Black quarterbacks have historically rushed the most in the NFL. Not anymore.

The social media app Reddit is one of the best resources in America. You can learn how to reverse sear a medium-rare ribeye steak. You can keep up with the latest gossip about your favorite Real Housewife. You can see how different Orange Fanta sodas look in the U.S. compared to Europe.

Four months ago, around the start of the 2025 season, someone posted an interesting question in the “Ask Reddit” forum: “Why aren’t there ever any mobile white quarterbacks in the NFL?”

When you think of mobile quarterbacks, certain people come to mind; Michael Vick. Cam Newton. Lamar Jackson. For the older crowd, Randall Cunningham.

What those four quarterbacks have in common is obvious: They’re all Black. Throughout the history of professional football, mobile quarterbacks, with few exceptions, have always fit that stereotype. There are many reasons why that’s the case, but the truth of it is that the facts bear it out. Of the all-time leaders in quarterback rushing yards, the four players listed above make up four of the top five spots; the fifth is Russell Wilson, who is also Black.

But things have changed. More Black quarterbacks than ever in history started for NFL teams this season, yet the league’s top running quarterbacks this season were white. Josh Allen (579), Justin Herbert (498), Jaxson Dart (487), and Drake Maye (450) led the league in quarterback rushing yards, the first time four white quarterbacks have led that category in more than 30 years. And of the top 11 rushers at the position this season, seven are white.

Black quarterbacks were once demonized for daring to dart for a first down, but the NFL continually evolves. Over the last decade, mobility has come into style while traditional pocket passing has gone the way of the horse-collar tackle and chop block. And much like the gentrification of a once colorful and cultural neighborhood, white quarterbacks have moved to the top of the list.

The quarterbacks of the past barely resemble today’s players. No one would confuse Johnny Unitas or Bart Starr with Jayden Daniels. Staying in the pocket was the quarterback’s sole job. As the years went on, the position became more mobile. In the 1960s and 1970s, Fran Tarkenton and Roger Staubach regularly ran for more than 200 yards in a season, making them the Usain Bolts of quarterbacks compared to most others at the time.

Cunningham broke the mold after being drafted in 1985, once rushing for 942 yards in a single season. And save for Steve Young and Aaron Rodgers, most of the successful quarterbacks of the past parked themselves in the pocket, turned on their hazard lights and got comfortable.

Running was really something only the Black quarterbacks did. Cunningham consistently — and comfortably — led the league in rushing yards by a quarterback throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The 1993 season was the last in which four white quarterbacks (Young, Rick Mirer, Jim Harbaugh, Brett Favre) led the league in quarterback rushing yards, and that’s only because Cunningham missed 12 games with a broken leg.

In 2001, Vick broke the mold again for mobile quarterbacks, followed by Newton, who further evolved the position by incorporating more athletic attributes. But the path to white quarterbacks becoming the face of running the ball started in 2018.

That year, three quarterbacks were chosen in the first round of the NFL draft: Baker Mayfield, Allen and Jackson. All three are mobile quarterbacks in their own way, with Mayfield being the pocket escape artist, Allen the bruiser, and Jackson the speedster.

Around this time, teams started spreading their offenses out more, so defenses had to account for deep throws and the quarterback taking off to run. And running didn’t just mean for positive yardage. It meant the ability to move within the pocket, escape pressure and maintain accuracy while throwing on the run.

“It gives you a get-out-of-jail free card as an offense when you have a mobile quarterback because everyone can be covered. And when you don’t have a mobile quarterback, they get sacked,” Tampa Bay Buccaneers director of player personnel Shane Scannell told the team’s website in 2023. “But a mobile quarterback can take off and extend the play. Then, someone can potentially get open, and they can make a late, on-the-down throw.”

The particular success of Allen and Jackson (three combined MVP awards) influenced NFL teams to search for players with similar skillsets. To be a quarterback, you still must be accurate and poised, but you also need to be fast and elusive. The comparisons were normally Black: Kyler Murray, Jayden Daniels, Anthony Richardson, Caleb Williams. But then there was Justin Herbert. And Trevor Lawrence. And Daniel Jones.

Something was shifting. And the numbers bear it out. Rushing yards are obviously the number of yards that a player runs for. But scramble yards are the rushing yards when a pass play is called, but the quarterback chooses to run instead. This can happen for any number of reasons: All receivers are covered, the pocket breaks down, the quarterback exploits a weakness, etc. Regardless, Black mobile quarterbacks were notorious for scrambling all the time, which was used as a criticism of their ability to play quarterback the right way.

2025 scramble leaders

2023 scramble leaders

From 2018-2023, Black quarterbacks held the top-5 spots for quarterback scrambles, according to TruMedia. Black quarterbacks also were eight of the top 11 scramblers in that time period. TruMedia’s scramble data only goes back to the 2000 season. But in most seasons, no more than two white quarterbacks cracked the top 5, though there were far fewer Black starting quarterbacks then

But in 2024, white rookies Bo Nix (49) and Drake Maye (45) made the top 5 in the number of scrambles in a season. And in 2025, four white quarterbacks comprised the top 5: Maye (62), Herbert (49), Allen (47) and Mayfield (47). Of the 10 quarterbacks who scrambled the most this season, six are white (Nix ranked 11th with 34 scrambles). This is all happening in the same season when, for the first time in league history, Black quarterbacks opened the season with half (16) of the starting quarterbacks.

(To be fair, Jackson and Daniels, who led the league in quarterback rushing yards last season, missed a combined 14 games this season with injuries.)

Running the ball was once seen as an impediment for Black quarterbacks: Jackson was famously called a wide receiver headed into the draft. But now it’s attached to team success. Black quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts were the winning signal-callers of the last three Super Bowls. And in that time frame, they had the third- and fifth most scrambles in the league, respectively. Of the eight quarterbacks left in this year’s playoffs, three (Allen, Maye, Williams) finished in the top 10 for quarterback rushing yards; Nix ranked 11th.

Back to the Reddit post. It seems the person who posed the question should have waited to see how the 2025 season played out before asking. A supposed expert in the comments section already knew what was up.

“Do you watch the NFL?” ballknower4 responded. “This ain’t true.”

Quarterbacks who run are acceptable now in the NFL. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to believe that white quarterbacks are the ones doing it the most.

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