zincfinger
Gert Frobe-approved
How many quarterbacks in the country do you think are good runners by that definition?Compared to traditional QBs, yeah, [Barrett's] a fine runner...but compared to a running back? No.
The answer to the above question should be extremely close to zero.
But there are reasons why, despite the above, a lot of offenses (including Meyer's, and many years, Tressel's) are built around a quarterback who will run the ball regularly.
1) The offense gets an extra blocker (the running back) when the quarterback runs the ball. Conversely, when the running back carries the ball, the quarterback is not blocking for him.
2) The quarterback is always a threat to pass as long as he's behind the line of scrimmage, so that defenses can't commit to stopping the run until the quarterback commits to running. Conversely, as soon as the running back gets the ball the defense knows full well he is running it.
In short, a quarterback does not have to compare favorably to a running back in basic running skill in order to be as effective a runner.
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