But not nearly as much in the NFL. The biggest change in NFL quarterbacks these days is that they are bigger -- but not necessarily faster -- than they were 25 years ago.
If anything, the trend in the NFL has been to discourage QBs from running too much. In the NFL, a quarterback's mobility really only serves one purpose -- to avoid pressure and buy additional time to find an open receiver downfield. With salary cap rules in place that preclude NFL teams from carrying any kind of depth at any position, starting QBs are worth their weight in gold and are protected at all expense. No NFL coach wants to see his quarterback running around downfield exposing himself to serious injury.
If Young is going to become an NFL quarterback, he's going to have to do it on the strength of his passing. His mobility will be a bonus, but NFL teams don't win games with their QBs running for 200 yards.
. . . and I can see teams having a set of starters who can alternate between various roles.
I agree, but only at certain positions. I'm surprised we haven't seen NFL teams open additional roster spaces by having players fill two "non-essential" roles -- like a backup linebacker serving as a third tight end, a good athlete who plays as a fifth wide receiver and a sixth defensive back, etc. You probably won't see this kind of thing among key players, though -- mainly because the NFL game is played at such a high skill level that specialization is needed for most of these positions.
Rush will settle all of this for us, after the break.
Totally agree. A player in the NFL that is good at two different positions isn't as valuable as a guy that is really good at just one.