Quarterbacks to Draft: Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson (Fantasy Football)

When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and others to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s take a look at Konami Code quarterbacks to consider in fantasy football drafts.

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 the strategy and identify potential Konami Code quarterbacks to target in fantasy football drafts. Here’s a look at 2024’s crop of Konami Code quarterbacks. Below we dive into a few notable names.

Konami Code Rushing Quarterbacks

Pat Fitzmaurice breaks down Konami Code Rushing Quarterbacks to consider in upcoming fantasy football drafts.

Josh Allen (BUF)

The fantasy track record Josh Allen has compiled is impressive. His yearly finishes in fantasy scoring since 2019: QB7, QB1, QB1, QB2, QB1. He’s thrown for more than 4,000 yards in each of his last four seasons, averaging 4,385 passing yards and 34.3 TD passes over that span. Allen adds immense value as a runner. We probably shouldn’t expect a repeat of the 15 rushing touchdowns he had this season, since his previous single-season high was nine. But Allen has averaged 596 rushing yards and 9.0 TD runs over the last five years. A spring trade that sent Stefon Diggs to the Texans brings the caliber of the Bills pass-catching into question, but even with a loss of WR firepower, Allen still has a strong case to be considered the QB1.

Jalen Hurts (PHI)

Jalen Hurts finished QB2 in fantasy scoring in 2023, but there are reasons for concern heading into the 2024 season. After averaging 25.6 fantasy points per game during a banner 2022 campaign, Hurts’ scoring average dropped to 21.9 FPPG in 2023. His passing yardage per game fell from 246.7 to 226.9, and his yardage per attempt slipped from 8.0 to 7.2. Hurts also had slippage in completion percentage and touchdown rate, and his passer rating plummeted from 101.5 to 89.1. On the bright side, Hurts provided ample rushing value, with 605 rushing yards and 15 TD runs, the most ever for a quarterback in a single season. The fear is that Hurts’ fantasy value could take a tumble in 2024 if there’s a significant drop-off in rushing touchdowns. TD runs accounted for 24.1% of Hurts’ 2023 fantasy points. If Hurts is to remain a top-three fantasy quarterback, he’ll probably need to boost his passing efficiency.

Lamar Jackson (BAL)

Lamar Jackson has long been the best running quarterback in football — and quite possibly the best of all time. But Jackson made enormous striders as a passer in 2023, thriving under the tutelage of first-year Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Jackson established new career highs in passing yardage (3,678), completion percentage (67.2%) and yards per attempt (8.0). And of course, Jackson provided plenty of fantasy value as a runner, with 821 rushing yards and five TD runs. Jackson finished QB4 in fantasy scoring in 2023 despite being held out of the season finale, and he had a spectacular stretch run for his fantasy managers, averaging 27.8 fantasy points per game in Weeks 14-17. Jackson will once again take his rightful place on the top QB tier for 2024 fantasy drafts.