Will Joe Brady Allow Josh Allen to Maintain Best 'Rushing Success Rate' in NFL History?

It's not surprising considering he already surpassed two Hall-of-Fame running backs en-route to a Buffalo Bills' rushing record.

Needing fewer than eight full seasons, Bills' quarterback Josh Allen leapfrogged the late OJ Simpson and the great Thurman Thomas for most career rushing touchdowns in franchise history. With 79 career TD rushes, Allen has more than any quarterback in NFL history, supplanting Cam Newton (75) atop the list during the 2025 season.

Not only is Allen the most-efficient running quarterback of all-time, the Bills' franchise field general boasts the best rushing success rate of all NFL players, ever.

This past week, Up & Adams show host Kay Adams highlighted the fact that Allen is the current all-time leader in rushing success rate amongst those with at least 800 career carries. Allen (60.0) ranks ahead of former Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick (57.4) and Hall-of-Fame running back Larry Csonka (55.3).

"Nobody in the entire history of the league, has picked up those key first downs or touchdowns on the ground, at a higher clip than Josh," said Adams explaining the advanced metric.

'Tush push' merchant myth debunked

While misguided critics try to paint Allen as a "tush push" touchdown merchant, he's a threat to run it from anywhere on the field. One of his memorable playoff touchdown rushes, which isn't included in the aforementioned 79, is a perfect example of his efficiency as a runner.

In a 31-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2023 playoffs, facing a 3rd-and-7, Allen broke free for an electrifying 52-yard touchdown run. When needing one yard on a fourth down late in a wild-card game against the Jacksonville Jaguars this past January, Allen powered his way forward for 10 yards down to the 1.

For his career, Allen averages 5.4 yards per carry. That number ticks up to 5.7 ypc in playoff games.

Jan 11, 2026; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) runs to score a touchdown during the second half against the Jacksonville Jaguars in an AFC Wild Card Round game at EverBank Stadium. | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Will Allen run less in 2026?

We wrote about first-year head coach Joe Brady's comments from the recent NFL meetings in Phoenix, suggesting a balanced approach to using Allen as a runner.

Admittedly terrified whenever Allen takes a hit, Brady still doesn't sound willing to place any new limitations on his remarkably efficient rushing quarterback, who possesses a cheat code of sorts at this point in his career.

"There’s going to come a time in his career where his legs aren’t going to be able to do what he can do, and he’s going to have to become a true pocket passer. We’re not there yet," said Brady, who spent the past 2.5 seasons as the Bills' offensive coordinator.

Meanwhile, Adams proposed the idea of pulling back on the volume of regular season rushing attempts for Allen, who played with a broken bone in his foot from Week 16 on last season.

"Maybe they can afford to take a little off his legs earlier in the season, and throughout the regular season, keep him a little bit fresher. If you do that, you can let it rip more in the playoffs," said Adams.

Through eight seasons, Allen averages 6.8 rush attempts per regular season game. One potential solution could be calling fewer running plays for Allen outside of short-yardage situations, especially considering how frequently his uses his legs to extend plays off script.

"We know, in the past, Josh is going to scramble," said Brady. "You’ve got to count those scrambles, knowing that those are going to be some of the runs."

Add us as a preferred source on Google