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Bills' Josh Allen is trending to be the greatest dual-threat QB in NFL history

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is putting up stats that show he will retire as the greatest dual-threat passer of all time.

Greg Vorse

Jan 15, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) celebrates a touch down in the first half against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 2024 AFC wild card game at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 15, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) celebrates a touch down in the first half against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 2024 AFC wild card game at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports / Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
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The Buffalo Bills took a massive perceived risk when they selected Josh Allen with the seventh pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. The career catalog the Wyoming product is putting together is one that Brandon Beane's wildest dreams couldn't conjure up, as Allen is trending toward being the greatest dual-threat quarterback ever. Disagree? Let's compare the Buffalo signal caller's passing and rushing stats to other passers commonly considered the best of the multifaceted quarterbacks since 2000.

For this exercise, we will examine Michael Vick, who was such a threat with his arms and legs he had an entire ad campaign designed around it. Cam Newton won an MVP and was the poster boy for the NFL's Play 60 campaign. Lastly, Lamar Jackson is the quick comp to Allen when it comes to players of his era, and it's a bonus that the pair were both drafted in the first round in 2018.

First, here are their passing yards, where it won't be long before Allen leads the group despite having played much less time. Through his six seasons, Allen has already passed for 22,703 yards, including four straight seasons of over 4,000 yards. Jackson has thrown for 15,887 yards with 125 touchdowns. Vick passed for 22,464 yards and 133 touchdowns. The only player in the bunch ahead of Allen is Newton, who tossed 32,382 yards and 194 career scores. Allen has gone for over 4,000 yards in each of the last four years, so if he were to do that just three more times, he would already pass Newton with fewer seasons and games played.

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I know, Allen must be way behind in completion percentage because he isn't accurate, right? No. Allen has a 63.2 career completion percentage, which counts a rough rookie year of 52.8%. Jackson's 64.5% is the only one of the group that is ahead of Allen. Vick comes in at 56.2% and Newton at 59.9%.

Wait! Allen has those stats because he throws the ball a lot, but he is also an interception machine. Allen has an interception rate of 2.5% over his career, Jackson at 2.1%, Vick at 2.7%, and Newton at 2.7%.

Turning our attention to rushing, Allen trails in the total rushing yard category with 3,611. Jackson leads Allen with his 5,258 ground yards, and the retired Vick and Newton come in at 6,109 and 5,628, respectively. The place where the Bills' quarterback makes up ground is scoring points. Allen has 53 career rushing touchdowns. Jackson and Vick aren't even in the conversation, with 29 and 36, respectively. Allen has some work to do to catch Newton's 75, but he is coming off the best single-season of the group with 15 rushing scores last year. A couple more seasons like that or simply keeping his pace of nine per year, and he blows by Newton in this race, too.

Josh Allen
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) is caught from behind by Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (95). / Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and

The numbers in the playoffs only help to amplify what Allen is doing as the GOAT dual-threat quarterback. Now, I do want to qualify this with the fact that I do not believe that wins are a QB stat and that reaching the postseason is a team accomplishment, but most reading this agree that quarterback is the most important position in sports, and Allen is dominating this group in accumulating playoff numbers. Allen has 3,286 total yards and 26 total touchdowns in 10 postseason games. The other three combined have played in 19 playoff games. They have 5,172 total yards with 27 touchdowns.

We don't know how the rest of Allen's or Jackson's carers will play out, but if the Buffalo passer can keep even a similar pace for the next few years, he will be the undeniable greatest dual-threat quarterback of his generation and beyond.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen
Bills quarterback Josh Allen dives into the end zone / Jamie Germano / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Greg Vorse
GREG VORSE

Greg Vorse joined SI to cover the Bills in July of 2024. Greg has spent two decades covering Buffalo football, first as a sports reporter for WJET (ABC) in Erie, Pennsylvania, from 2004 to 2007, then, starting in the summer of 2007, for Time Warner/Spectrum News. He was an award-winning broadcaster during his time on television for stories on the high school, college, and professional ranks. Greg has also covered the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers during his broadcasting and journalism careers. Aside from a love of athletic competition, Greg, his wife, and their two children enjoy vacationing and changing the stereotypes of pit bull terriers.

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