Slate: The Running Men Are mobile quarterbacks like Colin Kaepernick more injury-prone than pocket passers?

[SkinsHokieFan]

I think this is a fantastic read

Just because the guy runs doesn't mean his career is going to be more or less compared to the "protype" pocket passer

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports...ury_prone.html

The Running Men
Are mobile quarterbacks like Colin Kaepernick more injury-prone than pocket passers?

This year’s Super Bowl matchup shows you don’t need a particular type of quarterback to win in the NFL. The Ravens’ Joe Flacco has 38 rushing yards this season. The 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick ran for 56 yards on a single touchdown gallop against the Packers a few weeks ago. But in the long term, when you’re building a franchise, which kind of signal-caller is the better bet?
Conventional wisdom says a runner is more likely to get hurt than a stay-in-the-pocket statue. Just ask Joe Flacco, who told the assembled press on Wednesday that “quarterbacks like [Kaepernick] are eventually going to have to become mostly pocket passers to survive in this league.”

This belief is shared by NFL personnel gurus. During the 2011 season, then-Colts vice chairman Bill Polian was deciding whether to draft pocket passer Andrew Luck or the mobile Robert Griffin III as Peyton Manning’s successor. Polian was ultimately fired before he got to make that call, but he let Sports Illustrated’s Peter King in on his thinking regardless. "I'd probably pick Luck,” Polian said. “When you boil it all down, you worry about running quarterbacks getting hurt."

Link for rest

And because I love graphs

[MR2Drift]

Interesting but one issue I have is what is considered a running back. It looks like it is 4 rushes per game average which seems too small. It's an interesting issue because on one hand running QBs can get hit with a greater force running the ball. On the other hand, running QBs are more mobile in the pocket thus better at avoiding defenders and they also pass much less taking less hits overall overall in the pocket. I would imagine that the risks are much smaller than people perceive them to actually be.

[Talent Wasted at a Desk]

Getting sacked or having a OL fall on you might be just as injurious as an anticipated tackle downfield. I think.

[DaGoonie55]

injurious

Marvelous word.

I agree, the mobile guys learn to wiggle and contort to minimize impact. Statues, well they get blasted. (More in my opinion than mobile types)

[#BgMase76#]

I don't buy into the mobile more apt to get injured. I'd site Manning, Big Ben, Carson Palmer, Alex Smith, Romo shall I go on? All these guys took season ending injuries while standing tall in the pocket.

[ddub52]

There really aren't that many "mobile" QBs to compare imo. Certainly not many like RG3 in terms of mobility and ability to pass. He's also running a unique system with little to no sample size to work from. We have a once in a lifetime phenom on our hands. Lets hope he can stay healthy, running or standing in the pocket.

[PeterMP]

I can't tell anything about statisitical significance w/o some sort of error bars and knowing what those error bars are. To suggest that anybody can judge statistical significance or not statistical significance from those graphs = math fail!

Oh, and I think they key is the # of hits you take. If you run and get down or out of bounds and don't take many hits, you are less likely to get injured then a guy like Big Ben who doesn't run much, but takes a lot of hits (and ends up missing games and/or playing hurt, but not playing very well).

[Destino]

I don't think RG3's injuries are about mobility or running. He's just too willing to take a hit or wait too long to get out of bounds or down on the ground. Avoiding hits is a skill that RG3 needs to improve.

[BobGriffin]

Yea this kind of doesn't pertain to RG3 because for some odd reason he tends to take punishing hits more so than other "running qbs" . Then you have to factor in his chiseled and therefore somewhat slight frame. If he doesn't become more safe with the way he runs he will be injured more frequently than his peers.

[Burgold]

I don't think RG3's injuries are about mobility or running. He's just too willing to take a hit or wait too long to get out of bounds or down on the ground. Avoiding hits is a skill that RG3 needs to improve.

I'm not sure this is as true as we like to say. Look at the Ngata hit that caused the knee injury. Griffin was trying to get down, but as he was going down on his own accord to protect himself from the hit, his leg springs up and he takes a really unlucky blow.

I saw him duck down plenty of times, but that time, he got hurt not because he was willing to be hit, but because in trying to protect himself he wound up being exposed. There were plenty of runs especially after the concussion where he headed out of bounds when sniffing pressure well ahead of the defenders.

[Destino]

I'm not sure this is as true as we like to say. Look at the Ngata hit that caused the knee injury. Griffin was trying to get down, but as he was going down on his own accord to protect himself from the hit, his leg springs up and he takes a really unlucky blow.

I saw him duck down plenty of times, but that time, he got hurt not because he was willing to be hit, but because in trying to protect himself he wound up being exposed. There were plenty of runs especially after the concussion where he headed out of bounds when sniffing pressure well ahead of the defenders.

Simple, duck or slide earlier. Don't lift your leg on a dive. Like I said avoiding contact is a skill like any other that some QBs are better than others at doing. RG3 doesn't have the knees or the frame to take on contact like Cam or Ben so he needs to make it his mission to not get hit.

[deejaydana]

How long has Slate been trying to write sports pieces? Serious question.

[HOF44]

Simple, duck or slide earlier. Don't lift your leg on a dive. Like I said avoiding contact is a skill like any other that some QBs are better than others at doing. RG3 doesn't have the knees or the frame to take on contact like Cam or Ben so he needs to make it his mission to not get hit.

I agree he was showing progress but still made bad decisions about the timing. He's on the right track he just needs to build into his mind a greater cushion, he cuts it to close. Also on the Ngata play he cut back to the middle of the field without time to see what was coming, a practice that needs to stop, the extra yards are not worth the inside out pursuit he's likely to run into.

But man do I love having him as our QB!