Final Results

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

How QER is calculated

QER starts with the Pass Score, then adds a gated bonus for above-average rushing efficiency and production. The bonus is worth up to 15 points and is scaled by passing quality, so running complements passing rather than replacing it. A quarterback is never penalized for not running, and the final rating is capped at 100. 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 Efficiency

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.

Rush Production

Season-long rushing production is measured separately from efficiency:

  • Rushing yards (50% of Rush Production): Total rushing yardage.
  • Rushing first downs (30%): Total first downs gained on the ground.
  • Rushing touchdowns (20%): Total rushing touchdowns.

Rush Bonus

Only Rush Score and Rush Production percentiles above 50 receive credit. Each above-average score is rescaled from 0 to 1. The efficiency portion is worth up to eight points and the production portion up to seven points. Their combined value is multiplied by the Passing Gate (Pass Score / 100).

Rush Bonus = Passing Gate × (8 × Rush Efficiency Index + 7 × Rush Production Index)

This allows an elite passer and runner to earn as many as 15 bonus points, while a weak passer receives only a small portion of the same rushing value. Below-average or nonexistent rushing earns no bonus and never lowers QER.

Rank Player Team G QER Pass Score Pass Efficiency Production Rush Score Rush Production 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 Ken Anderson CIN 16 100.0 93.4 94.9 88.9 85.7 89.1 10.5 300 479 62.6 3754 7.8 29 10 2.1 182 38.0 49.6 46 320 1 18 58.7 5
2 Dan Fouts SDG 16 92.4 92.4 89.9 100.0 30.7 32.0 0.0 360 609 59.1 4802 7.9 33 17 2.8 221 36.3 49.0 22 56 0 4 40.9 9
3 Joe Montana SFO 16 80.6 80.3 83.4 71.1 50.0 52.2 0.2 311 488 63.7 3565 7.3 19 12 2.5 173 35.5 45.9 25 95 2 7 36.0 2
4 Craig Morton DEN 15 79.6 79.6 85.5 62.0 21.6 16.9 0.0 225 376 59.8 3195 8.5 21 14 3.7 145 38.6 44.0 8 18 0 0 12.5 2
5 Danny White DAL 16 75.7 74.5 78.8 61.7 56.5 54.1 1.2 223 391 57.0 3098 7.9 22 13 3.3 144 36.8 43.7 38 104 0 15 44.7 14
6 Terry Bradshaw PIT 14 75.2 69.7 74.5 55.0 76.5 76.7 5.6 201 370 54.3 2887 7.8 22 14 3.8 126 34.1 46.0 38 162 2 12 52.6 7
7 Doug Williams TAM 16 72.2 65.3 65.4 65.2 80.6 90.6 6.9 238 471 50.5 3563 7.6 19 14 3.0 158 33.5 43.4 48 209 4 18 47.9 9
8 Joe Theismann WAS 16 66.8 61.9 58.9 71.1 69.4 83.7 4.9 293 496 59.1 3568 7.2 19 20 4.0 167 33.7 43.1 36 177 2 17 52.8 7
9 Bert Jones BAL 15 65.0 65.0 67.5 57.6 36.1 31.7 0.0 244 426 57.3 3094 7.3 21 20 4.7 146 34.3 46.2 20 85 0 3 30.0 3
10 Jim Zorn SEA 13 60.7 59.3 65.9 39.3 56.7 59.6 1.4 236 397 59.4 2788 7.0 13 9 2.3 125 31.5 43.9 30 140 1 7 30.0 2
11 Brian Sipe CLE 16 57.2 55.4 48.1 77.6 52.2 70.0 1.7 313 567 55.2 3876 6.8 17 25 4.4 173 30.5 44.4 38 153 1 10 42.1 10
12 Richard Todd NYJ 16 56.8 56.1 50.2 73.7 54.6 54.6 0.8 279 497 56.1 3231 6.5 25 13 2.6 166 33.4 42.9 32 131 0 9 53.1 5
13 Joe Ferguson BUF 16 56.1 56.1 48.4 79.3 37.2 37.0 0.0 252 498 50.6 3652 7.3 24 20 4.0 163 32.7 41.5 20 29 1 5 25.0 2
14 Lynn Dickey GNB 13 55.5 55.5 59.5 43.5 10.8 13.1 0.0 204 354 57.6 2593 7.3 17 15 4.2 126 35.6 42.6 19 6 0 0 0.0 8
15 Tommy Kramer MIN 14 54.9 54.9 41.9 94.1 15.1 15.0 0.0 322 593 54.3 3912 6.6 26 24 4.0 189 31.9 43.1 10 13 0 0 0.0 8
16 Steve Bartkowski ATL 16 54.5 54.5 42.8 89.6 17.9 10.4 0.0 297 533 55.7 3829 7.2 30 23 4.3 169 31.7 41.4 11 2 0 0 18.2 4
17 Eric Hipple DET 16 46.3 41.8 44.7 33.0 87.0 85.2 4.5 140 279 50.2 2358 8.5 14 15 5.4 98 35.1 37.9 41 168 7 16 51.2 14
18 Ron Jaworski PHI 16 42.0 41.5 34.3 63.3 54.1 52.8 0.4 250 461 54.2 3095 6.7 23 20 4.3 146 31.7 41.5 22 128 0 9 50.0 3
19 Bill Kenney KAN 13 39.4 38.2 46.3 13.9 69.3 50.6 1.2 147 274 53.6 1983 7.2 9 16 5.8 93 33.9 43.2 24 89 1 9 54.2 4
20 David Woodley MIA 15 36.7 32.5 32.6 32.2 90.6 96.5 4.2 191 366 52.2 2470 6.7 12 13 3.6 111 30.3 38.7 63 272 4 20 46.0 9
21 Jim Hart STL 10 35.4 35.4 43.5 11.1 16.9 10.4 0.0 134 241 55.6 1694 7.0 11 14 5.8 80 33.2 43.2 3 2 0 0 33.3 4
22 Phil Simms NYG 10 28.2 28.2 30.6 21.1 33.9 30.2 0.0 172 316 54.4 2031 6.4 11 9 2.8 94 29.7 37.6 19 42 0 4 26.3 7
23 Marc Wilson OAK 13 24.2 23.0 20.2 31.5 65.7 69.1 1.2 173 366 47.3 2311 6.3 14 19 5.2 120 32.8 39.1 30 147 2 9 50.0 8
24 Pat Haden RAM 13 23.5 23.4 27.5 11.3 51.1 39.1 0.0 138 267 51.7 1815 6.8 9 13 4.9 82 30.7 40.3 18 104 0 3 44.4 5
25 Ken Stabler HOU 13 23.5 23.5 23.9 22.2 6.9 7.6 0.0 165 285 57.9 1988 7.0 14 18 6.3 80 28.1 37.3 10 -3 0 0 0.0 7
26 Vince Evans CHI 16 13.8 12.5 7.6 27.0 80.2 93.5 1.4 195 436 44.7 2354 5.4 11 20 4.6 114 26.1 33.3 43 218 3 20 53.5 13
27 Neil Lomax STL 14 13.5 13.1 16.9 1.9 62.0 55.9 0.4 119 236 50.4 1575 6.7 4 10 4.2 61 25.8 32.5 19 104 2 7 36.8 6
28 Archie Manning NOR 12 12.8 12.8 16.5 1.9 30.6 22.6 0.0 134 232 57.8 1447 6.2 5 11 4.7 63 27.2 36.8 2 28 0 2 100.0 3