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 Peyton Manning IND 16 95.8 95.8 95.0 98.4 40.0 46.5 0.0 362 557 65.0 4397 7.9 31 9 1.6 242 43.4 56.6 23 36 4 7 30.4 2
2 Drew Brees NOR 16 90.9 90.9 89.2 96.1 23.1 23.2 0.0 356 554 64.3 4418 8.0 26 11 2.0 202 36.5 50.0 42 32 0 5 11.9 8
3 Carson Palmer CIN 16 85.4 85.4 83.9 90.0 26.8 31.5 0.0 324 520 62.3 4035 7.8 28 13 2.5 200 38.5 48.2 26 37 0 6 34.6 15
4 Marc Bulger STL 16 83.4 83.4 80.5 92.3 26.5 29.7 0.0 370 588 62.9 4301 7.3 24 8 1.4 210 35.7 46.2 18 44 0 5 27.8 6
5 Tony Romo DAL 16 77.7 76.5 82.4 58.9 59.2 47.7 1.1 220 337 65.3 2903 8.6 19 13 3.9 144 42.7 53.1 34 102 0 9 38.2 9
6 Philip Rivers SDG 16 77.2 77.2 77.9 75.2 44.2 39.4 0.0 284 460 61.7 3388 7.4 22 9 2.0 167 36.3 46.8 48 49 0 8 25.0 8
7 Donovan McNabb PHI 10 74.8 67.2 76.0 40.8 89.4 86.1 7.6 180 316 57.0 2647 8.4 18 6 1.9 112 35.4 44.8 32 212 3 15 59.4 3
8 Tom Brady NWE 16 73.1 72.8 69.8 81.9 50.0 53.1 0.3 319 516 61.8 3529 6.8 24 12 2.3 176 34.1 47.4 49 102 0 13 32.7 12
9 Jon Kitna DET 16 70.0 68.0 62.0 86.1 48.2 70.5 2.0 372 596 62.4 4208 7.1 21 22 3.7 209 35.1 46.0 34 156 2 9 38.2 11
10 Chad Pennington NYJ 16 67.9 66.8 67.8 63.7 56.9 53.5 1.1 313 485 64.5 3352 6.9 17 16 3.3 163 33.6 47.4 35 109 0 12 42.9 7
11 Steve McNair BAL 16 63.2 59.7 61.6 54.0 67.1 71.8 3.5 295 468 63.0 3050 6.5 16 12 2.6 159 34.0 45.2 45 119 1 16 37.8 7
12 Ben Roethlisberger PIT 15 61.5 60.2 56.3 71.8 56.9 58.4 1.4 280 469 59.7 3513 7.5 18 23 4.9 178 38.0 44.5 32 98 2 11 34.4 5
13 Damon Huard KAN 10 60.0 60.0 74.4 16.9 4.5 6.8 0.0 148 244 60.7 1878 7.7 11 1 0.4 104 42.6 43.8 9 9 0 0 11.1 9
14 J.P. Losman BUF 16 56.2 53.2 50.9 60.2 66.6 71.0 3.0 268 429 62.5 3051 7.1 19 14 3.3 134 31.2 42.9 38 140 1 14 47.4 13
15 David Carr HOU 16 53.1 49.1 51.9 40.8 72.4 83.4 4.1 302 442 68.3 2767 6.3 11 12 2.7 142 32.1 44.3 53 195 2 16 45.3 16
16 Mark Brunell WAS 10 49.2 49.2 63.5 6.5 35.6 21.9 0.0 162 260 62.3 1789 6.9 8 4 1.5 80 30.8 44.5 13 34 0 4 30.8 5
17 Jake Delhomme CAR 13 47.0 47.0 47.1 46.6 12.6 9.8 0.0 263 431 61.0 2805 6.5 17 11 2.6 129 29.9 44.2 18 12 0 2 11.1 6
18 Eli Manning NYG 16 46.5 46.5 37.4 73.5 22.9 16.8 0.0 301 522 57.7 3244 6.2 24 18 3.4 162 31.0 44.4 25 21 0 5 24.0 9
19 David Garrard JAX 11 44.6 40.6 51.0 9.5 84.5 80.0 3.9 145 241 60.2 1735 7.2 10 9 3.7 83 34.4 43.7 47 250 0 20 53.2 4
20 Matt Leinart ARI 12 43.4 43.4 47.2 32.1 44.5 46.1 0.0 214 377 56.8 2547 6.8 11 12 3.2 125 33.2 43.2 22 49 2 6 31.8 8
21 Brett Favre GNB 16 43.0 43.0 32.2 75.6 21.1 24.2 0.0 343 613 56.0 3885 6.3 18 18 2.9 183 29.9 42.3 23 29 1 4 21.7 8
22 Matt Hasselbeck SEA 12 37.3 36.9 36.6 37.6 56.8 49.8 0.4 210 371 56.6 2442 6.6 18 15 4.0 128 34.5 42.2 18 110 0 8 55.6 3
23 Rex Grossman CHI 16 37.0 37.0 26.5 68.7 14.5 9.0 0.0 262 480 54.6 3193 6.7 23 20 4.2 151 31.5 40.3 24 2 0 4 16.7 8
24 Michael Vick ATL 16 34.0 30.1 25.5 43.9 92.3 95.8 4.0 204 388 52.6 2474 6.4 20 13 3.4 122 31.4 37.9 123 1039 2 56 63.4 9
25 Alex Smith SFO 16 33.6 31.7 26.6 46.9 67.1 74.2 1.9 257 442 58.1 2890 6.5 16 16 3.6 132 29.9 39.4 44 147 2 13 38.6 10
26 Brad Johnson MIN 15 31.0 31.0 30.1 33.7 46.1 45.0 0.0 270 439 61.5 2750 6.3 9 15 3.4 135 30.8 40.6 29 82 1 6 44.8 9
27 Charlie Frye CLE 13 24.8 22.3 21.6 24.4 83.2 90.6 2.5 252 393 64.1 2454 6.2 10 17 4.3 115 29.3 41.0 47 215 3 17 55.3 8
28 Jake Plummer DEN 16 23.4 22.3 23.8 17.9 70.6 61.9 1.1 175 317 55.2 1994 6.3 11 13 4.1 102 32.2 40.6 36 112 1 10 38.9 7
29 Joey Harrington MIA 11 20.5 20.5 18.4 26.9 36.9 21.8 0.0 223 388 57.5 2236 5.8 12 15 3.9 115 29.6 41.9 19 24 0 6 36.8 4
30 Vince Young TEN 15 18.8 16.7 14.4 23.7 88.7 97.4 2.1 184 357 51.5 2199 6.2 12 13 3.6 107 30.0 35.3 83 552 7 32 45.8 12
31 Bruce Gradkowski TAM 13 11.7 11.1 13.5 3.7 72.6 66.8 0.7 177 328 54.0 1661 5.1 9 9 2.7 81 24.7 34.0 41 161 0 13 63.4 11
32 Andrew Walter OAK 12 4.4 4.4 5.3 1.6 18.1 16.3 0.0 147 276 53.3 1677 6.1 3 13 4.7 79 28.6 36.3 14 30 0 2 21.4 13