Comparing rushing styles of Ravens’ Lamar Jackson and Bills’ Josh Allen: QBs terrorize defenses in unique way

On Sunday night, two of the AFC’s best teams, each led by one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, will square off as the Baltimore Ravens play host to the Buffalo Bills. Lamar Jackson and Co. are only 1-2 to start the 2024 campaign, but we know what they’re capable of when they are right, as they were last week in their destruction of the Dallas Cowboys. Josh Allen and the Bills, meanwhile, look very right to begin the season, as they have blasted out of the gates to a 3-0 start. 

Jackson and Allen will always be connected as part of the 2018 draft class, where Allen came off the board at No. 7 overall and Lamar was taken with the No. 32 selection. They took different paths to joining the ranks of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL, with Jackson almost immediately taking the league by storm once he became the starter and Allen having a bit of a slower burn; but once they took that step forward, they have been two of the clearest contenders to Patrick Mahomes’ crown as the best quarterback — and best player — in football. 

The two players will also always be connected because they are, arguably, the two best running quarterbacks in the NFL. Jackson might already be the best overall rushing quarterback in NFL history, while Allen might be the best at his specific style of running. The two players, while both elite in the run game, go about their running in very different ways. 

Since they came into the league in 2018, Jackson ranks first in the NFL in carries (910), with Allen sitting second (674). Jackson is also first in rushing yards (5,512), and Allen is second there as well (3,696). Allen is first — by a mile — in rushing touchdowns (55), while Jackson is third (30). 

But the way they accumulate those carries and yards and touchdowns is very different. Jackson is the league’s pre-eminent designed runner. The threat of his speed, combined with his ability to read the defense,…


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Author : Jared Dubin

Publish date : 2024-09-27 15:17:24

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