NFL records for rushing yards, touchdowns among quarterbacks originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
It’s one thing for a quarterback to test defenses with his arm. It’s another when their wheels are also a weapon.
The NFL has seen some electric, dual-threat quarterbacks in its history. From speedsters to bulldozers, a handful of signal callers have shown just how dangerous an athletic quarterback can be.
Which of those running quarterbacks hold places in the NFL record books? Here’s a rundown of the most rushing yards and touchdowns by QBs in league history:
Which quarterback has the most rushing yards in history?
The quarterback rushing record belongs to Michael Vick.
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Vick was unfair in “Madden,” and he was equally tough to contain on an NFL field. The four-time Pro Bowler ran for 6,109 yards, making him the only quarterback among the top 100 rushers in NFL history.
Here is a look at the top five quarterbacks by career rushing yards and where they rank on the all-time list:
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1. Michael Vick: 6,109 (89)
2. Cam Newton: 5,628 (109)
3. Randall Cunningham: 4,928 (T-152)
4. Russell Wilson: 4,689 (166)
5. Steve Young: 4,239 (197)
Lamar Jackson, who will also come up later, ranks seventh all-time among quarterbacks with 3,673 yards and could jump into the top five in 2022.
Which quarterback has the most rushing touchdowns in history?
Though he trails Vick in all-time rushing yards, Cam Newton has a stronghold on the rushing touchdown record among quarterbacks.
Newton surpassed Steve Young on the list in Week 1 of the 2016 season. Playing in just his 79th NFL game, Newton ran into the end zone for the 44th time in his career. He is now at 75 for his career after playing eight games for the Carolina Panthers in 2021.
Here is how Newton stacks up against Young and the rest of the top five quarterbacks when it comes to career rushing touchdowns:
1. Cam Newton: 75
2. Steve Young: 43
3. Jack Kemp: 40
T-4. Steve McNair: 37
T-4. Tobin Rote: 37
Which quarterback has the most rushing yards in a season?
Lamar Jackson sped past Vick for the single-season rushing yards record for a quarterback in 2019.
Jackson, a second-year player at the time, ran for 1,206 rushing yards. He surpassed 100 rushing yards five times during the season and broke Vick’s single-season mark in Week 14. The Baltimore Ravens sensation went on to be named NFL MVP that season and followed that up by becoming the first quarterback in league history to record two seasons with over 1,000 rushing yards.
Here is where those two seasons rank among the single-season QB rushing yard records:
1. Lamar Jackson, 2019: 1,206
2. Michael Vick, 2006: 1,039
3. Lamar Jackson, 2020: 1,005
4. Bobby Douglass, 1972: 968
5. Randall Cunningham, 942
Which quarterback has the most rushing touchdowns in a season?
Once again, when it comes to finding the end zone on the ground, Newton comes out on top.
He set the record by scoring 14 rushing touchdowns during his rookie season in 2011. He posted another double-digit total by scoring 10 times during his 2015 MVP season and got up to 12 rushing touchdowns in 2020 with the New England Patriots, tying fellow Patriots QB Steve Grogan for second-highest in history.
In all, six NFL quarterbacks have scored 11 or more rushing touchdowns in a season:
1. Cam Newton, 2011: 14
T-2. Cam Newton, 2020: 12
T-2. Steve Grogan, 1976: 12
T-4. Johnny Lujack, 1950: 11
T-4. Tobin Rote, 1956: 11
T-4. Kordell Stewart, 1997: 11
T-4. Kyler Murray, 2020: 11
What is the longest quarterback run in NFL history?
Terrelle Pryor wasted no time when he pulled off the longest run by a quarterback in NFL history.
Starting for the Oakland Raiders in Week 8 of the 2013 season, Pryor made a house call on the first play of the game. He held onto the ball on an option play, found a hole in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense and sprinted into the end zone for a record-setting, 93-yard touchdown.
