Chicago Bears Fantasy Football: Should you draft Justin Fields?

Chicago Bears quarterback, Justin Fields has the tools to be a top-12 quarterback

For all positions in fantasy football, there are statistical categories of importance that separate player from player. Specifically for QBs, we can look at efficiency numbers, passing yards per game/totals, TDs per game/totals, and rushing numbers per game/totals.

I have previously pushed out a look at “upside” for the QB position, with “upside” referring to qualities or production that separates the player from others in the same position that gives that specific player a higher fantasy-scoring season.

One of these upside reflections from 2021 was passing upside, referring to the ability of a QB to have 3+ passing TDs in a given game and/or 300+ passing yards in a given game. The other upside data set from 2021 looked at QB rushing upside, which looked into the ability of a QB to have 50+ rushing yards in a given game and/or a rushing TD in a given game. It is a rarity that a QB hits both categories, outside of a player like Josh Allen from Buffalo who is the consensus fantasy QB1 due to this.

Specifically looking at rushing upside, “Konami Code” QBs aka rushing QBs have often been looked at as a fantasy cheat code. Scott Barrett from Fantasy Points has looked into Konami Code QBs a handful of times and their impacts on fantasy football. To clarify why mobile QBs are often looked at as a cheat code, here is an example of the scoring breakdown for a fantasy football league I play in that would apply to QBs:

• Passing TD: 4 pts (some leagues are 6)
• Pass Interception: -1
• Passing Yards: 1 point every 25 yards (+.04 per yard)
• Rushing Yards: 1 point every 10 yards (+.10 per yard)
• Rushing TD: 6 pts

Konami Code (mobile) QBs have elevated opportunities to hit ALL of the statistics listed above. This in short means that they have a higher scoring ceiling than the non-mobile QB, and often a safer floor due to the rushing points cushion.

A great example of this would be Philadelphia QB Jalen Hurts from last year. Last season, he had both a decent passing and rushing day vs. Washington in Week 17. Hurts threw for 296 yards and a TD. He also added two rushing TDs for a score of 26.64. There were also games, however, where he did not throw the ball well but the rushing upside gave him a fantasy boost. An example would be against New Orleans in Week 11 where he only threw for 147 yards and had 0 passing TDs, but rushed for 69 yards and had three rushing TDs for a score of 30.78.

I also looked into a study from 2017-2021 for QBs who had 300+ rushing yard seasons and their fantasy football impacts. 32.6% of quarterbacks who hit that 300 rushing yard floor were Top-5 fantasy QBs. 53.49% were Top-12 fantasy QBs. 43 QBs hit this mark between 2017-2021 meaning across these seasons It was a >50% chance that if a quarterback rushed for 300 or more yards, they would be Top 12.

The rushing QB is one to target for fantasy. Justin Fields fits this category. What did we see in 2021 though?