Welcome to The Undroppables! Let’s dive right in. The idea that many individuals online believe so strongly that mobile quarterbacks are “injury-prone” is uninformed. My goal today is to show that, from my perspective as a fantasy player and an NFL fan, there are benefits of a mobile quarterback. I also want to help shed some light on the true meaning of “injury-prone”. Enter NFL Myths | Mobile Quarterbacks
Author’s Note: When I started writing this article, the NFL Wildcard round had not yet been played and Carson Wentz had not yet suffered a concussion. So, when people started labeling him injury prone, I admittedly got a little spicy as evidenced by the tweet below. However, as you will see, my reasoning is backed by science and data, which is the name of the game in fantasy football.
Regarding Carson Wentz: Could one of your Twitter docs who graduated from Google-U out there please find me the studies that correlate a single concussion, vertebral fractures, and an ACL tear I would love to read them for myself. TIA
— Edwin Porras, DPT (@FBInjuryDoc) January 5, 2020
Myth 1: “Big hits are the primary cause of quarterback injuries.”
First myth on NFL Myths | Mobile Quarterbacks is the most common. I would venture to say the people with this argument always make the assumption that big hits from defenders are the reason for mobile quarterback injuries and shortened careers. There are several holes in that argument starting with the fact that 300 lb. mammoths sack non-mobile quarterbacks all the time, nevertheless, we’ll ignore that for now. Here’s some data to suggest that this narrative is simply incorrect.
This study, which is hot off the press, tracked every NFL orthopedic injury from 1980 to 2018 which is a massive sample size (meaning the data is highly reliable). What the study found was that the most common orthopedic injuries were to the knee at 24%. Hamstring strains and mild contusions (AKA bruises) were the second and third most common injuries respectively. What’s more interesting is that a whopping 82% of hamstring injuries and 72% of ACL tears (knee injuries) were non-contact in nature. From a clinical perspective, this means that those same players were just as likely to tear their ACL in the pocket or by slipping on their stairs at home. It’s highly likely they were already predisposed biomechanically speaking.
Zooming out even further, this study found that from 2010-2013 only 2.5% of quarterbacks tore their ACL. This is only four players out of a pool of 162. Even though the statistical analysis did not confirm this as a “validated number”, the chances of a quarterback tearing his ACL (contact or non-contact) is unlikely.
The only weakness of these studies is that concussions, arguably the highest risk injury, were not included. Luckily for us, this study did include concussions and after analyzing 459 concussions, concluded that corners, receivers, linebackers, and offensive lineman (in that order) are at the highest risk for concussions. Quarterbacks were not mentioned in the study.
Myth 2: “Rushing puts them at greater risk than staying in the pocket. Look at [insert QB with rushing ability].”
Don’t like numbers and science? Still think “establishing the run” and “the eye test” wins in today’s NFL? Still hunt and kill all of your wild game with a spear? Then let’s go this direction instead. Below is a list of commonly cited rushing quarterbacks used as cautionary tales to avoid rushing QBs altogether. In sum, they averaged around 700 rushing attempts in their career. Next to their name I have conveniently listed their most significant documented injury, how it happened and where it occurred on the field.
Robert Griffin III: Non-contact ACL, recovering a fumble 10 yards behind line of scrimmage.
Cam Newton: Rotator cuff tear, fell on outstretched hand while attempting a tackle after an interception. If you remember, this is the injury that lingered for two year. His recent foot injury came on a play where he was simply evading a sack.
Randall Cunningham: (Presumably) Contact ACL, in the pocket.
Steve Young: Final concussion of career, in the pocket
The only significant injury that I could find for these players that occurred during the act of running is a rib fracture for Donovan McNabb. I could go on and on listing Michael Vick, Kordell Stewart, Steve McNair etc. The bottom line is that the theme for running quarterbacks is, well, that it pays off. There are no correlations here with running and greater risk of injuries. The weakness behind this group of players is that I haven’t looked at their non-mobile counterparts because I don’t need to given the next myth.
Myth 3: “The careers of quarterbacks who run are shorter.”
Since I’m short on time, I’ll just leave this last tweet below and say that if my franchise quarterback can play for 10-13 seasons, I’m happy.
Randall Cunningham: 15 seasons
Mike Vick: 13 seasons
Steve Young: 15 seasons
Kordell Stewart: 9 seasons
Donovan McNabb: 13 seasons
John Elway: 16 seasons
Steve McNair: 13 seasons
That's an average of 13.5 NFL seasons
2/— Edwin Porras, DPT (@FBInjuryDoc) January 5, 2020
NFL Myths | Mobile Quarterbacks TLDR:
- 74% of ACL tears are non-contact and only 2.5% of quarterbacks tear their ACL at all. 82% of hamstring strains are also non-contact.
- Almost every commonly cited rushing quarterback used as an example to avoid running had their most significant injury happen in the pocket or on a fluke play
- The quarterbacks who ran the most in NFL history played an average of 13 NFL seasons.
- Injuries cannot be predicted and any player can be hurt at any given time, but patterns and statistics can give us a good picture of general risk.
- As far as the research and naked eye observation goes, rushing quarterbacks being more prone to injuries is unfounded. At the very least, I’m simply saying we don’t know, so if you still believe that, the burden of evidence is on you (no not you, the other you, the “establish the run” guy).
Now, back to Carson Wentz. His most significant injuries so far have been an absolutely brutal sandwich hit that tore his ACL, an “overuse” injury-causing vertebral fracture and a concussion just last week on a dirty and unnecessary hit to the back of his head. These were unfortunate events that caused Wentz to suffer injuries but does not show that he is anymore injury-prone than another player.
The bottom line with mobile quarterbacks is don’t avoid them in your fantasy drafts this summer. Thanks for reading Medical Myths | Mobile Quarterbacks.
