Mobile QB Injury Study

I think a lot of the reason that these mobile quarterbacks do not get injured as much is because they are generally so illusive and hard to get a good angle on.  The other thing is speed, Denards speed allows him to often initiate the first contact instead of the first contact finding him.  The fact that Denard will continue to put on muscle throughout his career bodes well for very few if at all any games missed during the next 2 years.  Thanks for the blog.

there was also a diary that statistically proved the same thing.

This Denard will get injured theory by opposing fans is not based in fact.

Nice analysis IMO. I think Denard and other "mobile" quarterbacks are less likely to get injured because when they get hit, they are more able to anticipate the hit because they are on the move more than pocket passing quarterbacks. But I also agree that Denard can not and will not average that many carries as this season and his career progresses.

Thanks for the great post. I am always surprised by the quality of diary posts here - this is almost like a multi-centre prospective study (which well, this season, Denard is the subject). Incredible evidence and then conclusion. Doesn't get any better than this. Pure scientific method.

Great job and agreed with conclusion.

...is really just thinly-disguised wishful thinking.  They are scared shitless of Denard, and rightfully so.  Since RR was hired, I have said that the Big Ten's worst nightmare is RR having Michigan-caliber talent to run his offense.  The less-sportsmanlike fans of other teams want to see Denard injured and want to see RR fired, because they don't want to sustain yearly beatings at the hands of Michigan.

As for Denard, mobile QB's, etc, it is harder to get a direct hit on a hyper-mobile QB than a pocket passer.  Also, though Denard isn't quite Pat White in this department yet, a mobile QB can often be the hitter instead of the hittee. 

Denard will be just fine.  If he needs to take a few plays off, there are a couple of other QB's on the team who, while no Denard, are definitely competent and have their own strong points.

MCalibur wrote a few diaries on it:

"Busting The Myth of Option QB Fragility"

"Follow Up on QB Fragility"

"QB Fragility Update"

Tebow having more issues with concussions his senior year. I can't remember how many games he missed because of that, but he was at least severely limited in his availability wasn't he?  I might be wrong.

I wonder if there's a correlation between a quarterback's size and the amount of injury time they're forced to take.  Guys like Vince Young and Tebow are much bigger than Denard.

I think this was posted elsewhere, but beyond just the excellent blocking by the O-line, RR and crew have obviously spent a lot of time with all the skill position guys to make some key down field blocks.  Making and holding blocks will also reduce the number of hits he will take (maybe one guy takes him down instead of two). I loved to see everyone get into the blocking (especially the boys from Pahokee, who block way above their size, must be something in the water).

Woodrow Dantzler was RR's second great QB at the Division I level.

Dantzler did suffer an ankle inury in 2000 season, but still played in about 9 games of 2000 season and racked up ridiculous numbers.

Had corrective surgery in Jan 2001 and then proceeded to break virtually all of Clemson's total offense and quarterback records (Steve Fuller, Homer Jordan, etc.).

every time the guy runs his odds of getting hurt are greater; let's not tempt the Angry Michigan-Hating Gods too much.

...head for the sidelines or slide after a short gain to avoid injury. DRob was fighting for every yard (maybe to his potential detriment). 

Memo to DRob:  After picking up a nice gain, there's nothing wrong with sidelines and slides.

I was considering Denard getting injured while reading this. I was in the camp that wanted him to be the starter first of all. However, am I one of few who would not be overly concerned if went down with a minor injury or just a 1 game injury? I do think he works the best in RR's system right now, however I think it is great having a 12 game starter behind him who looked really good as a freshman with more mobility then many qb's out there. If the need were there for Tate to play a game I would not lose hope and would still have as much faith in almost every game on the schedule than if Robinson were playing.

I find it suprising that qb is the one position I am not overly concerned with an injury at (granting that it is minor, and the rest of the game or something). In that first game I was far more concerned about the other players going down, Johnson and Molk.

I was considering Denard getting injured while reading this. I was in the camp that wanted him to be the starter first of all. However, am I one of few who would not be overly concerned if went down with a minor injury or just a 1 game injury? I do think he works the best in RR's system right now, however I think it is great having a 12 game starter behind him who looked really good as a freshman with more mobility then many qb's out there. If the need were there for Tate to play a game I would not lose hope and would still have as much faith in almost every game on the schedule than if Robinson were playing.

I find it suprising that qb is the one position I am not overly concerned with an injury at (granting that it is minor, and the rest of the game or something). In that first game I was far more concerned about the other players going down, Johnson and Molk.

Great study and research, the one point that is important to this is how many of these qb's have a similar build to Robinson's. This could play a major role in how frequently he could get injured. Bigger size could help in decreasing the possibility I'm guessing. I hope nothing happens to our guy..

I'm really bad at all things statistics, but doesn't selecting example QBS that were all extremely successful kind of taint your information.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it may be possible that for every one of the guys you listed above, there is a QB that got injured so often from running the ball that he hardly played and therefore never accumulated many carries and we have never heard of him.

I'm not saying this is the case. But it could be.

All of the guys you listed were great because they never got injured. If Troy Smith had gone down with an ACL injury (man that would have helped us out) (not that I wish injury on anyone) his freshman or sophomore year, and rarely played after, I doubt he would have made this list. But in reality he went on to become a great 4 year QB for the nuts.

Does what I'm saying make any sense? If not, I apologize. Only slept 4 hours last night. 

anyone done any number crunching on NFL QBs who run?  sample size is a lot smaller, but i would be curious to see if the sheer size and speed of NFL defensive players at all positions truly makes the QB as rusher more likely to go down than prototypical pocket passers.  theoretically, the idea that mobile QBs take fewer blindside/stationary/direct hits should apply at the next level. 

"pro-style" offenses trend towards QBs under center, whereas most of the college QBs mentioned above played in the shotgun.  while Rodriguez has pioneered the base shotgun spread as a run-oriented offense, using shotgun in the NFL is typically a passing look.  coaches turning to the "wildcat" as a run/pass wrinkle rather than mobile QBs providing a true dual threat.

great college QBs end up switching positions just to get drafted because the NFL has no place for a QB of their type.  of the players listed above, only Vick and Young have seen significant time at QB in their pro careers, and neither was ever fully embraced by the NFL.  just curious if a higher threat of injury is a justifiable reason to avoid systems more similar to Rodriguez and college QBs who run the ball in general.

Its suprising at how meny of those QB's never missed a game due to injury.

that mobile QB's get hurt more.  Denard is ready to run all over ND, and there's nothing they can do about it. Daydream about not having to face him is fine, but reality is that he will make their D look silly on Sat. Go Blue!

Not to nitpick, but, I thought that Tebow got a concussion his final year at Florida.  I could be wrong (and probably am) mainly because I couldn't care less about Tim Tebow.

Also, Denard was hurt in his first game.  So much so that he had to leave the field.  

It would behoove UM coaches to get the RBs more involved.  Flare passes, screens, actual hand offs, pitches.  This would (obviously) lessen the load on DR and keep him safe(r). These guys can coach, they'll make the adjustments I'm sure.

And that is in the coming years we should have a couple of very capable QB's on the roster incase an injury does happen. Mainly my biggest worry playing this offense is that when injuries do happen to these mobile QB's who dominate the offense in situations like that of Pat White & Dennis Dixon the year Oregon beat us badly -2007- is the circumstances where both programs were very much headed toward National Championship runs and because of injuries both programs suffered badly when a lack of talent in their depth stuck their teams in mud. I think Michigan in 2011 & 12 will be very capable of maintaining their offensive firepower with the depth they have. Especially if Tate does stay. 

Thanks for the information man, well done.

Thanks for the research, but... Dennis Dixon? Matt Grothe? ... Antonio Bass? (injured practicing as QB)

There are plenty of guys out there who missed significant time with injuries.