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 99.6 92.9 95.7 84.3 74.4 74.1 6.8 279 432 64.6 3630 8.4 28 10 2.3 184 42.6 50.2 39 118 2 14 46.2 4
2 Dan Marino MIA 16 96.2 96.2 95.0 100.0 21.5 16.1 0.0 362 564 64.2 5084 9.0 48 17 3.0 239 42.4 54.9 28 -7 0 2 10.7 6
3 Neil Lomax STL 16 91.0 84.9 81.7 94.6 65.4 84.1 6.1 345 560 61.6 4614 8.2 28 16 2.9 200 35.7 47.3 35 184 3 14 45.7 11
4 Tony Eason NWE 16 81.6 75.2 77.3 68.9 74.4 82.6 6.4 259 431 60.1 3228 7.5 23 8 1.9 166 38.5 45.7 40 154 5 14 42.5 7
5 Dan Fouts SDG 13 77.3 77.3 75.7 82.0 9.6 5.2 0.0 317 507 62.5 3740 7.4 19 17 3.4 189 37.3 51.1 12 -29 0 0 0.0 8
6 Joe Theismann WAS 16 75.4 67.5 65.7 73.0 85.9 91.5 7.8 283 477 59.3 3391 7.1 24 13 2.7 163 34.2 47.4 62 314 1 18 43.5 7
7 Steve DeBerg TAM 16 68.4 68.3 65.4 77.2 34.8 50.7 0.1 308 509 60.5 3554 7.0 19 18 3.5 194 38.1 47.8 28 59 2 5 25.0 15
8 Phil Simms NYG 16 66.3 64.4 56.9 87.0 56.5 63.5 1.9 286 533 53.7 4044 7.6 22 18 3.4 197 37.0 42.3 42 162 0 11 45.2 8
9 Gary Danielson DET 15 63.5 56.7 56.8 56.7 86.9 93.0 6.8 252 410 61.5 3076 7.5 17 15 3.7 139 33.9 44.3 41 218 3 17 53.7 7
10 Warren Moon HOU 16 63.4 59.0 60.6 54.3 71.3 78.7 4.4 259 450 57.6 3338 7.4 12 14 3.1 153 34.0 45.3 58 211 1 13 39.7 17
11 Dave Krieg SEA 16 63.2 58.9 49.8 86.3 68.3 80.9 4.3 276 480 57.5 3671 7.6 32 24 5.0 168 35.0 43.3 46 186 3 11 32.6 11
12 Lynn Dickey GNB 15 62.5 62.5 61.0 67.0 43.9 38.5 0.0 237 401 59.1 3195 8.0 25 19 4.7 143 35.7 44.8 18 6 3 5 38.9 3
13 Ken Anderson CIN 11 61.4 61.3 73.9 23.7 50.6 39.3 0.1 175 275 63.6 2107 7.7 10 12 4.4 104 37.8 49.5 11 64 0 4 63.6 1
14 Steve Bartkowski ATL 11 60.5 60.5 71.6 27.4 34.3 30.7 0.0 181 269 67.3 2158 8.0 11 10 3.7 92 34.2 46.3 15 34 0 3 26.7 7
15 Mark Malone PIT 13 48.8 46.8 49.6 38.3 72.4 55.2 2.0 147 272 54.0 2137 7.9 16 17 6.3 104 38.2 42.4 25 42 3 10 44.0 4
16 Paul McDonald CLE 16 43.0 43.0 35.9 64.3 17.4 22.0 0.0 271 493 55.0 3472 7.0 14 23 4.7 176 35.7 40.8 22 4 1 1 18.2 16
17 Bill Kenney KAN 9 41.9 41.9 46.5 28.3 7.2 7.0 0.0 151 282 53.5 2098 7.4 15 10 3.5 92 32.6 43.3 9 -8 0 0 0.0 8
18 John Elway DEN 15 41.0 37.0 31.9 52.6 84.1 87.4 4.0 214 380 56.3 2598 6.8 18 15 3.9 125 32.9 40.8 56 237 1 16 41.1 14
19 Marc Wilson RAI 16 37.6 37.6 38.5 35.0 33.7 36.9 0.0 153 282 54.3 2151 7.6 15 17 6.0 93 33.0 42.0 30 56 1 1 20.0 11
20 Ron Jaworski PHI 13 34.4 34.4 28.4 52.4 30.0 30.9 0.0 234 427 54.8 2754 6.4 16 14 3.3 127 29.7 39.0 5 18 1 2 40.0 5
21 Pat Ryan NYJ 16 34.3 33.7 36.7 24.6 61.7 46.1 0.6 156 285 54.7 1939 6.8 14 14 4.9 104 36.5 42.5 23 92 0 6 47.8 4
22 Jeff Kemp RAM 14 32.2 29.6 32.4 21.1 88.1 69.4 2.6 143 284 50.4 2021 7.1 13 7 2.5 82 28.9 38.0 34 153 1 13 52.9 8
23 Gary Hogeboom DAL 16 25.5 25.5 23.2 32.2 15.0 18.1 0.0 195 367 53.1 2366 6.4 7 14 3.8 120 32.7 39.2 15 19 0 0 0.0 8
24 Danny White DAL 14 22.8 22.8 28.3 6.3 33.0 23.9 0.0 126 233 54.1 1580 6.8 11 11 4.7 81 34.8 40.4 6 21 0 1 50.0 2
25 Tommy Kramer MIN 9 20.5 20.5 25.9 4.1 18.9 18.3 0.0 124 236 52.5 1678 7.1 9 10 4.2 76 32.2 38.8 15 9 0 1 13.3 10
26 Richard Todd NOR 15 16.4 16.2 11.1 31.5 55.7 53.3 0.2 161 312 51.6 2178 7.0 11 19 6.1 94 30.1 36.8 28 111 0 8 32.1 9
27 Todd Blackledge KAN 11 12.8 12.4 14.7 5.6 60.6 56.3 0.3 147 294 50.0 1707 5.8 6 11 3.7 82 27.9 38.3 18 102 1 6 44.4 8
28 Joe Ferguson BUF 12 12.6 12.6 9.7 21.3 44.4 46.1 0.0 191 344 55.5 1991 5.8 12 17 4.9 94 27.3 37.5 19 102 0 5 42.1 8