Fantasy Football Stat of the Day: The Konami Code cousins

(Leading up to the 2021 NFL season, FTN’s Tyler Loechner will dive into the fantasy football numbers to bring you his Fantasy Stat of the Day, five days a week.)

FTN’s Eliot Crist recently wrote a must-read piece on the fantasy dominance of rushing QBs —also known as Konami Code QBs. The gist of it is that if you can find a QB that rushes often, you’ve probably found a worthy starter for your fantasy team.

Today’s Stat of the Day article will add to Crist’s excellent piece by taking a look at last season’s most prolific rushing QBs from another angle. We won’t steal any thunder from Crist’s research, so be sure to check out his in-depth piece — including a list of Konami Code QB candidates for 2021.

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Does Daniel Jones have what it takes to be a Konami QB cousin? What about Justin Herbert?

We’re going to take a look at three charts, showing last season’s QB leaders in rushing attempts, rushing attempts (and TDs) from inside the 5, and long rushes (10-plus yards).

Here are last year’s QB leaders by rush attempts:

And last year’s QB leaders by rush attempts (and their TD totals) when near the goal line (inside the 5).

And last year’s QB leaders by long runs, defined here as runs of at least 10 yards:

Not every QB listed in the charts above is a Konami QB candidate. For example, the “QB leaders on rushes inside the 5” chart surfaces names like Jared Goff, Ryan Tannehill and Derek Carr. Nobody is confusing that trio with Lamar Jackson. All that stat means is that those QBs got more goal-line QB sneak opportunities than the rest of league.

However, that stat also surfaces Justin Herbert, whose 8 rush attempts from inside the 5 last season tied for third in the league. We also see Daniel Jones find his way onto two of the three charts listed above.

Are Herbert and Jones similar to Jackson, Josh Allen or Kyler Murray? Of course not. But their above-average use as rushers is enough to put them in the “cousin” category. Both players are also early enough in their careers that we don’t know exactly how they will turn out in terms of play style. The Allen route isn’t completely off the table, nor is the Matthew Stafford route.

The bottom line is that if you miss out on the top Konami options — or miss out on some of Crist’s top rushing QB candidates for 2021 — swinging for the fences on a late-round QBs with a fair amount of rushing upside (like Jones) is a viable backup strategy. Thanks to the Konami Code, we know that a QB’s potential to unlock fantasy upside is greater when they have some rushing chops. 

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