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 Joe Montana SFO 16 97.6 87.7 87.2 89.3 87.0 87.8 9.8 332 515 64.5 3910 7.6 26 12 2.3 199 38.6 51.3 61 284 2 26 65.6 3
2 Joe Theismann WAS 16 89.8 83.4 81.9 88.0 74.7 77.0 6.5 276 459 60.1 3714 8.1 29 11 2.4 174 37.9 45.6 37 234 1 15 48.6 1
3 Dan Fouts SDG 10 82.1 82.1 89.4 60.2 18.0 17.0 0.0 215 340 63.2 2975 8.8 20 15 4.4 145 42.6 54.2 12 -5 1 2 16.7 5
4 Danny White DAL 16 80.0 80.0 75.6 93.1 32.8 46.5 0.0 334 533 62.7 3980 7.5 29 23 4.3 195 36.6 47.9 18 31 4 6 33.3 10
5 Lynn Dickey GNB 16 78.2 78.2 70.9 100.0 30.7 33.9 0.0 289 484 59.7 4458 9.2 32 29 6.0 200 41.3 47.7 21 12 3 5 28.6 9
6 Ken Anderson CIN 13 74.5 69.9 84.4 26.3 74.4 68.9 4.6 198 297 66.7 2333 7.9 12 13 4.4 118 39.7 52.2 22 147 1 10 63.6 4
7 Steve Bartkowski ATL 14 71.5 71.5 72.2 69.4 23.0 27.0 0.0 274 432 63.4 3167 7.3 22 5 1.2 162 37.5 44.5 16 38 1 1 18.8 7
8 Jim Plunkett RAI 14 67.8 67.8 72.2 54.6 46.3 40.2 0.0 230 379 60.7 2935 7.7 20 18 4.7 133 35.1 48.2 26 78 0 5 34.6 7
9 Dan Marino MIA 11 63.4 63.4 74.2 30.9 50.2 41.7 0.0 173 296 58.4 2210 7.5 20 6 2.0 105 35.5 47.1 28 45 2 5 21.4 5
10 Dave Krieg SEA 9 63.1 62.8 76.8 21.1 53.0 39.6 0.3 147 243 60.5 2139 8.8 18 11 4.5 98 40.3 45.2 16 55 2 4 50.0 10
11 Bill Kenney KAN 16 62.1 61.8 52.8 88.7 38.1 53.9 0.3 346 603 57.4 4348 7.2 24 18 3.0 191 31.7 43.5 23 59 3 6 34.8 7
12 Brian Sipe CLE 15 58.6 58.6 50.6 82.6 34.3 30.7 0.0 291 496 58.7 3566 7.2 26 23 4.6 167 33.7 43.8 26 56 0 4 34.6 6
13 Steve Grogan NWE 12 57.9 55.2 63.0 31.9 69.6 62.6 2.7 168 303 55.4 2411 8.0 15 12 4.0 110 36.3 43.4 23 108 2 8 47.8 4
14 Neil Lomax STL 13 56.8 54.2 55.0 51.7 62.9 70.0 2.6 209 354 59.0 2636 7.4 24 11 3.1 113 31.9 42.3 27 127 2 12 48.1 9
15 Vince Ferragamo RAM 16 51.2 51.2 45.6 68.3 34.3 26.7 0.0 274 464 59.1 3276 7.1 22 23 5.0 144 31.0 44.9 22 17 0 7 40.9 8
16 Richard Todd NYJ 16 48.7 47.7 41.3 67.0 57.0 56.7 1.0 308 518 59.5 3478 6.7 18 26 5.0 160 30.9 44.5 35 101 0 14 45.7 5
17 Ron Jaworski PHI 16 47.5 46.7 40.2 66.1 50.0 63.5 0.9 235 446 52.7 3315 7.4 20 18 4.0 142 31.8 37.7 25 129 1 9 40.0 11
18 Jim McMahon CHI 14 43.1 38.5 45.7 16.7 91.7 87.4 4.6 175 295 59.3 2184 7.4 12 13 4.4 90 30.5 41.8 55 307 2 19 52.7 4
19 Jack Thompson TAM 14 38.8 38.8 35.0 50.0 21.5 19.6 0.0 249 423 58.9 2906 6.9 18 21 5.0 134 31.7 41.8 26 27 0 4 19.2 10
20 Joe Ferguson BUF 16 35.6 35.6 23.7 71.1 40.6 42.0 0.0 281 508 55.3 2995 5.9 26 25 4.9 152 29.9 42.4 20 88 0 5 45.0 3
21 Eric Hipple DET 16 33.2 30.6 28.7 36.3 73.0 84.1 2.6 204 387 52.7 2577 6.7 12 18 4.7 121 31.3 39.9 41 171 3 16 46.3 12
22 Steve Dils MIN 16 29.8 29.8 26.7 39.3 16.9 19.3 0.0 239 444 53.8 2840 6.4 11 16 3.6 134 30.2 38.9 16 28 0 3 25.0 13
23 Cliff Stoudt PIT 16 29.4 25.9 22.8 35.2 91.3 99.6 3.5 197 381 51.7 2553 6.7 12 21 5.5 130 34.1 38.7 77 479 4 36 62.3 10
24 Ken Stabler NOR 14 24.9 24.9 29.8 10.2 10.1 5.2 0.0 176 311 56.6 1988 6.4 9 18 5.8 102 32.8 43.5 9 -14 0 0 0.0 4
25 Mike Pagel BAL 15 23.2 21.1 20.2 23.7 86.3 79.6 2.1 163 328 49.7 2353 7.2 12 17 5.2 99 30.2 37.0 54 441 0 20 53.7 4
26 Scott Brunner NYG 16 15.4 15.4 12.3 24.6 50.0 46.1 0.0 190 386 49.2 2516 6.5 9 22 5.7 107 27.7 39.1 26 64 0 9 46.2 8
27 Ed Luther SDG 16 12.7 12.7 15.8 3.1 5.5 5.2 0.0 151 287 52.6 1875 6.5 7 17 5.9 86 30.0 40.3 9 -14 0 0 0.0 6
28 John Elway DEN 11 5.0 4.7 6.1 0.6 77.0 68.1 0.3 123 259 47.5 1663 6.4 7 14 5.4 74 28.6 35.5 28 146 1 11 46.4 6