For our second edition of Chip Stew, let's talk quarterback. Matt Hinton over at CBS Sports isn't discussing Chip Kelly per se, but about the new wave of quarterbacks coming up through the ranks who can both run and pass effectively:
Consider that before 2001, no player in Division I history had ever rushed for 1,000 yards in a season while also passing for 2,000 yards. Up to that point, the few quarterbacks who did manage to crack 1,000 on the ground were almost exclusively glorified tailbacks in triple-option schemes that rarely asked them to put the ball in the air. (Even the 1,000/1,000 milestone was unprecedented until 1981, the height of the option era.) Over the subsequent 11 years, from 2001 to 2011, a dozen different players broke the 2,000/1,000 barrier, all of them in spread offenses, some of them more than once. By the end of last year, the barrier had ceased to exist: The 2,000/1,000 Club added five new members in 2012 alone, all five of whom will be back this fall as part of the most versatile quarterback class the sport has ever produced. At least, so far.
Disappointingly, few of the quarterbacks in the 2013 draft class look like they fit the new mold perfectly. Kelly might not get a great young dual threat candidate this year, but going forward there will be more and more opportunities to do so.