Quarterback Justin Fields has yet to bring the Chicago Bears to the playoffs in his two NFL seasons since being the No. 11 overall pick out of Ohio State in the 2021 NFL Draft.
But his electrifying ability to elude defenders – and hurt opposing teams with his legs as well as his throwing arm – could boost the Chicago Bears playoff chances in the 2023 season.
In fact, his running ability got IllinoisBet.com to wonder: Could Fields be the guy, or at least one of the guys, to break Michael Vick’s NFL record for most career rushing yards by a quarterback?
Here is our list of candidates, with odds that we give to each contender, including Fields:
Odds Of Passing Vick’s Record (6,109 Yards)
How We Arrived At Our Numbers
Former standout Michael Vick holds the NFL career record for quarterbacks at 6,109 rushing yards. With the number of dual-threat quarterbacks in the NFL now, his record is in danger of being broken by not only one, but multiple active QBs.
IllinoisBet.com, which brings you the best Illinois sports betting promos, also offers these hypothetical odds of each active quarterback’s chance of surpassing Vick’s standard. Current rushing production, average QB career length and regression were all considered when we developed these odds.
Justin Fields Brings Major Mobility
Astonishingly for a quarterback who missed two games and had a 3-12 record in the games he started, Fields was 10th in NFL MVP voting last season.
That speaks to his dual-threat presence, though the Bears gave him limited help on offense.
Fields, in his second season, ran for 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022. That placed him seventh in the league in rushing yards and first among quarterbacks. He also passed for 2,242 yards and 17 TDs, though he had 11 interceptions.
Track the Chicago Bears Super Bowl odds with us all season as they try for a turnaround from a league-worst 3-14 mark in 2022.
How Likely Is Fields To Pass Vick?
In 27 career games, Fields has 1,563 rushing yards, for an average of almost 58 yards per game. Last season he had three games with 100-plus rushing yards, including a career high 178 yards (and a score) against Miami on Nov. 6 in a 35-32 loss to the Dolphins.
By comparison, Vick’s 6,109 yards came in 143 career games, an average of 42.7 per game. He ran far less as his career went on, which is a typical pattern for quarterbacks as they get older. But for now, wagers at Illinois sports betting sites involving props for Fields’ rushing yardage are an attractive option.
IllinoisBet.com gives the 24-year-old Fields a 66.6% chance of surpassing Vick’s career rushing total someday. That translates to -200 odds.
Record Might Be Higher Soon
We say Fields could surpass Vick’s total rather than break the record, because the bar probably will have moved by the time Fields (assuming he’s healthy) nears 6,000 rushing yards.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is second among active QBs in rushing yards, behind Denver’s Russell Wilson. But Wilson turns 35 in December and runs far less than he used to, so we give him +1250 odds (a 7.3% chance) to catch Vick. Plus, his Broncos are coming off of a 5-12 season; they’re +4500 to win the Super Bowl at BetMGM Illinois Sportsbook, just ahead of the Bears, who have +6000 odds.
Jackson, at age 26, already has 4,437 yards on the ground in his career. Even in his injury-shortened 2021 and 2022 seasons, he ran for more than 700 yards each year. At that rate Jackson would catch Vick sometime in 2025.
If Jackson returns to being a 1,000-yard rusher, as he was in 2019 and 2020, he’d catch Vick even faster. So we say Jackson has -2000 odds, or a 95.3% likelihood, to break Vick’s record. Jackson has said that he would like Baltimore to pass more, and perhaps his injury history will make him a more cautious runner. But we still think he’s the most likely quarterback to surpass Vick.
You won’t find these odds with Illinois sports betting apps, only at IllinoisBet.com.
