It is constantly talked about. You will hear lots of podcasts and read lots of articles talking about the “rushing floor” of a Quarterback. Why does that matter? What does that mean? I am going to explain the reasoning behind why rushing Quarterbacks are so valuable.
Rushing Floor
The first thing to understand, is what the term “rushing floor” really means. A “floor” in fantasy football refers to the consistent number of points that a player can put up for you every week. You are trying to win every week to get you into your leagues fantasy playoffs. Having a consistent “floor” of points from your QB position is very helpful, as other positions can often be very “boom or bust”.
Quarterback examples of a high rushing floor are Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. QBs that can run provide another avenue for fantasy points. If an immobile Quarterback faces an excellent defense in a low-scoring game, you could end up with very few points from your QB that week. However, if your QB can run for 40 yards a game, that provides fantasy points that other QBs wouldn’t be able to get against the same defense.
Quarterback stats are primarily passing yards. In a lot of fantasy leagues points will be awarded based on yardage. Quarterbacks are often given points per 25 yards, while Running Backs and Wide Receivers gain points per 10 yards. This is one of the reasons that rushing for a QB is so valuable, it gets you the same points while requiring less yards.
Bonuses
Bonuses are a part of fantasy football scoring designed to reward the top players in their position for having exceptional performances. Generally, QB bonuses for passing yards will be set at 300 per game. To get the extra points that week, your Quarterback must throw for at least 300 yards in a game. Tom Brady is considered an immobile QB. He had 5,316 passing yards in 2021, but he only had 9 games over 300 yards. For a QB to have 300 yards every week, they would have to throw for 5,100 yards. Tom Brady was the ONLY QB in 2021 who had 5,100+ passing yards. When discussing reliable fantasy points, you can see how it’s FAR easier to obtain points for rushing yards, than passing yards, and it’s very difficult to consistently get the QB bonuses.
Touchdowns
Touchdowns are a super impactful part of fantasy football, but they also happen to be super unreliable. TDs can take a player that’s performing poorly into fantasy relevance, just by getting one. They can also take a good player and give them a great fantasy week. Occasionally there will be players that can put up large point totals purely on yardage, attempts or catches. However, Touchdowns are important to scoring enough points to win your fantasy week. In the QB discussion, TDs matter as well. There are a lot of fantasy football leagues where Quarterbacks will be given four points per passing touchdowns, while RBs and WRs are given six points. A QB like Josh Allen who scores two passing TDs and one rushing TD, could outscore Tom Brady’s three passing TDs.
Hopefully this answered why rushing Quarterbacks are so valuable. Don’t forget that a QB like Brady, who doesn’t run, can still finish with the third highest fantasy points for a QB, like he did in 2021.
Keep an eye out for my article explaining the value of pass catching RBs!
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