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 Steve Young SFO 16 100.0 90.5 87.9 98.3 94.5 97.2 12.4 314 462 68.0 4023 8.7 29 16 3.5 188 40.7 54.6 69 407 2 28 55.1 8
2 Troy Aikman DAL 14 91.1 89.7 96.6 69.3 55.5 54.1 1.3 271 392 69.1 3100 7.9 15 6 1.5 152 38.8 51.0 32 125 0 6 40.6 7
3 Boomer Esiason NYJ 16 83.3 78.9 77.1 84.5 65.2 72.4 4.4 288 473 60.9 3421 7.2 16 11 2.3 170 35.9 48.3 45 118 1 15 44.4 13
4 John Elway DEN 16 79.2 77.3 70.3 98.3 52.9 63.8 1.9 348 551 63.2 4030 7.3 25 10 1.8 184 33.4 45.3 44 153 0 11 34.1 8
5 Jim Kelly BUF 16 74.4 74.4 71.2 84.1 43.3 49.0 0.0 288 470 61.3 3382 7.2 18 18 3.8 169 36.0 48.7 36 102 0 6 36.1 7
6 Phil Simms NYG 16 73.5 73.5 76.6 64.5 29.3 26.6 0.0 247 400 61.8 3038 7.6 15 9 2.3 147 36.8 45.3 28 31 0 6 25.0 7
7 Jeff Hostetler RAI 15 72.5 65.3 64.5 67.8 86.9 86.6 7.2 236 419 56.3 3242 7.7 14 10 2.4 142 33.9 44.9 55 202 5 19 50.9 6
8 Warren Moon HOU 15 69.3 66.4 57.8 92.1 57.9 72.2 2.9 303 520 58.3 3485 6.7 21 21 4.0 178 34.2 48.2 48 145 1 12 35.4 13
9 Steve Beuerlein PHO 16 69.3 69.3 67.6 74.5 17.9 27.4 0.0 258 418 61.7 3164 7.6 18 17 4.1 149 35.6 48.1 22 45 0 4 22.7 8
10 Joe Montana KAN 11 65.1 65.1 72.9 41.7 42.4 28.3 0.0 181 298 60.7 2144 7.2 13 7 2.3 110 36.9 47.4 25 64 0 3 28.0 1
11 Bobby Hebert ATL 14 59.9 59.9 56.4 70.3 23.3 32.8 0.0 263 430 61.2 2978 6.9 24 17 4.0 146 34.0 47.3 24 49 0 5 29.2 11
12 Neil O’Donnell PIT 16 59.0 59.0 55.3 70.2 33.1 42.9 0.0 270 486 55.6 3208 6.6 14 7 1.4 165 34.0 42.1 26 111 0 4 30.8 5
13 Scott Mitchell MIA 13 58.7 57.1 68.4 22.9 67.6 43.8 1.6 133 233 57.1 1773 7.6 12 8 3.4 83 35.6 47.9 21 89 0 6 42.9 3
14 Brett Favre GNB 16 54.7 51.2 40.4 83.4 66.2 80.7 3.5 318 522 60.9 3303 6.3 19 24 4.6 165 31.6 43.8 58 216 1 13 37.9 14
15 Vinny Testaverde CLE 10 51.0 50.3 56.9 30.5 58.1 36.2 0.7 130 230 56.5 1797 7.8 14 9 3.9 85 37.0 41.7 18 74 0 5 38.9 4
16 Steve DeBerg 2TM 8 50.3 50.3 62.6 13.3 13.1 6.9 0.0 136 227 59.9 1707 7.5 7 10 4.4 80 35.2 48.2 4 -4 0 0 0.0 1
17 Jeff George IND 13 48.7 48.7 50.9 42.2 17.1 19.1 0.0 234 407 57.5 2526 6.2 8 6 1.5 126 31.0 43.0 13 39 0 1 15.4 4
18 Bubby Brister PHI 10 44.0 44.0 47.4 33.6 47.8 36.2 0.0 181 309 58.6 1905 6.2 14 5 1.6 97 31.4 41.8 20 39 0 7 35.0 3
19 Wade Wilson NOR 14 42.9 40.4 39.7 42.2 69.8 72.2 2.5 221 388 57.0 2457 6.3 12 15 3.9 125 32.2 42.8 31 230 0 12 54.8 9
20 Jim McMahon MIN 12 42.3 42.1 45.4 32.1 53.4 42.2 0.2 200 331 60.4 1968 5.9 9 8 2.4 111 33.5 42.9 33 96 0 5 30.3 4
21 Jim Harbaugh CHI 15 35.9 32.2 32.9 29.8 86.0 92.6 3.8 200 325 61.5 2002 6.2 7 11 3.4 98 30.2 38.3 60 277 4 20 45.0 15
22 Stan Humphries SDG 12 34.1 34.1 33.8 35.0 23.6 16.4 0.0 173 324 53.4 1981 6.1 12 10 3.1 102 31.5 41.2 8 37 0 2 50.0 2
23 Rick Mirer SEA 16 33.2 29.8 22.8 50.5 83.8 95.0 3.5 274 486 56.4 2833 5.8 12 17 3.5 142 29.2 40.0 68 343 3 20 48.5 13
24 Craig Erickson TAM 16 29.6 29.6 17.2 66.9 39.8 50.0 0.0 233 457 51.0 3054 6.7 18 21 4.6 128 28.0 37.0 26 96 0 7 38.5 9
25 Rodney Peete DET 10 29.1 27.1 33.5 7.9 75.9 73.1 2.0 157 252 62.3 1670 6.6 6 14 5.6 79 31.3 40.6 45 165 1 10 40.0 11
26 Drew Bledsoe NWE 13 28.4 28.4 19.6 54.8 35.2 42.1 0.0 214 429 49.9 2494 5.8 15 15 3.5 130 30.3 39.3 32 82 0 6 28.1 8
27 John Friesz SDG 12 23.5 23.5 30.6 2.1 35.5 15.3 0.0 128 238 53.8 1402 5.9 6 4 1.7 69 29.0 39.7 10 3 0 4 40.0 2
28 David Klingler CIN 14 19.8 18.2 17.4 20.7 78.4 78.3 1.6 190 343 55.4 1935 5.6 6 9 2.6 86 25.1 37.1 41 282 0 14 51.2 7
29 Mark Rypien WAS 12 12.9 12.9 16.0 3.4 25.7 28.4 0.0 166 319 52.0 1514 4.7 4 10 3.1 80 25.1 37.3 9 4 3 4 44.4 7
30 Jim Everett RAM 10 10.9 10.9 10.2 12.9 20.7 18.1 0.0 135 274 49.3 1652 6.0 8 12 4.4 82 29.9 36.6 19 38 0 2 21.1 7