The 2019 NFL season has been a record-breaking one for Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Not only has he already broken the NFL record for most rushing yards by a quarterback, but he's also been named the NFL's offensive player of the week a total of five times, which is tied with Tom Brady and Cam Newton for the most in NFL history.
With two weeks to go in the season, Jackson could also set another record, but he's going to need some help from Kyler Murray and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Wait, what?
Nope, you didn't read that wrong: There's a chance that Fitzpatrick could get his name in the NFL record book with Jackson and it will happen if both quarterbacks end up leading their team in rushing yards. Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, only six quarterbacks have ever led their team in rushing: former Bears quarterback Bobby Douglas (1972), former Eagles quarterbacks Randall Cunningham (1987-90) and Donovan McNabb (2000). And then more recently, we've seen both Cam Newton (2012, 2017) and Russell Wilson (2017) pull it off, as well as Josh Allen last year.
In 49 seasons, there has only been one instance where two quarterbacks led their team in rushing in the same year, and that came in 2017 when Wilson and Newton both led their respective teams. After just two years, that record could be broken, and that's because we could see three quarterbacks lead their teams in rushing this year.
On the Ravens' end, Jackson currently leads the team in rushing with 1,103 yards, which puts him 140 yards ahead of Mark Ingram (963 yards). Jackson is averaging 78.8 yards per game on the ground, and if he hits that number on Sunday against the Browns, he should still end up leading the team even if the Ravens decide to rest their starters in Week 17.
In Arizona, Murray currently has 504 yards on the season, which puts him just 87 yards ahead of the Cardinals second-leading rusher, Kenyan Drake, who has 417 on the year. Murray is averaging 37 yards per game on the ground and if he hits that total in each of the next two games, Drake would have to average 82 yards per game over the final two weeks to overtake him. Although Drake rushed for 137 yards against the Browns on Sunday, he's still only averaging 69.5 yards per game during his time with the Cardinals this season. Drake also won't be facing any defenses as bad as the Browns over the final two weeks. To catch Murray, he'll have to put up big numbers against the Seahawks in Week 16 and then the Rams in Week 17.
The most surprising rushing leader is probably Fitzpatrick, who somehow leads the Dolphins in rushing yards this year (Feel free to stump people with this stat over the holiday break). Although Fitzpatrick only has 219 rushing yards on the season, that's still ahead of Mark Walton (201), Kenyan Drake (174) and Kalen Ballage. The good news for Fitzpatrick is that the first two guys on that list aren't on the team anymore, which means they won't be passing him over the final two weeks, and Ballage is out for the season, so he won't be passing Fitzpatrick, either.
The one player who could pass Fitzpatrick is Patrick Laird (130), who could pad his numbers this week against a Bengals rush defense that's one of the worst in the NFL, but that's no guarantee, considering he's averaging just 10 yards per game on the ground.
If Jackson, Murray, and Fitzpatrick all end up leading their team in rushing, then it will mark the first time in NFL history that three quarterbacks have done that in the same season.
