By now, most fantasy football managers have heard of the term Konami Code. As it sounds, it’s become a cheat code of sorts. Rich Hribar of Sharp Football Analysis coined the term as it relates to fantasy football. In his words from this 2013 article:

If you’ve never played Contra, it doesn’t matter (except we can never be friends). What’s important is that this is the most famous cheat code ever created. And I’m here to tell you that the Konami Code has been entered into our game of Fantasy Football, namely the rushing quarterbacks and how they affect standard scoring.

Since then, rushing quarterbacks have taken the league by storm. It’s important to know of the strategy and identify potential Konami Code quarterbacks to target in fantasy football drafts. Here’s a look at 2022’s crop of Konami Code quarterbacks along with their rankings, player notes, and, for those that played significant snaps last season, how much of their scoring came from rushing in 2021.

Josh Allen (BUF): QB1

Fantasy football point percentage from rushing yards: 15%
Fantasy football point percentage from rushing touchdowns: 7%

The back-to-back reigning fantasy QB1 showed no signs of slowing down in 2021. Allen led the quarterback position averaging 24.6 fantasy points per game and a whopping 26.7 expected fantasy points – nearly three points more than the next closest signal-caller. The Bills quarterback’s dual-threat ability – third in rushing yards (763) and rushing attempts (122) – provides him a fantasy ceiling that only a few other quarterbacks can match. No quarterback had more top-3 finishes or top-8 weekly finishes than Allen did a season ago

That’s why he’s deserving of being the first quarterback drafted across all formats.

Because even after taking a slight step back as a passer in 2021 – 104.9 passer rating vs. 97.9 passer rating – a higher passing touchdown ceiling exists for Allen in 2022. His 5.6% TD rate was worse than in 2020 and ranked just ninth in 2021. Case in point: despite finishing No. 1 overall, Allen ended with the 5th-most fantasy points under expectation.

Lamar Jackson (BAL): QB4

Fantasy football point percentage from rushing yards: 30%
Fantasy football point percentage from rushing touchdowns: 5%

Lamar Jackson had a season to forget in 2021, as he dealt with a plethora of injuries/illnesses and regressed immensely as a passer. Two key metrics at PFF that are important to analyze for QBs are performance in a clean pocket and throwing at the intermediate level.

Jackson ranked 28th in passer rating from a clean pocket (90.4) and 22nd in PFF passing grade at the intermediate level (70.0). Despite all his shortcomings as a passer, Jackson still finished the season second in expected fantasy points per game (23.8) and seventh in fantasy points per game (21.3).

His expected fantasy point per game output marked the highest of his career thanks to the Ravens’ willingness to throw more in 2021. From 2019-2020, Jackson had 37 or more passing attempts in a game only four times. He did so five times in 2021, with Baltimore throwing at a 60% clip.

However, I would not anticipate the pass-heavy approach to continue into 2022. Their philosophical change on offense was forced out of necessity based on the injuries. But a lack of passing doesn’t impact Jackson the way it does most other QBs with his greatest fantasy asset being his legs.

Jackson may never recapture his 2019 rare MVP form when he averaged north of 28 fantasy points per game, but a 22-point per game average seems like his norm based on his last two years of fantasy production. In 2020, he led all QBs in fantasy points per dropback. That cements him as a clear-cut top-5 fantasy QB.

Kyler Murray (ARI): QB5

Fantasy football point percentage from rushing yards: 13%
Fantasy football point percentage from rushing touchdowns: 9%

DeAndre Hopkins is being suspended six games for violating the NFL’s Performance Enhancing Drug policy. This penalty has massive fantasy football repercussions for the Arizona Cardinals offense starting with quarterback Kyler Murray.

Murray’s production dipped last season without Hopkins in the lineup over the final four weeks of the season. He averaged 18.8 fantasy points per game and 6.3 yards per pass attempt.

Murray averaged 24.9 fantasy points per game and 8.7 yards per attempt in the nine games with Hopkins fully healthy. He also posted the No. 1-ranked PFF passing grade (90.5).

Losing Hopkins for six games cannot be ignored, but the addition of Marquise Brown figures to make up for some of the lost production.

Jalen Hurts (PHI): QB6

Fantasy football point percentage from rushing yards: 23%
Fantasy football point percentage from rushing touchdowns: 18%

In his first full season, Jalen Hurts was the QB6 in fantasy points per game as the Eagles’ starting quarterback. An ankle sprain dropped his rushing numbers from 57.9 to 29.7 yards per game over his final three contests. Without that ding, his full-season numbers could have been even better. With another season in this offensive system incoming and A.J. Brown now on the roster, Hurts has top-three fantasy quarterback upside in 2022.

Trey Lance (SF): QB13

Trey Lance is falling in best ball ADP because of reports surfacing that he is underwhelming at OTAs and because Jimmy Garoppolo remains on the roster. But after the 49ers beat reporters butchered the Trey Sermon situation last season and the 49ers’ massive investment in Lance last year, I view this situation as an easy buy-low scenario.

Garoppolo’s shoulder surgery is the reason he hasn’t been traded. Once he is deemed healthy, I’d presume he gets moved to a QB-needy team or to a roster that sustains an injury at the position.

Lance only started two games but showed off the rushing that excited fantasy managers during draft season. The 49ers’ first-year signal-caller averaged 22.4 expected fantasy points and 60 rushing yards per game.

FantasyPros Staff Consensus 2022 Redraft Fantasy Football Rankings