Do quarterbacks count as carries in fantasy?
Yes, when a quarterback runs with the ball it counts as a carry and the rushing yards count toward his stats, though he did not receive a handoff.
Carry
A carry is a single instance of a running back or other offensive player receiving the ball and attempting to run with it, and it is the basic unit used to measure rushing volume in fantasy football.
In football, a carry happens when a player is handed or tossed the ball and runs with it, usually a running back taking a handoff from the quarterback. Every rushing attempt counts as one carry, no matter how far the player goes. Carries are the clearest way to measure how much a team trusts a runner, because coaches give the ball most often to the players they believe in.
In fantasy football, carries matter because they create opportunity. A running back who gets 20 carries in a game has many more chances to gain yards and score touchdowns than one who gets only 5. Fantasy managers often look at carry counts from past games to predict which running backs will keep producing, since a player's role in the offense tends to stay fairly steady from week to week.
Carries are different from targets, which measure passes thrown to a player. A running back with a big share of his team's carries is called a workhorse back, and that heavy workload is one of the most reliable signs of fantasy value at the position.
Common questions
How many carries is a lot for a running back in one game?
Around 20 or more carries in a single game is considered a heavy workload, and running backs who hit that mark regularly tend to be valuable in fantasy.
Does a lost fumble still count as a carry?
Yes, the carry counts, but fumbles typically cost the player and his fantasy team points under most league scoring settings.
Related terms
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