A new era of football

   A Bit of NFL History

    The NFL is changing, big time. It has evolved over the past couple of years and always will. For example, the leading quarterback in the 1970  season was John Brodie, who tossed for...wait for it...2,941 yards. The leading quarterback. But he did pass for...wait for it...24 touchdowns, and ten interceptions. Next up on the list? Fran Tarkenton, who passed for 2,777 yards, and he didn't cover up those numbers with a billion touchdowns. Tarkenton threw for 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions! Fast forward 52 years, and you would be met with Patrick Mahomes, who threw 5,250 yards 41 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Or Justin Herbert who passed for 4,739 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. If you were to go further down the list, you would see 11 other players who threw at least 20 touchdowns, and 3,000 yards. Seven of those 11 threw over 4,000 yards. Before the 1980s, when big name QB's such as Joe Montana, Dan Marino, and John Elway changed the idea of conservative passing, teams were very run heavy. The action was a lot slower, which led to more low scoring games. But as the 1980's came closer good quarterbacks started throwing more. This all came to a peak in 1984 when Dan Marino became the first quarterback to throw 5,000 yards in a season, with 5,084. It was a feat then, but isn't as much now as 5,000 passing yards have been reached 14 times since 2008. (according to statmuse) 

    The NFL is slowly evolving yet again. Since 2016 players such as Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Andrew Luck, Phillip Rivers, and Tom Brady have retired. Aaron Rodgers, very likely, will soon join this list. The pass heavy players were famous for their big arms, and high yardage statistics. With the retiring of these players, comes the retiring of that era of football. 

With the leaving of Tom Brady comes the leaving of an era of football

Photo Credit: Front Office Sports

    Lamar Jackson took the NFL on by a storm. Despite playing only 15 games in each season, he becasme the first quarterback with back to back 1,000 rushing yards. In 2019, Jackson put together and unforgettable MVP season, not only passing for 3,127 yards and 36 touchdowns, but also rushing for 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns. Also, he only threw six picks and averaged 6.9 yards per carry. The idea of rushing quarterbacks could maybe be sourced from 2006 Michael Vick's 1,039 rushing yard season. Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III followed soon. In 2011, his rookie season, Cam Newton threw for 4,051 yards, and also ran for 706 and 14 touchdowns. In 2012, his rookie season, Robert Griffin III threw for 3,200 yards, and ran for 815 and seven touchdowns. Fast forward 10 years and you'll see highly toted players such as Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson all reach at least 700 rushing yards. Kyler Murray rushed for 418 yards, Geno Smith, 366, Patrick Mahomes, 358, Trevor Lawrence, 291, Russell Wilson, 277. The list goes on. All of these players have mobility outside of the pocket, and it's becoming more and more expected.

    Tom Brady's season rushing totals were never consistent. He'd have 43 yards one year, 110 the next, and then 63 the next. However, he never averaged over 3.3 yards per carry, had one year with 0.2 yards per carry (one 30 carries!), and gained a grand total of -1 rushing yards last season. His 28 rushing touchdowns were basically all quarterback sneaks, and was so slow, that I always thought the TV was going in slow motion when I watched him run. None of the veteran players previously mentioned ever had over 400 rushing yards in a season. (Disclaimer: Andrew Luck actually did use his legs, at least more than the other veteran QBs, topping out at 377 rushing yards in a season.) 

    Bottom line is, the NFL is changing. Speedy, record breaking, fun-to-watch wide receivers such as Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase are making the game more fast paced and action packed. Quick, agile quarterbacks such as Justin Fields and Jalen Hurts are replacing the idea of a quarterback who waits in the pocket. Quarterbacks are now more and more expected to use their legs rather than wholly rely on their offensive linemen. Players like Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert will still thrive as gunslingers who can just launch the ball 90 yards without sweating, but the evolution of the game won't happen overnight. Fortunately for us Eagles fans, we happen to have a quarterback who fits this new idea. Jalen Hurts is the perfect blend of passer and runner that will flow with the new evolving quarterback mold. 

The above photo was taken from a Front Office Sports article. Photo taken by Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports. Article written by Michael McCarthy. Image used for commentary.