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Can running be enough for Richardson, Fields?

Quarterbacks trying to thrive with lesser passing numbers

I will be interested to see where Justin Fields and Anthony Richardson go in drafts. They’ve tended to struggle as passers, but they’ve excelled as runners, and sometimes that’s enough.

Typical fantasy leagues, of course, are tilted in favor of running quarterbacks, with a 20-yard run worth as much as a 40-yard pass. And 2 TD runs typically are worth the same as 3 TD passes. (Why we do this, I have no idea – but it’s how most leagues are run.)

Given those dynamics, it’s possible for a quarterback to finish with good numbers even if he’s not doing much as a passer. That would be the goal with Richardson or Fields. They’ll be lesser passers, but maybe they can run for 8-plus touchdowns, finishing with viable overall numbers.

In this arena, consider the following list of quarterbacks. It shows all quarterbacks in the 32-team era (since 2002) who finished with bottom-10 passing numbers but top-5 rushing numbers. We can then look at how those guys fared overall.

For all stats, I looked at per-game production. Each year there are about 32 quarterbacks who start at least half of their team’s games. We take all those quarterbacks for all those years, then parse out all of those who were both bottom-10 passers and top-5 runners, using traditional fantasy scoring.

There are 49 such quarterbacks (about 2 per year), and as a group, these guys didn’t have quite as much success as I expected. Only 11 averaged top-10 numbers. (Those guys are tagged with a single dot.)

There are almost twice as many (21) who ranked between 11th and 20th in overall per-game production.

More surprisingly (to me, anyway), there were 17 who finished outside the top 20 in per-game production – guys who were bottom-10 type quarterbacks. (I’ve got those guys flagged with double dots).

I am not a big fan of Fields or Richardson myself. (I have neither ranked among my top 20 at the position.)

STRUGGLING PASSERS WHO WERE GOOD RUNNERS
YearPlayerStPassTDPRunTDRPts/GRk
2017• Cam Newton162061.3847.3822.94
2024• Jalen Hurts151941.2042.9324.35
2022• Lamar Jackson121871.4264.2523.05
2002• Michael Vick151961.0752.5322.45
2022Justin Fields151491.1376.5323.06
2006• Michael Vick161551.2565.1320.06
2005• Michael Vick151611.0040.4018.67
2020• Lamar Jackson151841.7367.4725.88
2023Justin Fields131971.2351.3121.79
2006• Vince Young13159.8541.5418.89
2021• Jalen Hurts152101.0752.6724.010
2011Tim Tebow111501.0057.4520.312
2018Josh Allen11182.9155.7322.813
2019Kyler Murray162331.2534.2521.913
2016Colin Kaepernick112041.4543.1821.513
2022Daniel Jones16200.9444.4421.113
2015Tyrod Taylor142171.4341.2922.514
2020Carson Wentz122181.3323.4221.914
2019Josh Allen161931.2532.5621.614
2016Cam Newton152341.2724.3321.416
2004Michael Vick15154.9360.2018.716
2016Dak Prescott162291.4418.3821.217
2013Terrelle Pryor9196.7861.2220.417
2017Brett Hundley92041.0030.2218.817
2016Tyrod Taylor152021.1339.4021.118
2021Sam Darnold11212.8219.4518.518
2014Colin Kaepernick162111.1940.0619.619
2024Anthony Richardson11165.7345.5519.119
2023Joshua Dobbs12192.9230.4219.119
2009Vince Young101881.0028.2017.419
2006Charlie Frye13189.7717.2315.620
2007Tarvaris Jackson12159.7522.2515.020
2013•• Colin Kaepernick162001.3133.2520.021
2017•• DeShone Kizer15193.7328.3317.421
2020•• Cam Newton15177.5339.8720.322
2007•• Vince Young15170.6026.2014.722
2006•• David Garrard101741.0025.0015.223
2015•• Alex Smith162181.2531.1320.024
2004•• Jeff Garcia101731.0017.2015.525
2007•• Kellen Clemens8178.6314.1313.625
2013•• Geno Smith16190.7523.3817.127
2014•• Blake Bortles13207.6930.0016.227
2010•• Colt McCoy8197.7517.1315.327
2009•• Ryan Fitzpatrick81631.0015.1314.427
2015•• Colin Kaepernick8202.7532.1317.328
2008•• Ryan Fitzpatrick12159.6725.1714.128
2005•• David Carr16156.8819.0613.728
2005•• J.P. Losman8150.7519.0012.430
2013•• Christian Ponder9142.5617.4413.732

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—Ian Allan

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