One of the most difficult - and sometimes impossible - tasks for any fantasy owner during the offseason is figuring out what players have league-winning upside. Certainly, the Christian McCaffrey's and Dalvin Cook's of the world come immediately to mind, but we need some pretty good luck in a traditional snake draft to land either one of those players.

To answer this "league-winner" question better, I decided to take a position-by-position look at each player that enjoyed rarified air over the last six seasons. By using the best of the best in each position group over a six-year period as the basis for what is great versus elite, we should be able to create realistic parameters for what it takes to be a true fantasy difference-maker.

There will invariably be repeat entries (as in certain players appearing multiple times on the list). It is also OK to view this series of articles as something of a correlational study or a series of interesting facts, but there's more value in this kind of analysis than that. My top priority is trying to establish what benchmarks fantasy owners need to shoot for at each position, especially considering the different styles of players that exist in the game.

Each position during this four-part series will be divided into multiple groups for the express purpose of challenging how you currently think about the position (and its upside). The "Rk" column to the left of each player's name is where he finished among his peers over the six years of this study. (For example, Aaron Rodgers' 2020 season ranked fifth among all quarterbacks in the last six seasons.) Quarterbacks were split into the following groups:

Pocket passer - Rushing total of 150 yards or less in the given year
Mobile quarterback - Rushing total between 151-400 yards in the given year
Dual-threat - Rushing total of 401 or more yards in the given year

Take note that a particular quarterback may appear in two different tables. While that may seem far from ideal, quarterbacks are not necessarily the same year after year. Sometimes they need to run more one season than they do others. Pocket passers rarely evolve into dual-threats or vice versa, but mobile quarterbacks frequently evolve into pocket passers at some point due to age or injury. I also acknowledge that while some of the observations I will make over the next two weeks are somewhat obvious, they often bear repeating.

Below each table will be another table that summarizes the averages of each group as well as the group minimum and maximum. The cutoff at quarterback for this study was 285.3 fantasy points (top 50 performances in the last six years).

* Rodgers (2020) is the only quarterback in this group to finish inside the top 10 across the last six seasons. Maybe the fact he accounted for 51 total touchdowns had something to do with that.

* Twelve of the 16 instances above were recorded by quarterbacks in their age-31 or after season. Only two pocket passers younger than 29 years old finished inside the top 50, and both of them played in an offense coordinated by Sean McVay (2015 Cousins, 2018 Goff).

* Of the three quarterbacks groups we'll discuss, pocket passers appear to have the least amount of upside. Rodgers' 382.3 fantasy points last year was significantly higher than Ryan's 354 in 2018. Ryan's 2016 and 2018 totals are quite impressive - especially for where he was drafted in fantasy in those particular years - but we are focusing on true elite performances. Those two seasons show just how difficult it is for a pocket passer to rise to the top of the fantasy mountain. Imagine accounting for 38 touchdowns and throwing for nearly 5,000 yards in a season twice and still not being able to crack the top 10 over a six-year period.

* The average number of passing attempts for the 16 instances above is 591 (or roughly 37 per game). Taken one step further, 83 percent (20 of 24) of the quarterbacks - including ones that did not make the fantasy-point cutoff - over the last six seasons to attempt at least 600 managed to score at least 260 fantasy points. That is a total that would rank 82nd among quarterbacks in that span. Fifteen (63 percent) of those 24 topped 280 fantasy points - good for a 58th-place finish. Not league-winning stuff, but interesting nonetheless.

Observations

* Young quarterbacks will almost invariably run more because they cannot read defenses as well as their veteran counterparts or lack the patience to do so. With that said, it is still interesting that over half of this slightly more mobile group (11 of 20) made the cut during or before their age-27 season. (Keep in mind this group is only averaging about 15 more rushing yards per game than the earlier group.)

* This group has the most entries of the three quarterback designations, but only three of the 20 entries are inside the top 10 over the last six seasons.

* On average, mobile quarterbacks attempt 40 fewer passes and run 25 more times than do pocket passers. While the latter disparity results in roughly 215 more rushing yards and a half-touchdown edge in rushing scores, the former difference results in a 427-yard drop in passing yards and three fewer passing TDs for the mobile group.

* It seems hard to believe 40 total touchdowns isn't enough to guarantee any of the three kinds of quarterbacks a finish higher than 15th. Tannehill (2020) accounted for 43 touchdowns, threw only seven interceptions and ran for seven TDs. While touchdowns and efficiency are vital to quarterbacks pushing for elite fantasy status, he is a prime example they typically need to throw for at least 4,200 yards or rush for about 500.

* Touchdowns - especially rushing scores for most quarterbacks - are fickle beasts, but it appears any signal-caller who wants to enjoy a truly elite season probably needs to score at least a couple on the ground. Of the top 90 fantasy performances by quarterbacks in the last six seasons, only 17 did not have a rushing TD. Only two quarterbacks with one score or less finished higher than 25th. Additionally, only two quarterbacks with no rushing TD finished inside the top 38.

Observations

* There is a reason fantasy managers love their "cheat code" quarterbacks. Only 14 dual-threat quarterbacks made this list, but they make up half of the top 10 fantasy performances over the last six years. They also occupy 11 of the top 26 slots.

* Of the three top-10 finishers that failed to throw for at least 4,000 yards, all of them rushed for at least 600. The other two top-10 quarterbacks passed for at least 4,500 yards. Somewhat surprisingly, dual-threats still need to aim for about 3,800 yards through the air to have any real shot at being truly elite.

* Newton's 2017 campaign (754 yards) is proof that a big rushing total does not guarantee fantasy managers an elite fantasy quarterback (he finished 38th overall). However, of the eight quarterbacks above who ran for at least 550 yards in this six-year study, only one (Newton and that aforementioned 2017 season) finished lower than 23rd overall.

* While not particularly surprising, the average number of rushing touchdowns for the dual threats was 5.9 - more than twice the number of the mobile quarterbacks (2.7). That number is obviously buoyed by quarterbacks that called their number by the end zone (i.e. 2015 Newton, 2020 Allen and 2020 Murray), but the average for this group without those three instances is still 4.9.

How can this help us for moving forward?

Fantasy managers should be mindful of age when considering the kind of quarterback they want.

This is kind of a no-brainer when it comes to the dual-threats. We want them young. (Russell Wilson is the only dual-threat who made the table above during his age-28 season or younger.) However, this evidence suggests that we should not be afraid to trend a bit older when we know the quarterback will not run much. We have already discussed the upside probably is not going to be there with pocket passers, but it is telling that 14 of the 16 entries from the group are quarterbacks who were at least 31 years old. It is just as telling that the group average age is 34.

Fantasy managers need to set the floor for their fantasy quarterbacks at 30 passing touchdowns to have a chance to be in the league-winner discussion.

Of the 48 quarterbacks that have amassed at least 250 fantasy points over the last six seasons, Murray's 2020 campaign is the lone instance in which a player threw fewer than 30 touchdowns and still turned in a top-20 performance.

Thirty-six total touchdowns is roughly the magic number to gain entry into the top-20 club.

The lowest finish for any quarterback in this study who accounted for at least 36 TDs was 2018 Brees (35th). There are three other non-top 20 performances in the group of 24 quarterbacks with 36 or more touchdowns, but the top 17 finishers (and 18 of the top 20) had at least that many.

Running is not necessary to get into the gold club, but it is almost a prerequisite to gain admittance to the VIP lounge.

Forty-nine of the 90 quarterbacks who amassed at least 250 fantasy points from 2015-2020 ran for 250 or fewer yards. However, nine of the 12 top fantasy quarterback entries over the last six years had at least 369 yards rushing. Two of the three that did not go for 369 accounted for more than 50 touchdowns.

Mobile quarterbacks appear to provide a safe floor but lack a ridiculous ceiling unless they are still winning in a big way as a passer.

Seventeen mobile quarterbacks fill out the last 36 spots in the top 50 performances from fantasy quarterbacks in the last six years. Among all the mobile quarterbacks, only Rodgers and Mahomes (twice) finished inside the top 10 in this study. In all three cases, Rodgers and Mahomes accounted for at least 40 total TDs and threw for at least 4,428 yards.