List of National Football League career passer rating leaders

The NFL rates its passers for statistical purposes against a fixed performance standard based on statistical achievements of all qualified pro passers since 1960. The current passer rating system, which was adopted in 1973, removes inequities that existed in the former method and, at the same time, provides a means of comparing passing performances from one season to the next.

Four categories are used as a basis for compiling a rating:

• Percentage of completions per attempt
• Average yards gained per attempt
• Percentage of touchdown passes per attempt
• Percentage of interceptions per attempt

The average standard is 1.000. The bottom is .000. To earn a 2.000 rating, a passer must perform at exceptional levels, i.e., 70 percent in completions, 10 percent in touchdowns, 1.5 percent in interceptions, and 11 yards average gain per pass attempt. In order to make the rating more understandable, the point rating is then converted into a scale of 100, with 158.3 being the highest rating a passer can achieve. In cases where statistical performance has been superior, it is possible for a passer to surpass a 100 rating.
Quarterbacks are required to throw at least 1,500 passes before their ratings qualify for NFL career statistics for the regular season, and 150 attempts for the postseason.[1]

Regular season

Key

^ Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

* Active player

Quarterbacks must have at least 1,500 career attempts to qualify for this list.[2]
Updated through the 2020 season.[3][4]

Rank Quarterback Rating 1 * Patrick Mahomes 108.7 2 * Deshaun Watson 104.5 3 * Aaron Rodgers 103.9 4 * Russell Wilson 101.7 5 * Drew Brees 98.7 6 * Kirk Cousins 97.9 7 * Dak Prescott 97.3 * Tom Brady 9 Tony Romo 97.1 10 ^ Steve Young 96.8 11 Peyton Manning 96.5 12 Philip Rivers 95.2 13 * Matt Ryan 94.5 14 * Ben Roethlisberger 94.0 15 ^ Kurt Warner 93.7 16 ^ Joe Montana 92.3 17 * Derek Carr 92.1 18 * Ryan Tannehill 92.0 19 * Jared Goff 91.5 20 Chad Pennington 90.1 21 * Matthew Stafford 89.9 22 Andrew Luck 89.5 Matt Schaub * Marcus Mariota * Teddy Bridgewater 26 * Carson Wentz 89.2 27 * Baker Mayfield 89.1 28 Colin Kaepernick 88.9 29 Carson Palmer 87.9 30 Daunte Culpepper 87.8 31 Jeff Garcia 87.5 * Andy Dalton 33 * Mitchell Trubisky 87.2 34 * Nick Foles 87.1

Rank Quarterback Rating 35 * Jameis Winston 86.9 * Alex Smith 37 ^ Otto Graham 86.6 38 ^ Dan Marino 86.4 39 ^ Brett Favre 86.0 Trent Green 41 David Garrard 85.8 * Cam Newton 43 Donovan McNabb 85.6 44 Jay Cutler 85.3 45 * Case Keenum 85.2 46 Rich Gannon 84.7 47 Sam Bradford 84.5 48 Marc Bulger 84.4 ^ Jim Kelly 50 Eli Manning 84.1 * Joe Flacco 52 Mark Brunell 84.0 53 ^ Roger Staubach 83.4 54 Steve McNair 82.8 55 Brian Griese 82.7 Neil Lomax 57 ^ Len Dawson 82.6 ^ Sonny Jurgensen 59 Brad Johnson 82.5 60 Matt Hasselbeck 82.4 61 * Ryan Fitzpatrick 82.3 62 * Brian Hoyer 82.1 63 Ken Anderson 81.9 64 Bernie Kosar 81.8 Neil O'Donnell 66 Jason Campbell 81.7 Danny White 68 ^ Troy Aikman 81.6

Rank Quarterback Rating 69 Randall Cunningham 81.5 Dave Krieg 71 Jake Delhomme 81.3 72 Kyle Orton 81.2 73 Boomer Esiason 81.1 74 ^ Warren Moon 80.9 75 * Blake Bortles 80.6 76 ^ Bart Starr 80.5 Jeff Hostetler 78 Jeff George 80.4 Ken O'Brien ^ Fran Tarkenton Michael Vick 82 Steve Beuerlein 80.3 83 ^ Dan Fouts 80.2 84 ^ John Elway 79.9 85 Tony Eason 79.7 * Josh McCown 87 Elvis Grbac 79.6 88 Chris Chandler 79.1 89 Byron Leftwich 78.9 Mark Rypien 91 Jim Everett 78.6 92 Aaron Brooks 78.5 Phil Simms Matt Cassel 95 Bert Jones 78.2 Jim McMahon ^ Johnny Unitas 98 Jeff Blake 78.0 Bobby Hebert 100 Jim Harbaugh 77.6 Frank Ryan Josh Freeman

Postseason

Quarterbacks must have at least 150 career postseason attempts to qualify for this list.

Updated through the 2020 - 21 conference championships.

Rank Quarterback Rating 1 * Patrick Mahomes 109.8 2 ^ Bart Starr 104.8 3 ^ Kurt Warner 102.8 4 * Matt Ryan 100.8 5 * Aaron Rodgers 100.5 6 * Nick Foles 98.8 7 * Alex Smith 97.4 8 * Drew Brees 97.1 9 ^ Joe Montana 95.6 10 * Russell Wilson 95.3 11 Mark Sanchez 94.3 12 Ken Anderson 93.5 13 Tony Romo 93.0 14 Joe Theismann 91.4 15 * Tom Brady 89.9 16 * Joe Flacco 88.6 17 ^ Troy Aikman 88.3 18 * Cam Newton 87.7 19 Peyton Manning 87.4 Eli Manning * Josh Allen 22 Colin Kaepernick 87.3 23 * Ben Roethlisberger 86.4 24 ^ Brett Favre 86.3 25 ^ Steve Young 85.8 26 Philip Rivers 85.3

Rank Quarterback Rating 27 ^ Warren Moon 84.9 28 Rich Gannon 84.6 29 Matt Hasselbeck 84.2 ^ Ken Stabler 31 Bernie Kosar 83.5 32 Jake Delhomme 83.3 33 ^ Terry Bradshaw 83.0 34 Jim Plunkett 81.9 35 Vinny Testaverde 81.0 36 Donovan McNabb 80.0 37 * Jared Goff 79.9 38 ^ John Elway 79.7 39 Daryle Lamonica 77.9 40 ^ Len Dawson 77.4 41 Chad Pennington 77.3 42 ^ Dan Marino 77.1 43 Phil Simms 77.0 44 ^ Roger Staubach 76.4 45 Jim McMahon 76.1 46 Wade Wilson 75.6 47 Kerry Collins 75.3 48 Neil O'Donnell 74.9 49 Randall Cunningham 74.3 50 Jeff Garcia 73.8 51 Andrew Luck 73.4

Rank Quarterback Rating 52 Jake Plummer 72.7 53 Dave Krieg 72.3 ^ Jim Kelly 55 Mark Rypien 72.2 56 Danny White 71.6 57 ^ Dan Fouts 70.0 58 ^ Johnny Unitas 68.9 59 Billy Kilmer 68.6 60 ^ Bob Griese 68.3 61 Jim Harbaugh 67.2 62 Steve McNair 66.7 63 Mark Brunell 66.3 64 ^ Otto Graham 63.7 65 Ron Jaworski 63.4 66 Brad Johnson 62.8 67 Vince Ferragamo 59.9 68 ^ Fran Tarkenton 58.6 69 * Andy Dalton 57.8 70 Jim Everett 57.0 71 Drew Bledsoe 54.9 72 Stan Humphries 54.8 73 Doug Williams 53.6 74 Jay Schroeder 50.4 75 Jack Kemp 50.2 76 ^ George Blanda 42.4 77 Craig Morton 42.0

All-time rankings in the 4 categories

These are the top 10 quarterbacks in each statistic that determine the NFL passer rating.[1]
Minimum: 1,500 Attempts
Records through the 2020 season.

Key

^ Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

* Active player

Completion percentage Player Percentage Attempts Completions * Deshaun Watson 67.85 1,748 1,186 * Drew Brees 67.69 10,551 7,142 * Kirk Cousins 66.99 3,662 2,453 * Teddy Bridgewater 66.45 1,562 1038 Chad Pennington 66.05 2,471 1,632 * Patrick Mahomes 66.03 1,687 1114 * Dak Prescott 66.03 2,293 1,514 ^ Kurt Warner 65.5 4,070 2,666 * Matt Ryan 65.39 7,443 4,867 Peyton Manning 65.3 9,380 6,125

Average yards per pass Player Average Attempts Yards ^ Otto Graham 8.63 1,565 13,499 ^ Sid Luckman 8.42 1,744 14,686 * Patrick Mahomes 8.39 1,687 14,152 * Deshaun Watson 8.32 1,748 14,539 ^ Norm Van Brocklin 8.16 2,895 23,611 ^ Steve Young 7.98 4,149 33,124 ^ Kurt Warner 7.95 4,070 32,344 Tony Romo 7.89 4,335 34,183 Ed Brown 7.85 1,987 15,600 ^ Bart Starr 7.85 3149 24,718

Touchdown percentage Player Percentage Attempts Touchdowns ^ Sid Luckman 7.86 1,744 137 Frank Ryan 6.99 2,133 149 * Patrick Mahomes 6.76 1,687 114 ^ Len Dawson 6.39 3,741 239 Daryle Lamonica 6.31 2,601 164 * Aaron Rodgers 6.25 6,587 412 ^ Sammy Baugh 6.24 2,995 187 * Russell Wilson 6.16 4,335 267 Charlie Conerly 6.11 2,833 173 ^ Bob Waterfield 6.00 1,617 97

Interception percentage Player Percentage Attempts Interceptions * Aaron Rodgers 1.35 6,587 89 * Patrick Mahomes 1.42 1,687 24 * Dak Prescott 1.74 2,293 40 Colin Kaepernick 1.77 1,692 30 * Tom Brady 1.8 10,598 191 * Derek Carr 1.85 3,830 71 * Russell Wilson 1.87 4,335 81 * Carson Wentz 2.01 2,492 50 Sam Bradford 2.06 2,967 61 * Deshaun Watson 2.06 1,748 36

See also

• Passer rating
• List of National Football League annual passer rating leaders
• List of National Football League annual passing touchdowns leaders
• List of National Football League annual passing yards leaders
• List of National Football League annual pass completion percentage leaders

References

1. "Official 2017 National Football League Record & Fact Book" (PDF). NFL. p. 311. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
2. "Minimum Requirements For Football Leaderboards". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
3. NFL Career Passing Rating Leaders Pro-Football-Reference.com
4. "Career Passer Rating", Pro Football Hall of Fame.com

External links

• NFL Single-Season Passer Rating Leaders
• NFL Active Passer Rating Leaders
• NFL Year-by-Year Passer Rating Leaders
• NFL Single Game Passer Rating Leaders