Final Results

Qualification: minimum 224 pass attempts (14 per scheduled game).

How QER is calculated

QER starts with the Pass Score, adds a bonus worth up to five points for rushing, and is capped at 100. A quarterback is never penalized for not running. All percentiles are calculated among qualified quarterbacks from the same season.

QER = min(100, Pass Score + Rush Bonus)

Pass Score

The Pass Score combines Passing Efficiency (75%) with Production (25%).

Passing Efficiency

  • Success percentage (30% of Passing Efficiency): How often pass plays meet the success criteria for the down and distance.
  • Yards per attempt (25%): Passing yards gained per attempt, rewarding efficient downfield production.
  • Interception avoidance (20%): Rewards a lower percentage of attempts resulting in interceptions.
  • Passing first-down percentage (15%): The percentage of attempts that produce a first down.
  • Completion percentage (10%): The percentage of pass attempts completed.

Production

  • Passing yards (50% of Production): Total passing yardage over the season.
  • Passing touchdowns (30%): Total touchdown passes.
  • Passing first downs (20%): Total first downs produced through the air.

Rush Score

Rushing production is measured per quarterback play, where QB plays = pass attempts + sacks + rushing attempts. This prevents a small number of carries from dominating the rating.

  • Successful rushes per QB play (30% of Rush Score): Estimated successful carries based on rushing attempts and rushing success percentage.
  • Rushing first downs per QB play (25%): How often rushing creates a first down.
  • Rushing yards per QB play (25%): Rushing production relative to the quarterback’s total workload.
  • Rushing touchdowns per QB play (10%): Rushing scoring production relative to total workload.
  • Fumble avoidance per QB play (10%): Rewards quarterbacks who protect the football across their total workload.

The Rush Score is multiplied by 5% to create the Rush Bonus. A perfect Rush Score adds five points; a quarterback with no rushing value loses no points.

Rank Player Team G QER Pass Score Pass Efficiency Production Rush Score Rush Bonus Cmp Att Cmp% Yds Y/A TD Int Int% 1D 1D% Succ% Rush Att Rush Yds Rush TD Rush 1D Rush Succ% Fumbles
1 Boomer Esiason CIN 16 89.0 85.8 83.8 91.7 62.9 3.1 273 469 58.2 3959 8.4 24 17 3.6 177 37.7 47.9 44 146 1 11 31.8 12
2 Dan Marino MIA 16 86.9 86.2 81.6 100.0 13.8 0.7 378 623 60.7 4746 7.6 44 23 3.7 245 39.3 50.6 12 -3 0 1 16.7 8
3 Tony Eason NWE 15 83.7 80.0 84.2 67.5 73.5 3.7 276 448 61.6 3328 7.4 19 10 2.2 162 36.2 47.9 35 170 0 11 40.0 4
4 Ken O’Brien NYJ 15 79.8 78.6 76.0 86.5 24.6 1.2 300 482 62.2 3690 7.7 25 20 4.1 167 34.6 48.3 17 46 0 3 41.2 10
5 Tommy Kramer MIN 13 77.5 74.8 78.7 63.3 54.8 2.7 208 372 55.9 3000 8.1 24 10 2.7 131 35.2 43.9 23 48 1 8 39.1 7
6 Dave Krieg SEA 15 72.6 69.5 73.3 58.3 61.5 3.1 225 375 60.0 2921 7.8 21 11 2.9 137 36.5 42.0 35 122 1 7 34.3 10
7 Bernie Kosar CLE 16 71.0 69.9 66.6 79.8 22.3 1.1 310 531 58.4 3854 7.3 17 10 1.9 172 32.4 43.2 24 19 0 4 20.8 7
8 Jim Kelly BUF 16 70.3 66.7 63.4 76.7 72.3 3.6 285 480 59.4 3593 7.5 22 17 3.5 152 31.7 43.8 41 199 0 10 48.8 7
9 Joe Montana SFO 8 64.9 62.5 76.1 21.9 48.1 2.4 191 307 62.2 2236 7.3 8 9 2.9 111 36.2 45.5 17 38 0 4 47.1 3
10 Phil Simms NYG 16 62.5 59.9 54.5 76.0 53.3 2.7 259 468 55.3 3487 7.5 21 22 4.7 169 36.1 42.9 43 72 1 10 23.3 9
11 Jay Schroeder WAS 16 58.8 57.0 45.3 92.1 35.4 1.8 276 541 51.0 4109 7.6 22 22 4.1 178 32.9 41.5 36 47 1 6 25.0 9
12 Dan Fouts SDG 12 58.7 58.1 58.1 58.1 11.9 0.6 252 430 58.6 3031 7.0 16 22 5.1 157 36.5 46.8 4 -3 0 0 0.0 4
13 John Elway DEN 16 57.6 53.3 47.4 71.0 85.8 4.3 280 504 55.6 3485 6.9 19 13 2.6 168 33.3 40.9 52 257 1 21 53.8 8
14 Jim Plunkett RAI 10 55.7 53.5 63.7 23.1 44.8 2.2 133 252 52.8 1986 7.9 14 9 3.6 89 35.3 42.7 12 47 0 4 33.3 4
15 Eric Hipple DET 16 46.9 45.0 55.5 13.5 38.8 1.9 192 305 63.0 1919 6.3 9 11 3.6 100 32.8 45.4 16 46 0 4 37.5 7
16 Steve Pelluer DAL 16 43.1 38.9 40.1 35.4 83.3 4.2 215 378 56.9 2727 7.2 8 17 4.5 133 35.2 40.2 41 255 1 14 61.0 9
17 Dave Wilson NOR 14 41.4 39.7 42.4 31.7 33.8 1.7 189 342 55.3 2353 6.9 10 17 5.0 115 33.6 43.1 14 19 1 5 35.7 8
18 Randy Wright GNB 16 40.1 38.6 31.2 61.0 29.2 1.5 263 492 53.5 3247 6.6 17 23 4.7 153 31.1 42.5 18 41 1 5 33.3 8
19 Warren Moon HOU 15 38.3 34.7 25.0 63.8 72.3 3.6 256 488 52.5 3489 7.1 13 26 5.3 159 32.6 39.9 42 157 2 11 42.9 11
20 Neil Lomax STL 14 36.9 33.6 31.3 40.4 66.0 3.3 240 421 57.0 2583 6.1 13 12 2.9 122 29.0 40.0 35 148 1 9 37.1 7
21 Marc Wilson RAI 16 33.0 31.2 37.6 11.9 36.2 1.8 129 240 53.8 1721 7.2 12 15 6.3 83 34.6 41.6 14 45 0 3 28.6 6
22 Mark Malone PIT 14 31.6 27.8 22.9 42.7 75.8 3.8 216 425 50.8 2444 5.8 15 18 4.2 128 30.1 41.6 31 107 5 13 48.4 7
23 David Archer ATL 11 30.1 26.1 28.3 19.4 80.2 4.0 150 294 51.0 2007 6.8 10 9 3.1 93 31.6 36.9 52 298 0 12 50.0 8
24 Steve Young TAM 14 28.7 24.2 24.7 22.7 90.0 4.5 195 363 53.7 2282 6.3 8 13 3.6 109 30.0 37.3 74 425 5 30 58.1 11
25 Bill Kenney KAN 15 28.6 27.9 30.4 20.4 15.0 0.8 161 308 52.3 1922 6.2 13 11 3.6 99 32.1 41.4 18 0 0 1 11.1 5
26 Ron Jaworski PHI 10 19.9 17.6 22.7 2.3 45.4 2.3 128 245 52.2 1405 5.7 8 6 2.4 68 27.8 36.7 13 33 0 4 38.5 4
27 Jack Trudeau IND 12 9.7 8.8 5.4 18.8 19.0 1.0 204 417 48.9 2225 5.3 8 18 4.3 109 26.1 33.9 13 21 1 2 38.5 13