Newton. Wilson. Kaepernick. These three names are united under one banner: dual-threat. Going against tradition, these three (among others) have gone outside the pocket and rushed for yardage just like a running back. Defensive Linemen and Linebackers alike have been stressed with moving backward than forward towards the QB, since the play-caller is rushing right past them. In recent years we've seen an emergence of these dual-threat QBs, most importantly 2012. In that year's draft, guys like RG3, Andrew Luck and Russel Wilson were drafted. Hoping to reinvigorate their legacy, the Colts selected Andrew Luck as a way of replacing their most treasured player, Peyton Manning. His quick speed and arm attracted many Colts fans to declare their wanting of him (some fans raised signs saying 'Suck for Luck'). The year before that, Cam Newton (#1 Overall) was selected by a Panthers organization looking for a franchise player besides Steve Smith (no offense). His speed was all that proved his importance to many offenses and a nightmare to defenses. In 2011 alone, Newton ran for 706 yards and 14 TDs (career high in TDs). Personally, I believed for some time that Newton was in fact a RB, but when he threw a nice pass-action to Greg Olsen, I realized that he was dominant on the ground and in the air. Thus, an emergence in dual-threats was upon us. On the west coast, Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick were running the ball instead of throwing it. Kaepernick torched the Packers both during the regular season and the divisional game within the 2012-2013 season both in the air and on the ground, but his legs helped him score two rushing TDs in the divisional game. Recently, Kaepernick ran a 99-yd TD against the San Diego Chargers, the longest rush ever recorded by a QB. THAT is what a dual-threat is. In R. Wilson's accord, he has made himself a threat on the ground. When the ball is snapped to him, he quickly scouts for a receiver, but when the windows jammed, he maneuvers around the field with the ball still in his grip instead of cushioning it against his stomach. There's a unique side to his ability in handling the ball, and a unique side to dual-threats. Call it revolutionary, call it risky, the rise of dual-threat QBs is reshaping the landscape of the game and QBs themselves. In traditional ways, a QB is just throwing the ball to a receiver and that's it. However, as time goes on, we'll see a large amount of QBs running the ball a lot more.
