFL history at the QB position. If there is a such thing as a "QB who prefers to run", those guys are that.

It seems to me that a lot of people simply categorize the successful running QBs as "QBs who didn't prefer to run" and the failed running QBs as "running QBs".