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 13 100.0 93.5 99.2 76.2 78.1 81.5 8.3 271 386 70.2 3521 9.1 26 8 2.1 160 41.5 53.7 49 227 3 21 46.9 9
2 Warren Moon HOU 16 91.2 82.8 83.0 82.3 78.8 89.6 8.4 280 464 60.3 3631 7.8 23 14 3.0 176 37.9 48.5 70 268 4 25 47.1 11
3 Mark Rypien WAS 14 88.5 88.5 90.0 83.8 28.1 32.3 0.0 280 476 58.8 3768 7.9 22 13 2.7 182 38.2 50.6 26 56 1 5 34.6 14
4 Boomer Esiason CIN 16 82.4 78.0 76.3 83.1 66.7 71.2 4.4 258 455 56.7 3525 7.7 28 11 2.4 167 36.7 47.3 47 278 0 16 44.7 8
5 Jim Everett RAM 16 81.9 81.9 76.7 97.3 27.9 29.2 0.0 304 518 58.7 4310 8.3 29 17 3.3 194 37.5 47.3 25 31 1 4 28.0 4
6 Don Majkowski GNB 16 77.6 70.2 61.1 97.7 76.0 95.8 7.4 353 599 58.9 4318 7.2 27 20 3.3 204 34.1 45.8 75 358 5 22 48.0 15
7 Jim Kelly BUF 13 73.0 70.5 73.8 60.4 63.7 60.0 2.5 228 391 58.3 3130 8.0 25 18 4.6 147 37.6 48.7 29 137 2 11 44.8 6
8 Dan Marino MIA 16 66.7 66.7 59.3 88.8 20.6 21.7 0.0 308 550 56.0 3997 7.3 24 22 4.0 186 33.8 47.5 14 -7 2 3 21.4 7
9 Steve DeBerg KAN 12 62.9 62.9 74.7 27.3 12.5 6.7 0.0 196 324 60.5 2529 7.8 11 16 4.9 122 37.7 48.8 14 -8 0 1 7.1 4
10 Bobby Hebert NOR 14 60.2 60.2 67.8 37.5 44.2 32.9 0.0 222 353 62.9 2686 7.6 15 15 4.2 121 34.3 48.0 25 87 0 7 36.0 2
11 Bernie Kosar CLE 16 57.5 57.5 53.6 69.4 37.7 39.4 0.0 303 513 59.1 3533 6.9 18 14 2.7 157 30.6 43.7 30 70 1 8 33.3 2
12 Phil Simms NYG 15 56.4 55.7 60.5 41.3 48.1 58.7 0.7 228 405 56.3 3061 7.6 14 14 3.5 141 34.8 44.5 32 141 1 9 34.4 9
13 Ken O’Brien NYJ 15 55.8 55.8 56.8 52.7 10.1 8.3 0.0 288 477 60.4 3346 7.0 12 18 3.8 162 34.0 45.9 9 18 0 0 22.2 10
14 John Elway DEN 15 50.1 46.2 45.9 47.1 75.8 81.2 3.9 223 416 53.6 3051 7.3 18 18 4.3 145 34.9 42.1 48 244 3 18 45.8 9
15 Randall Cunningham PHI 16 48.3 42.9 34.3 68.7 86.7 98.5 5.4 290 532 54.5 3400 6.4 21 15 2.8 167 31.4 40.9 104 621 4 35 51.9 17
16 Dave Krieg SEA 15 45.0 44.4 38.0 63.7 45.0 59.8 0.6 286 499 57.3 3309 6.6 21 20 4.0 165 33.1 42.2 40 160 0 13 40.0 18
17 Chris Miller ATL 15 40.7 40.7 34.1 60.6 8.3 14.4 0.0 280 526 53.2 3459 6.6 16 10 1.9 153 29.1 39.7 10 20 0 1 10.0 13
18 Wade Wilson MIN 14 40.3 40.2 44.9 26.0 51.7 45.6 0.1 194 362 53.6 2543 7.0 9 12 3.3 125 34.5 41.4 32 132 1 7 34.4 5
19 Gary Hogeboom PHO 14 32.4 32.4 32.3 32.5 49.4 45.2 0.0 204 364 56.0 2591 7.1 14 19 5.2 115 31.6 39.9 27 89 1 8 44.4 5
20 Vinny Testaverde TAM 14 30.0 30.0 21.2 56.2 41.9 46.0 0.0 258 480 53.8 3133 6.5 20 22 4.6 152 31.7 39.6 25 139 0 8 44.0 4
21 Bubby Brister PIT 14 28.0 28.0 31.2 18.3 27.1 18.7 0.0 187 342 54.7 2365 6.9 9 10 2.9 102 29.8 37.7 27 25 0 3 22.2 4
22 Jim McMahon SDG 12 28.0 27.0 30.5 16.5 68.5 55.2 1.0 176 318 55.3 2132 6.7 10 10 3.1 97 30.5 37.9 29 141 0 12 55.2 3
23 Jack Trudeau IND 13 27.7 27.3 27.6 26.3 54.2 55.0 0.4 190 362 52.5 2317 6.4 15 13 3.6 103 28.5 43.7 35 91 2 10 34.3 10
24 Mike Tomczak CHI 16 23.8 23.6 23.9 22.5 54.8 41.3 0.2 156 306 51.0 2058 6.7 16 16 5.2 89 29.1 43.4 24 71 1 8 37.5 2
25 Steve Grogan NWE 7 20.5 20.5 25.5 5.6 19.7 10.2 0.0 133 261 51.0 1697 6.5 9 14 5.4 78 29.9 44.6 9 19 0 0 22.2 3
26 Bob Gagliano DET 11 17.2 15.6 20.9 0.0 89.2 76.3 1.6 117 232 50.4 1671 7.2 6 12 5.2 69 29.7 38.9 41 192 4 13 48.8 3
27 Troy Aikman DAL 11 7.8 7.1 6.7 8.3 85.2 75.4 0.7 155 293 52.9 1749 6.0 9 18 6.1 82 28.0 39.7 38 302 0 20 73.7 6