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 O’Brien NYJ 16 94.3 94.3 95.6 90.4 38.2 38.4 0.0 297 488 60.9 3888 8.0 25 8 1.6 199 40.8 47.5 25 58 0 5 36.0 14
2 Joe Montana SFO 15 90.6 81.9 80.9 84.8 83.4 88.0 8.7 303 494 61.3 3653 7.4 27 13 2.6 164 33.2 45.2 42 153 3 18 50.0 5
3 Dan Marino MIA 16 86.9 86.9 82.5 100.0 9.9 4.1 0.0 336 567 59.3 4137 7.3 30 21 3.7 214 37.7 50.9 26 -24 0 0 3.8 9
4 Dan Fouts SDG 14 85.9 85.9 86.1 85.5 5.6 9.5 0.0 254 430 59.1 3638 8.5 27 20 4.7 177 41.2 51.1 11 -1 0 0 0.0 13
5 Boomer Esiason CIN 15 84.9 84.7 87.9 74.8 51.8 49.5 0.2 251 431 58.2 3443 8.0 27 12 2.8 160 37.1 46.2 33 79 1 5 39.4 9
6 Phil Simms NYG 16 81.5 80.4 78.4 86.2 46.2 60.0 1.1 275 495 55.6 3829 7.7 22 20 4.0 193 39.0 45.9 37 132 0 7 27.0 16
7 Jim McMahon CHI 13 72.3 64.0 74.5 32.5 93.6 93.4 8.3 178 313 56.9 2392 7.6 15 11 3.5 103 32.9 44.5 47 252 3 18 46.8 4
8 Danny White DAL 14 67.4 67.4 68.6 63.9 36.8 39.6 0.0 267 450 59.3 3157 7.0 21 17 3.8 154 34.2 45.8 22 44 1 4 22.7 6
9 Bill Kenney KAN 16 61.9 61.9 67.7 44.6 19.3 22.5 0.0 181 338 53.6 2536 7.5 17 9 2.7 111 32.8 42.3 14 1 1 2 14.3 6
10 Neil Lomax STL 16 60.4 59.5 58.3 63.2 50.7 60.2 0.9 265 471 56.3 3214 6.8 18 12 2.5 156 33.1 41.7 32 125 0 8 37.5 10
11 Dieter Brock RAM 15 60.0 60.0 63.9 48.4 47.0 36.8 0.0 218 365 59.7 2658 7.3 16 13 3.6 120 32.9 41.8 20 38 0 7 45.0 6
12 Ron Jaworski PHI 16 58.7 58.7 56.1 66.4 37.1 41.8 0.0 255 484 52.7 3450 7.1 17 20 4.1 164 33.9 42.5 17 35 2 4 29.4 5
13 Tommy Kramer MIN 15 57.4 57.4 52.0 73.8 33.0 33.9 0.0 277 506 54.7 3522 7.0 19 26 5.1 169 33.4 42.6 27 54 0 4 25.9 9
14 Eric Hipple DET 16 56.0 54.2 53.6 56.1 57.0 66.2 1.8 223 406 54.9 2952 7.3 17 18 4.4 137 33.7 40.7 32 89 2 8 37.5 13
15 John Elway DEN 16 55.7 51.1 38.4 89.1 79.8 81.2 4.7 327 605 54.0 3891 6.4 22 23 3.8 190 31.4 41.2 51 253 0 20 52.9 7
16 Dave Krieg SEA 16 49.9 48.4 37.1 82.3 54.8 67.5 1.6 285 532 53.6 3602 6.8 27 20 3.8 167 31.4 39.4 35 121 1 9 45.7 11
17 Steve DeBerg TAM 11 46.0 46.0 45.1 48.7 26.6 20.4 0.0 197 370 53.2 2488 6.7 19 18 4.9 118 31.9 42.9 9 28 0 2 33.3 3
18 Lynn Dickey GNB 12 42.1 42.1 45.0 33.2 24.1 21.2 0.0 172 314 54.8 2206 7.0 15 17 5.4 113 36.0 41.3 18 -12 1 3 16.7 8
19 Tony Eason NWE 16 40.7 40.7 46.4 23.4 49.1 41.8 0.0 168 299 56.2 2156 7.2 11 17 5.7 96 32.1 42.2 22 70 1 3 22.7 4
20 Mark Malone PIT 10 38.3 36.5 45.6 8.9 77.3 55.0 1.8 117 233 50.2 1428 6.1 13 7 3.0 78 33.5 42.0 15 80 1 7 60.0 3
21 Warren Moon HOU 14 37.5 35.7 32.3 45.7 68.8 65.7 1.9 200 377 53.1 2709 7.2 15 19 5.0 113 30.0 38.8 39 130 0 12 46.2 12
22 Marc Wilson RAI 16 33.4 32.3 27.2 47.3 60.2 64.3 1.2 193 388 49.7 2608 6.7 16 21 5.4 126 32.5 39.8 24 98 2 7 41.7 8
23 Mike Pagel IND 16 29.8 27.3 25.4 32.9 78.4 83.2 2.5 199 393 50.6 2414 6.1 14 15 3.8 110 28.0 39.7 25 160 2 10 64.0 6
24 Bernie Kosar CLE 12 21.4 21.4 26.4 6.2 12.5 15.9 0.0 124 248 50.0 1578 6.4 8 7 2.8 73 29.4 37.1 26 -12 1 1 7.7 14
25 Bruce Mathison BUF 10 21.3 19.4 24.6 3.6 84.1 81.4 1.9 113 228 49.6 1635 7.2 4 14 6.1 71 31.1 39.2 27 231 1 13 55.6 8
26 Joe Theismann WAS 11 20.3 19.1 20.4 15.2 77.3 66.1 1.3 167 301 55.5 1774 5.9 8 16 5.3 89 29.6 39.3 25 115 2 7 40.0 4
27 David Archer ATL 16 16.6 14.7 14.1 16.4 90.9 96.2 1.9 161 312 51.6 1992 6.4 7 17 5.4 88 28.2 37.5 70 347 2 20 41.4 9
28 Dave Wilson NOR 10 11.5 11.5 9.5 17.7 27.3 20.0 0.0 145 293 49.5 1843 6.3 11 15 5.1 81 27.6 33.4 18 7 0 3 16.7 6
29 Vince Ferragamo BUF 10 7.0 7.0 6.4 8.6 29.1 26.1 0.0 149 287 51.9 1677 5.8 5 17 5.9 79 27.5 38.2 8 15 1 2 25.0 1