List of NFL career passer rating leaders explained

The NFL rates its passers for statistical purposes against a fixed performance standard based on statistical achievements of all qualified pro passers since 1960. The current passer rating system, which was adopted in 1973, removes inequities that existed in the former method and, at the same time, provides a means of comparing passing performances from one season to the next.According to the 2017 NFL Record & Fact Book, it is important to remember that the system is used to rate passers, not quarterbacks. Statistics do not reflect leadership, play-calling, and other intangible factors that go into making a successful professional quarterback.[1]

Four categories are used as a basis for compiling a rating:

The average standard is 1.000. The bottom is .000. To earn a 2.000 rating, a passer must perform at exceptional levels, i.e., 70 percent in completions, 10 percent in touchdowns, 1.5 percent ininterceptions, and 11 yards average gain per pass attempt. In order to make the rating more understandable, the point rating is then converted into a scale of 100, with 158.3 being thehighest rating a passer can achieve. In cases where statistical performance has been superior, it is possible for a passer to surpass a 100 rating.
Quarterbacks are required to throw at least 1,500 passes before their ratings qualify for NFL career statistics for the regular season, and 150 attempts for the postseason.

Regular season

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^ Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
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  • Active player

Quarterbacks must have at least 1,500 career attempts to qualify for this list.[2]
Updated through the 2023 season.[3]

RankQuarterbackRating
1style=background:#cfecec;" 103.6
2style=background:#cfecec;" 103.5
3style=background:#cfecec;" 100.8
4 style=background:#cfecec;" 100.0
5style=background:#cfecec;" 99.0
6Drew Brees98.7
7style=background:#cfecec;" 98.6
8style=background:#cfecec;" 98.2
9style=background:#cfecec;" 98.0
10style=background:#cfecec;" 97.6
11Tom Brady97.2
12Tony Romo97.1
style=background:#cfecec;"
14style=background:#ffb;"^ Steve Young96.8
15style=background:#ffb;"^ Peyton Manning96.5
16style=background:#cfecec;" 95.7
17Philip Rivers95.2
18style=background:#ffb;"^ Kurt Warner93.7
19Matt Ryan93.6
style=background:#cfecec;"
21Ben Roethlisberger93.5
22style=background:#ffb;"^ Joe Montana92.3
style=background:#cfecec;"
24style=background:#cfecec;" 92.2
style=background:#cfecec;"
26style=background:#cfecec;" 91.2
27style=background:#cfecec;" 91.1
28style=background:#cfecec;" 91.0
29Teddy Bridgewater90.5
30Chad Pennington90.1
3189.5
Matt Schaub
33style=background:#cfecec;" 89.4
34style=background:#cfecec;" 89.2
RankQuarterbackRating
35Colin Kaepernick88.9
36style=background:#cfecec;" 88.3
37style=background:#cfecec;" 88.1
38Carson Palmer87.9
39Daunte Culpepper87.8
40style=background:#cfecec;" 87.6
41Jeff Garcia87.5
42style=background:#cfecec;"
  • Jameis Winston
87.0
4386.9
44style=background:#ffb;"^ Otto Graham86.6
style=background:#cfecec;"
46style=background:#ffb;"^ Dan Marino86.4
47Nick Foles86.2
48style=background:#ffb;"^ Brett Favre86.0
Trent Green
50David Garrard85.8
51Donovan McNabb85.6
52style=background:#cfecec;" 85.5
53Jay Cutler85.3
style=background:#cfecec;"
55Cam Newton85.2
style=background:#cfecec;"
57style=background:#cfecec;" 85.0
58Rich Gannon84.7
58style=background:#cfecec;" 84.6
60Sam Bradford84.5
61Marc Bulger84.4
style=background:#ffb;"^ Jim Kelly
63style=background:#cfecec;" 84.2
64Eli Manning84.1
65Mark Brunell84.0
66style=background:#ffb;"^ Roger Staubach83.4
67Steve McNair82.8
RankQuarterbackRating
68Brian Griese82.7
Neil Lomax
70style=background:#ffb;"^ Len Dawson82.6
style=background:#ffb;"^ Sonny Jurgensen
72Brad Johnson82.5
73Matt Hasselbeck82.4
74Ryan Fitzpatrick82.3
75Brian Hoyer82.0
76Ken Anderson81.9
77Bernie Kosar81.8
Neil O'Donnell
79Jason Campbell81.7
Danny White
81style=background:#ffb;"^ Troy Aikman81.6
82Randall Cunningham81.5
84Jake Delhomme81.3
85Kyle Orton81.2
86Boomer Esiason81.1
87style=background:#ffb;"^ Warren Moon80.9
88Blake Bortles80.6
89style=background:#ffb;"^ Bart Starr80.5
Jeff Hostetler
91Jeff George80.4
Ken O'Brien
style=background:#ffb;"^ Fran Tarkenton
Michael Vick
95Steve Beuerlein80.3
96style=background:#ffb;"^ Dan Fouts80.2
97style=background:#ffb;"^ John Elway79.9
98Tony Eason79.7
Josh McCown
100Elvis Grbac79.6

Postseason

Quarterbacks must have at least 150 career postseason attempts to qualify for this list.

Updated through 2023 season[4]

RankQuarterbackRating
1style=background:#cfecec;" 105.8
2style=background:#ffb;"^ Bart Starr104.8
3style=background:#ffb;"^ Kurt Warner102.8
4style=background:#cfecec;" 101.7
5Matt Ryan100.8
6style=background:#cfecec;" 100.1
7style=background:#cfecec;" 100.0
8Nick Foles98.8
9Alex Smith97.4
1097.1
11style=background:#cfecec;" 96.2
12style=background:#ffb;"^ Joe Montana95.6
13style=background:#cfecec;" 95.3
14Mark Sanchez94.3
15style=background:#cfecec;"
  • Joe Burrow
93.8
16style=background:#cfecec;"
  • Kirk Cousins
93.7
17Ken Anderson93.5
18Tony Romo93.0
19style=background:#cfecec;" 91.8
20Joe Theismann91.4
21Tom Brady89.8
22style=background:#cfecec;" 88.4
23style=background:#ffb;"^ Troy Aikman88.3
24style=background:#cfecec 88.1
25style=background:#cfecec 87.9
26Cam Newton87.7
27style=background:#ffb;"^ Peyton Manning87.4
Eli Manning
RankQuarterbackRating
29Colin Kaepernick87.3
30Ben Roethlisberger86.7
31style=background:#ffb;"^ Brett Favre86.3
32style=background:#ffb;"^ Steve Young85.8
33Philip Rivers85.3
34style=background:#ffb;"^ Warren Moon84.9
35Rich Gannon84.6
36Matt Hasselbeck84.2
style=background:#ffb;"^ Ken Stabler
38Bernie Kosar83.5
39Jake Delhomme83.3
40style=background:#ffb;"^ Terry Bradshaw83.0
41Jim Plunkett81.9
42Vinny Testaverde81.0
43Donovan McNabb80.0
44style=background:#ffb;"^ John Elway79.7
45Daryle Lamonica77.9
46style=background:#ffb;"^ Len Dawson77.4
47Chad Pennington77.3
48style=background:#ffb;"^ Dan Marino77.1
49Phil Simms77.0
50Jim McMahon76.1
51style=background:#ffb;"^ Roger Staubach76.0
52style=background:#cfecec;" 75.7
53Wade Wilson75.6
54Kerry Collins75.3
55Neil O'Donnell74.9
56Randall Cunningham74.3
RankQuarterbackRating
57Jeff Garcia73.8
58Andrew Luck73.4
59Jake Plummer72.7
60Dave Krieg72.3
style=background:#ffb;"^ Jim Kelly
62Mark Rypien72.2
63Danny White71.6
64style=background:#ffb;"^ Dan Fouts70.0
65style=background:#ffb;"^ Johnny Unitas68.9
66Billy Kilmer68.6
67style=background:#ffb;"^ Bob Griese68.3
68Jim Harbaugh67.2
69Steve McNair66.7
70Mark Brunell66.3
71style=background:#ffb;"^ Otto Graham63.7
72Ron Jaworski63.4
73Brad Johnson62.8
74Vince Ferragamo59.9
75style=background:#ffb;"^ Fran Tarkenton58.6
76style=background:#cfecec;" 57.8
77Jim Everett57.0
78Drew Bledsoe54.9
79Stan Humphries54.8
80Doug Williams53.6
81Jay Schroeder50.4
82Jack Kemp50.2
83style=background:#ffb;"^ George Blanda42.4
84Craig Morton42.0

All-time rankings in the four categories

These are the top 10 quarterbacks in each statistic that determine the NFL passer rating.
Minimum: 1,500 Attempts
Records through the 2023.regular season

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^ Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
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  • Active player
Completion percentage
PlayerPercentageAttemptsCompletions
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 1,895 1,288
align=left Drew Brees10,551 7,142
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 1,895 1,277
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 3,873 2,595
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 5,177 3,465
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 1,638 1,096
align=left style=background:#cfecec;"
  • Kyler Murray
2,239 1,492
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 2,422 1,613
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 2,089 1,390
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 3,590 2,386
Average yards per pass
PlayerAverageAttemptsYards
align=left style=background:#ffb;"^ Otto Graham8.63 1,565 13,499
align=left style=background:#ffb;"^ Sid Luckman8.42 1,744 14,686
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 1,895 15,494
align=left style=background:#ffb;"^ Norm Van Brocklin8.16 2,895 23,611
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 2,089 16,756
align=left style=background:#ffb;"^ Steve Young7.98 4,149 33,124
align=left style=background:#ffb;"^ Kurt Warner7.95 4,070 32,344
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 3,590 28,424
4,335 34,183
1,987 15,600
Touchdown percentage
PlayerPercentageAttemptsTouchdowns
align=left style=background:#ffb;"^ Sid Luckman7.86 1,744 137
Frank Ryan6.99 2,133 149
align=left style=background:#ffb;"^ Len Dawson6.39 3,741 239
6.31 2,601 164
align=left style=background:#ffb;"^ Sammy Baugh6.24 2,995 187
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 7,661 475
Charlie Conerly6.11 2,833 173
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 3,590 219
align=left style=background:#ffb;"^ Bob Waterfield1,617 97
align=left style=background:#ffb;"^ Earl Morrall2,689 161
Interception percentage
PlayerPercentageAttemptsInterceptions
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 7,661 105
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 1,600 23
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 1,730 29
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 2,422 42
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 3,590 63
align=left 12,050 212
align=left Colin Kaepernick1,692 30
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 5,665 106
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 3,873 74
align=left style=background:#cfecec;" 5,506 107

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Official 2017 National Football League Record & Fact Book . September 9, 2017 . NFL . 311 . September 22, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170922053850/http://operations.nfl.com/media/2696/2017-record-and-fact-book.pdf . live .
  2. Web site: Minimum Requirements For Football Leaderboards . November 27, 2020 . pro-football-reference.com . February 14, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200214235559/https://www.pro-football-reference.com/about/minimums.htm . live .
  3. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/pass_rating_career.htm NFL Career Passing Rating Leaders
  4. Web site: NFL Passer Rating Career Playoffs Leaders . November 5, 2022 . Pro-Football-Reference.com . en . July 4, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190704005702/https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/pass_rating_career_playoffs.htm . live .

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