Final Results

Qualification: minimum 126 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 9 98.6 93.5 96.0 86.1 65.4 71.2 5.1 218 309 70.6 2495 8.1 12 9 2.9 125 40.5 55.5 25 85 4 5 48.0 1
2 Dan Fouts SDG 9 94.1 94.1 92.5 98.9 28.2 28.2 0.0 204 330 61.8 2883 8.7 17 11 3.3 142 43.0 51.8 9 8 1 1 33.3 2
3 Joe Montana SFO 9 87.8 81.8 77.1 95.7 67.9 81.8 6.0 213 346 61.6 2613 7.6 17 11 3.2 120 34.7 45.4 30 118 1 7 50.0 4
4 Danny White DAL 9 82.7 81.1 79.3 86.4 51.1 63.0 1.6 156 247 63.2 2079 8.4 16 12 4.9 95 38.5 47.1 17 91 0 6 35.3 10
5 Joe Theismann WAS 9 79.3 74.8 76.2 70.7 70.7 68.9 4.5 161 252 63.9 2033 8.1 13 9 3.6 86 34.1 45.4 31 150 0 5 41.9 4
6 Richard Todd NYJ 9 72.6 72.6 73.9 68.8 31.4 26.2 0.0 153 261 58.6 1961 7.5 14 8 3.1 86 33.0 46.5 13 -5 1 3 23.1 4
7 Jim Plunkett RAI 9 68.7 68.7 66.2 75.9 25.0 21.8 0.0 152 261 58.2 2035 7.8 14 15 5.7 93 35.6 46.1 15 6 0 2 13.3 4
8 Steve Bartkowski ATL 9 67.7 67.7 71.3 56.8 24.8 28.9 0.0 166 262 63.4 1905 7.3 8 11 4.2 87 33.2 48.9 13 4 1 2 15.4 7
9 Ron Jaworski PHI 9 66.3 66.3 61.9 79.6 16.8 21.1 0.0 167 286 58.4 2076 7.3 12 12 4.2 99 34.6 42.9 10 9 0 1 20.0 9
10 Doug Williams TAM 9 63.0 56.2 50.3 73.9 85.2 96.4 6.8 164 307 53.4 2071 6.7 9 11 3.6 105 34.2 42.8 35 158 2 17 57.1 9
11 Tommy Kramer MIN 9 59.0 56.0 47.3 82.1 65.2 70.9 3.0 176 308 57.1 2037 6.6 15 12 3.9 103 33.4 42.6 21 77 3 6 47.6 3
12 Terry Bradshaw PIT 9 59.0 59.0 56.4 66.8 14.2 19.1 0.0 127 240 52.9 1768 7.4 17 11 4.6 84 35.0 43.0 8 10 0 0 0.0 5
13 Vince Ferragamo RAM 7 56.6 56.6 60.0 46.4 27.1 22.9 0.0 118 209 56.5 1609 7.7 9 9 4.3 68 32.5 44.4 4 3 1 1 25.0 1
14 Lynn Dickey GNB 9 56.2 56.2 55.0 60.0 35.7 34.3 0.0 124 218 56.9 1790 8.2 12 14 6.4 84 38.5 41.6 13 19 0 4 38.5 5
15 Scott Brunner NYG 9 55.9 55.5 51.5 67.3 50.9 55.0 0.5 161 298 54.0 2017 6.8 10 9 3.0 96 32.2 42.2 19 27 1 6 36.8 5
16 Jim McMahon CHI 8 54.5 50.8 53.4 43.2 77.1 70.7 3.7 120 210 57.1 1501 7.1 9 7 3.3 72 34.3 39.7 24 105 1 5 37.5 1
17 Ken Stabler NOR 8 52.9 52.9 62.1 25.2 7.6 8.4 0.0 117 189 61.9 1343 7.1 6 10 5.3 65 34.4 46.5 3 -4 0 0 0.0 4
18 Steve DeBerg DEN 9 42.9 42.9 44.7 37.3 46.4 45.9 0.0 131 223 58.7 1405 6.3 7 11 4.9 74 33.2 43.5 8 27 1 4 50.0 4
19 Neil Lomax STL 9 40.9 37.2 41.0 25.9 80.2 85.7 3.7 109 205 53.2 1367 6.7 5 6 2.9 69 33.7 37.3 28 119 1 10 42.9 8
20 Bill Kenney KAN 7 37.1 36.5 41.2 22.3 59.6 45.7 0.6 95 169 56.2 1192 7.1 7 6 3.6 51 30.2 38.5 13 40 0 5 46.2 3
21 Joe Ferguson BUF 9 27.8 27.8 22.6 43.4 42.0 48.6 0.0 144 264 54.5 1597 6.0 7 16 6.1 80 30.3 41.5 16 46 1 2 37.5 5
22 Gary Danielson DET 8 27.6 27.0 23.8 36.4 58.8 55.7 0.6 100 197 50.8 1343 6.8 10 14 7.1 65 33.0 38.4 23 92 0 4 34.8 6
23 Jim Zorn SEA 9 27.2 25.6 21.0 39.5 66.2 77.3 1.6 126 245 51.4 1540 6.3 7 11 4.5 70 28.6 37.7 15 113 1 6 40.0 5
24 Brian Sipe CLE 6 22.5 22.4 27.4 7.5 51.3 40.5 0.0 101 185 54.6 1064 5.8 4 8 4.3 50 27.0 41.9 13 44 0 3 38.5 1
25 David Woodley MIA 9 20.5 17.9 19.6 13.0 97.5 97.1 2.5 98 179 54.7 1080 6.0 5 8 4.5 51 28.5 37.6 36 207 2 14 58.3 2
26 Mike Pagel BAL 9 20.5 19.2 19.7 17.7 72.7 70.4 1.2 111 221 50.2 1281 5.8 5 7 3.2 62 28.1 36.7 19 82 1 8 52.6 9
27 Paul McDonald CLE 9 19.0 19.0 23.3 5.9 15.4 8.6 0.0 73 149 49.0 993 6.7 5 8 5.4 45 30.2 39.5 7 -13 0 1 14.3 3
28 Gifford Nielsen HOU 9 18.6 18.6 21.2 10.7 39.1 30.0 0.0 87 161 54.0 1005 6.2 6 8 5.0 43 26.7 39.9 9 37 0 1 55.6 4
29 Archie Manning 2TM 7 12.6 12.0 13.8 6.4 76.6 55.5 0.6 67 132 50.8 880 6.7 6 8 6.1 39 29.5 31.1 13 85 0 5 69.2 5