I’ve updated my Quarterback Efficiency Rating again, this time to give the best dual-threat seasons more meaningful credit without allowing rushing to overshadow passing.
The previous version moved QER in the right direction by making rushing a bonus. A quarterback who did not run kept his complete Pass Score instead of losing points. But the bonus was limited to five points and treated rushing almost entirely as an efficiency measure. That did not fully capture the value of quarterbacks who remained effective runners across a full season.
The revised formula separates rushing efficiency from rushing production, raises the maximum possible bonus to 15 points, and scales that bonus by passing quality. I’ve recalculated the ratings for every season from 1986 through 2025.
What has changed
The Pass Score remains unchanged. Passing Efficiency supplies 75% of the score and season-long Production supplies 25%:
Pass Score = 75% Passing Efficiency + 25% Production
Passing Efficiency uses success percentage, yards per attempt, interception avoidance, passing first-down percentage, and completion percentage. Production uses total passing yards, touchdowns, and first downs.
The difference is in the rushing bonus. QER now evaluates two distinct parts of quarterback rushing:
- Rush Efficiency measures successful rushes, rushing first downs, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns per total quarterback play, plus fumble avoidance.
- Rush Production measures season totals for rushing yards, rushing first downs, and rushing touchdowns.
Only scores above the 50th percentile earn credit. Each above-average score is rescaled from zero to one. Rush Efficiency can contribute up to eight points, while Rush Production can contribute up to seven.
Passing still sets the ceiling
The full rushing value is multiplied by the Passing Gate, which is the quarterback’s Pass Score divided by 100:
Passing Gate = Pass Score ÷ 100
Rush Bonus = Passing Gate ×
(8 × Rush Efficiency Index + 7 × Rush Production Index)
QER = min(100, Pass Score + Rush Bonus)
This is the safeguard that keeps QER a quarterback rating rather than a rushing rating. Two players with the same rushing performance will not necessarily receive the same bonus. The stronger passer receives more credit because his rushing complements a better passing foundation.
A quarterback with below-average or nonexistent rushing production receives no bonus, but he also loses nothing. His QER remains equal to his Pass Score.
Quarterbacks who benefited
The largest gains belong to quarterbacks who combined strong passing with both efficient and sustained rushing production.
Steve Young, 1991
Steve Young provides the clearest example. His 80.6 Pass Score already reflected excellent passing, and his 99.4 Rush Score showed nearly unmatched rushing efficiency. The new calculation also recognizes his 98.9 Rush Production score.
Under the previous formula, Young received a 5.0-point rushing bonus and ranked third with an 85.5 QER. His revised bonus is 11.9 points, raising his QER to 92.4 and moving him to first in the 1991 quarterback ratings.
Aaron Rodgers, 2009
Aaron Rodgers paired an 81.7 Pass Score with an 84.8 Rush Score and a 97.4 Rush Production score. The old formula added 4.2 points for rushing. The revised system adds 10.0.
Rodgers rises from 85.9 to 91.6 QER and moves from fifth to first in the 2009 rankings. His passing did not change; the new rating simply captures more of the value he created on the ground across the entire season.
Josh Allen, 2020
Josh Allen’s 2020 season shows how the Passing Gate rewards a complete quarterback. His 87.2 Pass Score gives him a strong base, while his 83.4 Rush Score and 87.4 Rush Production score establish well-above-average value as a runner.
His rushing bonus increases from 4.2 to 9.2 points. Allen’s QER climbs from 91.3 to 96.4, moving him from fourth to second in the 2020 ratings.
Lamar Jackson, 2023
Lamar Jackson’s 87.5 Rush Score and 95.0 Rush Production score receive substantially more credit in the revised formula. His bonus grows from 4.4 to 9.6 points.
Jackson moves from an 82.1 QER and fifth place to an 87.3 QER and second place in the 2023 rankings. The change better reflects a season in which his rushing was not an occasional supplement but a major part of Baltimore’s offense.
Kyler Murray, 2020
The Passing Gate also shows why the new bonus is not simply a 15-point reward for every productive runner. Kyler Murray posted an 89.9 Rush Score and a 96.2 Rush Production score in 2020, but his 53.7 Pass Score limited the value of the bonus.
Murray still benefits: his bonus increases from 4.5 to 6.9 points, his QER rises from 58.2 to 60.6, and he moves from 17th to 12th. But he does not receive the same rushing bonus as Allen because Allen had the much stronger passing season.
What the revised rating measures better
The update addresses two different questions that the old rushing score compressed into one:
- How effective was the quarterback when he ran?
- How much rushing value did he produce over the season?
A small number of efficient carries should not be treated like a full season of high-level rushing production. At the same time, rushing volume should not erase weak passing. Separating efficiency and production, then applying the Passing Gate, handles both concerns.
The result is a rating that continues to reward the league’s best passers while drawing a clearer distinction between quarterbacks who occasionally scramble and quarterbacks whose legs consistently change games.
The revised reports are available in the NFL ratings archive for every season from 1986 through 2025. I also used the recalculated ratings to produce an updated top 20 quarterbacks of 2001–2025.