Steve McNair retired last week after 13 NFL seasons. During that time — and I know you've already seen this a hundred times — he passed for over 30,000 yards and rushed for over 3,000 yards, one of only three players ever to do so. The list of quarterbacks who were great passers and great runners is not a long one, but it's an interesting subject.
What I've tried to do here is to rank the 20 best run/pass quarterbacks of the Super Bowl era. It's not an easy thing to do. Rushing statistics for quarterbacks are often difficult to interpret, a problem attributable largely to the ridiculous inclusion of kneel-downs in rushing stats. In 2007, for instance, Peyton Manning scored three rushing touchdowns, but finished the season with -5 rushing yards. Manning doesn't scare anyone with his legs, but he's not that bad.
I toyed with the idea of creating a run/pass statistic akin to a power/speed number in baseball, using TD/INT +/- and rushing TDs. Testing that matrix on the 2007 season, I found that the best mark in the league belonged to ... Peyton Manning. Clearly, this wasn't going to work.
What you'll find below is my personal, and largely subjective, list of the best run/pass QBs of the last 40 years. Forget arguing about the best running quarterback of all time or the greatest pure passer in history — I looked for players who were good runners and good passers. Dan Marino had one of the best arms in history, but he was slower than most of his linemen. Bobby Douglass was a terrific runner who couldn't throw. Tom Brady and Manning are terrific passers, but they aren't exactly speed demons. Michael Vick wasn't terrible as a passer, but people used to say, only half-joking, that he should switch to running back or wide receiver. You won't find any of those players on this list. We're looking for the best of both worlds.
The 20 Greatest Run/Pass QBs of the Super Bowl Era
20. Warren Moon
49,325 passing yards, 291 passing TDs, 80.9 passer rating
1,736 rushing yards, 22 rushing TDs
We don't normally think of Moon as a runner, but while it's true that he was never Vick, Moon was a good runner until he was almost 40 years old. During his first 10 seasons in the NFL (1984-93), Moon scored at least one rushing touchdown nine times, rushed for over 100 yards eight times, and rushed for over 200 yards three times. His early NFL career, however, doesn't even represent Moon's prime as a runner. Undrafted out of college, Moon played six seasons in the Canadian Football League — rushing for another 1,700 yards and 16 touchdowns — before he ever saw action in the NFL.
19. Greg Landry
16,052 passing yards, 98 passing TDs, 72.9 passer rating
2,655 rushing yards, 21 rushing TDs
Landry was one of the greatest running QBs in history. His ratio of running yards to passing yards is the third-highest in history among players with at least 10,000 passing yards; Michael Vick and Kordell Stewart hold the top two spots, but Landry was a better passer than either of them (he's still the weakest passer on my list). Landry rushed for over 200 yards six times in his career — every year he was a starter — and twice rushed for over 500 yards. He averaged 6.2 yards per run during his career.
18. Jeff Blake
21,711 passing yards, 134 passing TDs, 78.0 passer rating
2,027 rushing yards, 14 rushing TDs
You probably don't think of Blake as much of a passer, and it's true that he's listed more for his legs than his arm, but Blake wasn't Kordell Stewart. In 1995, he threw for 3,822 yards and 28 touchdowns with only 17 interceptions. The same year, he ran for two touchdowns and over 300 yards. Blake's career touchdown-to-interception differential of +35 (134-99) is better than those of Troy Aikman (+24), Jeff Hostetler (+23), Elvis Grbac (+18), Eli Manning (+13), and Vinny Testaverde (+8). And of course, it's better than those of Vick (+19) and Stewart (-7).
17. Jeff Garcia
22,825 passing yards, 149 passing TDs, 87.2 passer rating
1,994 rushing yards, 25 rushing TDs
Few quarterbacks in today's game are willing to put their bodies on the line the way Garcia is. He has played a full season only three times in his nine-season NFL career, but he has rushed for over 200 yards five times, and he has twice as many rushing TDs as Brett Favre (13). Garcia doesn't throw for a ton of yardage, but his efficiency — we just discussed TD/INT differential, and Garcia's is +72 — has earned him four Pro Bowl selections.
16. Archie Manning
23,911 passing yards, 125 passing TDs, 67.1 passer rating
2,197 rushing yards, 18 rushing TDs
I have no idea why Peyton and Eli are so slow, because Pa Manning ran all the time, and with some degree of success. This was often by necessity rather than choice — the Saints weren't known for their great offensive line during the 1970s — but Archie was among the top three rushing QBs in the league three times. Most impressively, he averaged 5.7 yards per rushing attempt during his career. Less impressively, his passing was so inefficient that he averaged more yards per rush than pass several times during his career.
15. Joe Montana
40,551 passing yards, 273 passing TDs, 92.3 passer rating
1,676 rushing yards, 20 rushing TDs
It feels a little wrong to put Joe Montana 15th on an all-time list. The problem is that Montana was too good a runner to leave him off, but not so exceptional that he made the top 10. I'm not happy about it, either, okay? Montana probably ran less often than any other quarterback with his skill on the ground. He was a situational runner, and knew when to pick his spots. Montana's finest moment as a runner came in Super Bowl XIX, when he dominated the Dolphins with both his running and his throwing.
14. Doug Flutie
14,715 passing yards, 86 passing TDs, 76.3 passer rating
1,634 rushing yards, 10 rushing TDs
Flutie, as most fans know, spent eight years — the prime of his career — in the Canadian Football League. During that time, he set a single-season CFL record (which still stands) for rushing TDs by a quarterback. CFL statistics are not equivalent to NFL stats, but Flutie's combined numbers give him over 55,000 passing yards and 350 TDs, over 6,000 rushing yards and 70 TDs. In 1999, at the age of 37, Flutie led all NFL quarterbacks in rushing.
13. Rich Gannon
28,743 passing yards, 180 passing TDs, 84.7 passer rating
2,449 rushing yards, 21 rushing TDs
I think a strong case can be made for putting Gannon higher than this. Not firmly entrenched as a starter until he was in his mid-30s, Gannon spent his athletic prime sitting on the bench rather than sprinting downfield. When he played, though, Gannon was always a good runner. In 2000, at age 34, he rushed for 529 yards and four TDs with a 5.9 average.
12. Daunte Culpepper
22,422 passing yards, 142 passing TDs, 89.9 passer rating
2,536 rushing yards, 33 rushing TDs
If Culpepper can make a comeback, he will rise on this list very quickly. His fine passing stats don't reflect, in the minds of many fans and analysts, Culpepper's true talent so much as they reflect that he played most of his career with Randy Moss. But if Daunte has another Pro Bowl season or two, he'll easily make the top 10, maybe even the top five. Okay, probably not the top five, but I could see him sixth.
11. Mark Brunell
31,826 passing yards, 182 passing TDs, 84.2 passer rating
2,433 rushing yards, 15 rushing TDs
Brunell is the only quarterback in the Super Bowl era to lead the NFL in passing yards and lead all QBs in rushing the same season. In fact, only three other players have led the league in those categories in separate seasons: Ken Anderson, Daunte Culpepper, and Fran Tarkenton. Brunell has thrown for over 3,000 yards six times and rushed for over 200 yards seven times.
10. Joe Theismann
25,206 passing yards, 160 passing TDs, 77.4 passer rating
1,815 rushing yards, 17 rushing TDs
Joe Theismann was so fast that he was used as a punt returner early in his career. In 1974, Theismann returned 15 punts for 157 yards, a respectable 10.5 average. Playing with one of the best offensive lines in history, Theismann seldom had to run, but he never lost his speed. In 1984, the year before his gruesome career-ending injury, Theismann led all quarterbacks in rushing yards, and he finished among the top 10 eight times.
9. Donovan McNabb
25,404 passing yards, 171 passing TDs, 85.8 passer rating
2,962 rushing yards, 24 rushing TDs
Barring a career-crippling injury or a sudden and dramatic decline, McNabb will rise on this list. It's a shame for football fans, and for the Eagles specifically, that he doesn't run much these days. McNabb is 31, but he can still get things done on the ground. If Flutie could lead the league at 37, McNabb can do it at 31 or 32. Already, he has rushed for over 200 yards in a season eight times, leading the league in 2000.
8. Steve McNair
31,304 passing yards, 174 passing TDs, 82.8 passer rating
3,590 rushing yards, 37 rushing TDs
Is this ranking too low? Yes, I suspect it is. McNair is unquestionably one of the greatest runners we've ever seen at the quarterback position. Five times he rushed for over 400 yards in a season. But McNair never threw for more than 3,400 yards or 24 TDs in a season. Only twice did he finish among the NFL's top 10 in passing yards. McNair was certainly not a bad passer, but he wasn't Dan Marino, either.
7. Ken Anderson
32,838 passing yards, 197 passing TDs, 81.9 passer rating
2,220 rushing yards, 20 rushing TDs
Anderson is known as a great passer. He led the NFL in passing yards twice and in passer rating four times. He was also an exceptional runner. Ten times, Anderson ranked among the NFL's top ten rushing QBs, leading the league in 1981, when he was named NFL MVP. His 5.6 yards per rushing attempt is among the best marks in history.
6. Terry Bradshaw
27,989 passing yards, 212 passing TDs, 70.9 passer rating
2,257 rushing yards, 32 rushing TDs
As you see the career statistics for older players, keep in mind that the NFL played 14-game seasons until 1978. Bradshaw, like Theismann, played on a team so good that he didn't have to run — or for that matter, throw — very often, but he had a definite talent for both. From 1974-76, a period during which the Steelers won two Super Bowls, Bradshaw rushed for at least 200 yards and a 6.0 average every season. In 1972, when Pittsburgh made the playoffs for the first time in team history, Bradshaw ran for a career-high 346 yards and seven TDs with a 6.0 average.
5. Randall Cunningham
29,979 passing yards, 207 passing TDs, 81.5 passer rating
4,928 rushing yards, 35 rushing TDs
His running is legendary. Six times Cunningham led all NFL quarterbacks in rushing yardage, including 1990, when he rushed for 942 yards and five TDs with an 8.0 average. Less famously, Cunningham was also a fine passer. Trapped with a poor receiving corps for most of his career, a past-his-prime Cunningham still performed at all-pro level when he finally got to play with a great supporting cast in Minnesota. He is among the NFL all-time top 30 in both passing yards and passing TDs, and he has more rushing yardage than any other quarterback in NFL history.
4. John Elway
51,475 passing yards, 300 passing TDs, 79.9 passer rating
3,407 rushing yards, 33 rushing TDs
For this project, I checked QB rushing statistics for every season of the Super Bowl era. Many quarterbacks are good runners when they enter the league, but none was more consistent than Elway, who ranked among the top 10 QBs in rushing yards an incredible 14 times. That's twice as many as Steve McNair. Elway rushed for over 200 yards in a season 11 times — the most of any QB in history — and he was among the top three running QBs in 1984, '85, '87, and '94.
3. Roger Staubach
22,700 passing yards, 153 passing TDs, 83.4 passer rating
2,264 rushing yards, 20 rushing TDs
In a career shortened by military service and an early retirement — in his final season, Staubach led the NFL in passer rating and set a career high in TD passes — Roger the Dodger established himself as one of the greatest running quarterbacks the game has ever seen. He ranked among the top 10 rushing QBs every full season of his career, and he rushed for over 300 yards three times. In the Cowboys' 1971 Super Bowl season, Staubach had career highs for rushing yards (343) and average (8.4).
2. Fran Tarkenton
47,003 passing yards, 342 passing TDs, 80.4 passer rating
3,674 rushing yards, 32 rushing TDs
Here is a list of every quarterback in NFL history with more passing yards than Tarkenton: Brett Favre, Dan Marino, John Elway, Warren Moon. Here is a list of every quarterback in NFL history with more rushing yards than Tarkenton: Randall Cunningham, Steve Young, Michael Vick. While other quarterbacks may have been better rushers, Tarkenton is unquestionably the most renowned scrambler in history. He ran for over 300 yards seven times.
1. Steve Young
33,124 passing yards, 232 passing TDs, 96.8 passer rating
4,239 rushing yards, 43 rushing TDs
No one, not even Tarkenton, has combined great passing and great running like Steve Young. He finished among the top three QBs in rushing yardage eight times, more than any other quarterback in history. He also led the NFL in passer rating six times, more than any other quarterback in history. His 43 rushing TDs are the most by any QB, and his 96.8 passer rating is the best all-time.
Sometimes fans try to whitewash Young's brilliance as a runner. In 1994, when Young was named NFL MVP and led the 49ers to a Super Bowl win, he broke the single-season record for passer rating, but he also led all QBs in rushing yardage and scored seven TDs on the ground. When Young was named MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, he set a Super Bowl record that may never be broken, with six passing TDs, but he also led all rushers — including Ricky Watters and Natrone Means — in yards, averaging nearly 10 yards per attempt.
Since the disappearance of run-pass tailbacks, and maybe even including them, Young combined passing and running skill at the highest level football fans have seen.
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