Dolphins' Vic Fangio: Mike Vick Is Only NFL QB Like Lamar Jackson in Last 50 Years

Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has seen a lot of quarterbacks in his 36 years as an NFL coach, but he admitted Lamar Jackson is one of the most unique he's ever come across.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Fangio said Michael Vick is the only other player in the past 50 years who compares to the Baltimore Ravens star:

"Yeah, fair share mobile quarterbacks? Yes. Then there's Lamar Jackson. He's unlike anybody else. The only other player that's been like him in the last 50 years is Michael Vick. He's a tremendous player. Kudos to Ozzie (Newsome) and Eric (DeCosta) for picking him. Thirty-one other teams that passed him by are kicking themselves. He's really improved over the years. Dynamic with the ball. Good passer. He makes their offense go."

Vick and Jackson are arguably the two best running quarterbacks in NFL history. There have been four individual seasons when a quarterback has run for at least 1,000 yards. Vick and Jackson own three of them, with Justin Fields' 1,143 yards in 2022 also mixed in.

If you expand the list to the top 15 rushing seasons by a quarterback in league history, Vick and Jackson appear eight times. Jackson holds the single-season rushing record for quarterbacks with 1,206 in his 2019 MVP season.

One key difference between the two is Jackson has continued to develop as a passer in ways that Vick didn't. Vick had as much arm talent as anyone in the league during his playing days, but his accuracy was often spotty.

Jackson has moments of inaccuracy when he drops back, but he's become much better at being able to place the ball where it needs to go for his receiver to have a chance to make a play.

The improvement at many of the intricate quarterback things has moved Jackson into the pole position for the MVP award. He will become the 11th player in NFL history with multiple MVPs if he wins this season.

Fangio will be tasked with trying to slow down Jackson on Sunday when the Dolphins play the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in a crucial game for AFC playoff seeding.

If the Ravens (12-3) win, they lock up home-field advantage in the postseason. If the Dolphins (11-4) win, they clinch the AFC East and move into the driver's seat for the No. 1 seed in the conference going into the final week of the season.