We don’t spend a lot of time looking at the bottom of leaderboard. When it comes to efficiency stats, you need to have a minimum threshold of quantity to qualify for such title. When it comes to passer rating, that minimum is 14 attempts per team game. Last year, DeShone Kizer had the worst passer rating in the NFL. In the last 11 years, the Jets have had three different quarterbacks with the worst passer rating in the NFL (Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith, and Kellen Clemens), while the entire NFC has just one (Jimmy Clausen).
The table below shows the quarterback with the worst passer rating in every year since the merger (along with their era-adjusted passer ratings), an update of this post from three years ago.
Year | Quarterback | Team | Era-Adj PR | Act PR |
---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | DeShone Kizer | CLE | 40.2 | 60.5 |
2016 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | NYJ | 47.0 | 69.6 |
2015 | Peyton Manning | DEN | 44.4 | 67.9 |
2014 | Blake Bortles | JAX | 47.3 | 69.5 |
2013 | Geno Smith | NYJ | 47.1 | 66.5 |
2012 | Matt Cassel | KAN | 47.8 | 66.7 |
2011 | Blaine Gabbert | JAX | 47.7 | 65.4 |
2010 | Jimmy Clausen | CAR | 41.0 | 58.4 |
2009 | JaMarcus Russell | OAK | 33.7 | 50.0 |
2008 | Derek Anderson | CLE | 50.0 | 66.5 |
2007 | Kellen Clemens | NYJ | 44.9 | 60.9 |
2006 | Andrew Walter | OAK | 42.1 | 55.8 |
2005 | Kyle Orton | CHI | 46.2 | 59.7 |
2004 | A.J. Feeley | MIA | 45.5 | 61.7 |
2003 | Kordell Stewart | CHI | 45.1 | 56.8 |
2002 | Joey Harrington | DET | 46.1 | 59.9 |
2001 | Jon Kitna | CIN | 49.3 | 61.1 |
2000 | Akili Smith | CIN | 41.4 | 52.8 |
1999 | Jake Plummer | ARI | 40.4 | 50.8 |
1998 | Ryan Leaf | SDG | 27.4 | 39.0 |
1997 | Kerry Collins | CAR | 45.2 | 55.7 |
1996 | Rick Mirer | SEA | 46.4 | 56.6 |
1995 | Trent Dilfer | TAM | 47.5 | 60.1 |
1994 | Heath Shuler | WAS | 47.8 | 59.6 |
1993 | Mark Rypien | WAS | 46.4 | 56.3 |
1992 | Stan Gelbaugh | SEA | 44.3 | 52.9 |
1991 | Jeff Kemp | 2TM | 46.1 | 55.7 |
1990 | Marc Wilson | NWE | 50.9 | 61.6 |
1989 | Troy Aikman | DAL | 46.7 | 55.7 |
1988 | Vinny Testaverde | TAM | 42.5 | 48.8 |
1987 | Mark Malone | PIT | 38.2 | 46.7 |
1986 | Jack Trudeau | IND | 46.0 | 53.5 |
1985 | Vince Ferragamo | BUF | 43.9 | 50.8 |
1984 | Todd Blackledge | KAN | 49.7 | 59.2 |
1983 | Scott Brunner | NYG | 45.1 | 54.3 |
1982 | Joe Ferguson | BUF | 49.6 | 56.3 |
1981 | Vince Evans | CHI | 44.9 | 51.1 |
1980 | Phil Simms | NYG | 51.8 | 58.9 |
1979 | Doug Williams | TAM | 48.8 | 52.5 |
1978 | Steve DeBerg | SFO | 41.7 | 40.0 |
1977 | Joe Pisarcik | NYG | 47.8 | 42.3 |
1976 | Gary Marangi | BUF | 30.4 | 30.8 |
1975 | Archie Manning | NOR | 45.1 | 44.3 |
1974 | Mike Phipps | CLE | 49.2 | 46.7 |
1973 | Norm Snead | NYG | 47.7 | 45.8 |
1972 | Jim Plunkett | NWE | 46.0 | 45.7 |
1971 | Bobby Douglass | CHI | 41.5 | 37.0 |
1970 | Terry Bradshaw | PIT | 32.7 | 30.4 |
What you might notice in addition to a few Super Bowl winning quarterbacks on the list, is that Vinny Testaverde is the only one on there twice. [Editor’s note: Jeff Kemp actually finished with the worst passer rating of any QB in 1991.] Testaverde has 38 points of bad Gray Ink — i.e., if you assign 10 points to a last-place finish, 9 points to a second-to-last place finish, 8 points to a third-from-the-bottom spot, and so on. He ranked last in ’88 (10 points), second-to-last in ’91 (9 points), 5th-from-the-bottom in ’89 (+6), 7th from last in ’00 (+4), 8th from the bottom in ’04 and ’94 (+6), 9th from the bottom in ’92 (+2), and 10th from last in ’01 (+1), for a total of 39 points.
That’s the most of any quarterback since 1970, narrowly edging out well, a few other names that I doubt will surprise you.
Quarterback | Gray Ink |
---|---|
Vinny Testaverde | 38 |
Jake Plummer | 33 |
Dan Pastorini | 32 |
Archie Manning | 32 |
Marc Wilson | 31 |
Mike Phipps | 31 |
Kerry Collins | 29 |
Jim Hart | 28 |
Joey Harrington | 28 |
Mark Malone | 27 |
Joe Ferguson | 27 |
Jay Schroeder | 26 |
Troy Aikman | 26 |
Richard Todd | 25 |
Rick Mirer | 25 |
Jim Everett | 25 |
Ryan Fitzpatrick | 24 |
Kordell Stewart | 24 |
Kyle Boller | 22 |
Billy Joe Tolliver | 22 |
Matt Hasselbeck | 21 |
Mark Sanchez | 21 |
Randy Wright | 21 |
Jim Zorn | 21 |
Bobby Douglass | 21 |
Boomer Esiason | 20 |
Jim Plunkett | 20 |
Drew Bledsoe | 19 |
Trent Dilfer | 19 |
Derek Anderson | 19 |
Ryan Leaf | 19 |
Joe Pisarcik | 19 |
Joe Flacco | 18 |
Brett Favre | 18 |
Tony Banks | 17 |
Warren Moon | 17 |
Chad Henne | 17 |
Marc Bulger | 17 |
Steve DeBerg | 17 |
Terry Bradshaw | 17 |
Bob Avellini | 17 |
Craig Whelihan | 17 |
Joe Namath | 17 |
Eli Manning | 16 |
Gus Frerotte | 16 |
Blaine Gabbert | 16 |
Rex Grossman | 16 |
Blake Bortles | 16 |
Geno Smith | 16 |
Vince Evans | 16 |
Josh McCown | 15 |
Lynn Dickey | 15 |
Paul McDonald | 15 |
What stands out to you?