Which Quarterbacks Have Passed The Most: Career Ratings

by Chase Stuart on July 14, 2015

in Passing, Quarterbacks, Statgeekery, Statistics

On Sunday, I calculated the average number of pass attempts (including sacks) per game for each season since 1950, and then looked at which were the highest era-adjusted passing games in football history. On Monday, I looked at the single seasons that were the most and least pass-happy, from the perspective of each quarterback and after adjusting for era. Today, career grades.

How much do you know about Frank Tripucka? Probably not that much. If you’re a younger fan, you might know him because Denver “unretired” his #18 when Peyton Manning came to town, or because his son Kelly played in the NBA.

If you’re a Football Perspective regular, you may recall that he was the first quarterback in pro football history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. ^[1]And by first, I mean that in the most literal sense: in 1960, Tripucka, playing in the AFL and a 14-game season, crossed the 3,000 yard mark in the final game of the season. For Denver, that … Continue reading Well, after today, you’re never going to forget about Tripucka.

I looked at all quarterbacks who started at least 48 regular season games since 1950. ^[2]For quarterbacks who played prior to 1950, like Tripucka, they are included, but only their post-1950 stats are counted. As a reminder about the methodology, I then calculated the league average dropbacks per game (i.e., pass attempts + sacks) in each season. Then, I determined the number of dropbacks by each quarterback’s team in each game started by that quarterback.

Then, I compared that number to league average to determine the ratio. Do this for every game of a quarterback’s career, and viola, career ratings! Here’s how to read the table below. Tripucka started 50 games in his career since 1950. In those games, his teams averaged 38.5 dropbacks per game, while the league average was 31 dropbacks. As a result, Tripucka’s teams in games he started finished with 124% as many pass attempts as the average team, or 7.5 more attempts per game. That makes him the most pass-happy quarterback ever. The final column shows whether the quarterback is in, or very likely to wind up in, the Hall of Fame. ^[3]Note that I have included Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, and Aaron Rodgers as HOF quarterbacks for these purposes. This is not based on my subjective opinion … Continue reading

Rk	Name	G	DB	Lg Avg	Ratio	Diff	HOF?
1	Frank Tripucka	50	38.5	31	123.8%	7.5	No
2	George Blanda	104	38.2	31.7	120.2%	6.5	Yes
3	Matthew Stafford	77	43	36.9	116.7%	6.2	No
4	Dan Fouts	171	36.5	32.1	113.2%	4.4	Yes
5	Marc Bulger	95	39	34.7	112.5%	4.3	No
6	Tommy Kramer	110	37.9	33.8	112.4%	4.1	No
7	Cotton Davidson	54	35.4	31.6	112.1%	3.9	No
8	Kurt Warner	115	39	35.1	111.1%	3.9	Yes
9	Tobin Rote	115	31.9	29.2	110.2%	2.7	No
10	Warren Moon	203	38.1	34.7	110.1%	3.5	Yes
11	Andrew Luck	48	41.1	37.4	109.9%	3.7	No
12	Brian Sipe	112	34.4	31.3	109.5%	3.1	No
13	Drew Brees	201	39.1	35.7	109.5%	3.4	Yes
14	Dan Marino	240	37.5	34.7	108.1%	2.8	Yes
15	Jim Zorn	106	33.7	31.4	107.9%	2.4	No
16	Drew Bledsoe	193	38.1	35.3	107.9%	2.8	No
17	Jeff George	124	37.6	34.8	107.8%	2.7	No
18	Jack Kemp	105	34.1	31.8	107.4%	2.3	No
19	Joe Namath	129	32	29.9	106.9%	2.1	Yes
20	Tom Flores	67	34	31.8	106.9%	2.2	No
21	Archie Manning	139	31.7	29.9	106.7%	1.8	No
22	Roman Gabriel	157	31.6	29.8	106.4%	1.8	No
23	Jon Kitna	124	37.4	35.2	106.4%	2.2	No
24	Marc Wilson	60	36.6	34.5	106.4%	2.1	No
25	Joe Montana	164	36.4	34.3	106.2%	2.1	Yes
26	Chris Miller	92	36.4	34.4	106.2%	2.1	No
27	Chad Henne	53	38.8	36.5	106.1%	2.3	No
28	Donovan McNabb	161	37.2	35.1	106%	2.1	No
29	Don Majkowski	57	35.9	34	105.9%	1.9	No
30	Sam Bradford	49	38.8	36.7	105.8%	2.1	No
31	Joey Harrington	76	36.7	34.8	105.5%	1.9	No
32	Peyton Manning	256	37.5	35.5	105.5%	2	Yes
33	Billy Wade	85	31.7	30.2	105.5%	1.5	No
34	Brett Favre	298	37	35.1	105.4%	1.9	Yes
35	Johnny Unitas	186	31.6	30.1	105.3%	1.5	Yes
36	Steve DeBerg	140	35	33.3	105.3%	1.7	No
37	Neil Lomax	101	36.3	34.5	105.2%	1.8	No
38	Bill Kenney	77	36.1	34.4	105%	1.8	No
39	Aaron Brooks	90	36.5	34.8	104.9%	1.7	No
40	Kerry Collins	180	36.9	35.2	104.9%	1.7	No
41	Fran Tarkenton	239	31.2	29.9	104.9%	1.3	Yes
42	Ken O'Brien	110	35.8	34.1	104.8%	1.6	No
43	Matt Schaub	90	37.6	36	104.7%	1.7	No
44	Matt Ryan	110	38.1	36.3	104.7%	1.8	No
45	Ken Anderson	172	31.9	30.5	104.6%	1.4	No
46	Jack Trudeau	49	35.8	34.3	104.6%	1.5	No
47	Billy Kilmer	114	30.3	28.9	104.5%	1.4	No
48	Brad Johnson	118	36.7	35.2	104.4%	1.5	No
49	Daryle Lamonica	88	30.9	29.6	104.4%	1.4	No
50	Charley Johnson	124	31.4	30.1	104.4%	1.2	No
51	Brian Griese	83	36.8	35.3	104.3%	1.5	No
52	John Brodie	159	31.8	30.5	104.3%	1.3	No
53	Stan Humphries	81	36.4	35	104.3%	1.4	No
54	Tom Brady	207	37.2	35.7	104.2%	1.5	Yes
55	Matt Hasselbeck	152	36.6	35.2	104.1%	1.5	No
56	Lynn Dickey	111	33.7	32.4	104.1%	1.2	No
57	Randall Cunningham	135	35.7	34.4	103.9%	1.3	No
58	Babe Parilli	102	32.8	31.5	103.8%	1.3	No
59	John Hadl	167	31	29.8	103.7%	1.1	No
60	John Elway	231	35.9	34.6	103.7%	1.3	Yes
61	Daunte Culpepper	100	36.2	35	103.6%	1.3	No
62	Norm Snead	158	31.5	30.5	103.2%	1	No
63	Scott Mitchell	71	36.9	35.8	103.2%	1.1	No
64	Bobby Layne	135	29.9	29.2	103.2%	0.7	Yes
65	Y.A. Tittle	135	30.5	29.7	102.9%	0.8	Yes
66	Jim Hart	180	30.6	29.8	102.9%	0.8	No
67	Carson Palmer	143	36.7	35.7	102.8%	1	No
68	Norm Van Brocklin	101	29.7	29.1	102.7%	0.6	Yes
69	Roger Staubach	114	29.5	28.8	102.6%	0.8	No
70	Tony Romo	123	37	36.1	102.5%	0.9	No
71	Sonny Jurgensen	149	31.6	30.8	102.4%	0.8	Yes
72	Bill Munson	66	30.7	30	102.2%	0.7	No
73	Bernie Kosar	108	34.8	34.1	102.2%	0.7	No
74	Danny White	92	34.9	34.1	102.1%	0.8	No
75	Elvis Grbac	70	36.3	35.6	102.1%	0.7	No
76	Ryan Tannehill	48	38.2	37.4	102%	0.8	No
77	Erik Kramer	67	36	35.4	101.8%	0.6	No
78	Trent Green	113	35.4	34.8	101.6%	0.5	No
79	Neil O'Donnell	100	35.5	35	101.4%	0.5	No
80	Wade Wilson	69	34.6	34.2	101.3%	0.4	No
81	Vinny Testaverde	214	35.1	34.7	101.2%	0.4	No
82	Aaron Rodgers	103	36.6	36.2	101.2%	0.4	Yes
83	Tony Eason	51	35.2	34.8	101%	0.4	No
84	Mark Rypien	78	34.1	33.7	100.9%	0.4	No
85	Steve Bartkowski	127	32.5	32.3	100.8%	0.2	No
86	Gus Frerotte	93	35.6	35.4	100.6%	0.2	No
87	Bert Jones	96	30.5	30.4	100.4%	0.1	No
88	Rich Gannon	131	34.8	34.7	100.4%	0.1	No
89	Jim Everett	153	34.5	34.4	100.3%	0.1	No
90	Eli Manning	167	35.8	35.8	100.1%	0	No
91	Jay Cutler	119	36	36	100.1%	0	No
92	Jeff Blake	100	35.7	35.7	100%	0	No
93	Kyle Orton	82	35.5	35.5	99.9%	0	No
94	Dan Pastorini	117	28.9	29	99.8%	-0.1	No
95	Mike Livingston	75	28.5	28.7	99.7%	-0.1	No
96	Byron Leftwich	50	34.4	34.5	99.5%	-0.1	No
97	Steve Beuerlein	102	35.1	35.2	99.5%	-0.1	No
98	Jake Plummer	136	34.9	35	99.5%	-0.1	No
99	Doug Williams	81	32.5	32.6	99.4%	-0.1	No
100	Ron Jaworski	143	32.4	32.5	99.4%	-0.1	No
101	Don Meredith	85	31.4	31.6	99.4%	-0.2	No
102	Craig Morton	144	29.7	29.9	99.3%	-0.2	No
103	Pat Haden	55	29.9	30.1	99.2%	-0.2	No
104	Josh Freeman	60	36.1	36.4	99.2%	-0.3	No
105	Charlie Batch	55	35.1	35.4	99.1%	-0.3	No
106	Bill Nelsen	74	30	30.3	99%	-0.3	No
107	Jason Campbell	79	35.2	35.5	98.8%	-0.4	No
108	Josh McCown	49	35.1	35.7	98.6%	-0.5	No
109	Randy Johnson	49	29.8	30.5	98.6%	-0.7	No
110	Joe Theismann	124	32	32.6	98.3%	-0.7	No
111	Steve Young	143	34.2	34.8	98.3%	-0.6	Yes
112	Gary Danielson	60	32.1	32.9	98.2%	-0.7	No
113	Jeff Garcia	116	34.5	35.1	98.1%	-0.6	No
114	Mark Brunell	151	34.6	35.3	98%	-0.7	No
115	Jim Plunkett	144	29.7	30.3	97.9%	-0.7	No
116	Matt Cassel	71	35	35.9	97.7%	-0.9	No
117	Phil Simms	159	33.1	34	97.3%	-0.9	No
118	Tony Banks	78	34.4	35.3	97.3%	-0.9	No
119	Joe Flacco	112	35.3	36.3	97.1%	-1	No
120	Jim Kelly	160	33.4	34.5	97.1%	-1	Yes
121	Richard Todd	108	31.5	32.4	97%	-0.9	No
122	Boomer Esiason	173	33.5	34.5	97%	-1	No
123	Tim Couch	59	34.5	35.5	97%	-1.1	No
124	Ben Roethlisberger	158	34.7	35.7	96.7%	-1.1	No
125	Joe Ferguson	171	30.2	31.1	96.4%	-1	No
126	Philip Rivers	144	34.7	36	96.2%	-1.3	No
127	Andy Dalton	64	35.8	37.1	96.2%	-1.4	No
128	Ken Stabler	146	29.1	30.5	95.9%	-1.4	No
129	Vince Ferragamo	53	32.3	33.7	95.7%	-1.4	No
130	Greg Landry	98	27.4	28.7	95.3%	-1.3	No
131	Terry Bradshaw	158	28.4	29.9	95.2%	-1.4	Yes
132	Chris Chandler	152	33.3	35	95.2%	-1.7	No
133	Mike Phipps	71	27.5	28.9	95.2%	-1.4	No
134	Dave Krieg	175	32.8	34.5	95%	-1.7	No
135	Steve McNair	153	33.3	35.1	94.9%	-1.8	No
136	Rick Mirer	68	33.7	35.5	94.9%	-1.8	No
137	Earl Morrall	102	27.8	29.4	94.8%	-1.6	No
138	Ryan Fitzpatrick	89	34.3	36.3	94.7%	-2	No
139	Eric Hipple	57	32.6	34.5	94.7%	-1.9	No
140	Bobby Hebert	100	32.4	34.2	94.5%	-1.8	No
141	David Garrard	76	33.1	35	94.5%	-1.9	No
142	Troy Aikman	165	32.7	34.8	94.2%	-2.1	Yes
143	David Carr	79	32.6	34.7	94%	-2.1	No
144	Len Dawson	159	28.2	30.4	93.1%	-2.1	Yes
145	Ed Brown	98	27.1	29.3	93%	-2.2	No
146	Lamar McHan	73	26.5	28.4	92.8%	-1.9	No
147	Rodney Peete	87	32.1	34.6	92.8%	-2.5	No
148	Chad Pennington	81	32.2	34.7	92.8%	-2.5	No
149	Jim Harbaugh	140	32.1	34.7	92.7%	-2.6	No
150	Jeff Hostetler	83	32.3	34.8	92.5%	-2.6	No
151	Mark Sanchez	70	33.6	36.3	92.4%	-2.7	No
152	Bubby Brister	75	31.4	33.9	92.4%	-2.5	No
153	Steve Grogan	135	29.2	31.6	92.2%	-2.4	No
154	Jake Delhomme	96	31.9	34.6	92.1%	-2.7	No
155	Mike Tomczak	73	31.8	34.6	91.9%	-2.8	No
156	David Woodley	53	31.2	34	91.8%	-2.8	No
157	Jim McMahon	97	31.5	34.4	91.8%	-2.8	No
158	Alex Smith	105	33.1	36.1	91.6%	-3	No
159	Jay Schroeder	99	31.2	34	91.5%	-2.8	No
160	Cam Newton	62	34	37.1	91.5%	-3.2	No
161	Michael Vick	110	32.5	35.5	91.3%	-3	No
162	Bob Griese	151	26.4	29.2	90.1%	-2.8	Yes
163	Doug Flutie	66	31.6	35.1	89.9%	-3.5	No
164	Mark Malone	53	31.1	34.7	89.6%	-3.6	No
165	Eddie LeBaron	81	26.2	29.1	89.6%	-2.9	No
166	Kordell Stewart	82	31.6	35.3	89.6%	-3.7	No
167	Bob Berry	52	25.7	28.8	89.4%	-3	No
168	Trent Dilfer	113	31.5	35.6	88.7%	-4	No
169	Dave Brown	60	32	36	88.7%	-4.1	No
170	Otto Graham	71	26.4	29.9	88.1%	-3.5	Yes
171	Mike Pagel	54	30.1	34.4	87.6%	-4.3	No
172	Charlie Conerly	90	26	29.6	87.6%	-3.6	No
173	Bobby Douglass	53	24.4	27.9	86.9%	-3.6	No
174	Bart Starr	157	26.4	30.6	86.9%	-4.2	Yes
175	Jay Fiedler	60	30.3	35.1	86.5%	-4.8	No
176	Joe Kapp	48	26.1	30.6	85.7%	-4.4	No
177	Bob Avellini	50	24.8	29	85.3%	-4.2	No
178	Milt Plum	103	26.3	30.8	85.2%	-4.5	No
179	Frank Ryan	87	27	31.8	85.1%	-4.8	No
180	Vince Young	50	29	35.2	82.3%	-6.2	No
181	Russell Wilson	48	29.1	37.4	77.8%	-8.3	No

Among the Hall of Fame quarterbacks crowd, George Blanda, Dan Fouts, Kurt Warner (assuming he is enshrined), Drew Brees, and Dan Marino stand out as playing in some of the most pass-happy offenses. After them are Joe Namath and Joe Montana, and you might be surprised to see Montana check in a few spots ahead of Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, and Johnny Unitas.

Otto Graham, Bart Starr, and Bob Grieses were three of the least pass-happy quarterbacks era. All were blessed with outstanding coaches, defenses and teams, so that makes some sense. Also, the least pass-happy quarterback on the entire list is… Russell Wilson.

Len Dawson, Troy Aikman, and Terry Bradshaw all grade out as players who didn’t have to pass that often, which isn’t all that surprising. More surprising, at least for me, was seeing Jim Kelly at 97.1%. Steve Young and Aaron Rodgers are both right around league average, although they each also shouldered some of the running game for their teams (particularly Young).

Matthew Stafford, Marc Bulger, and Tommy Kramer stand out among the non-HOF crowd for their pass-happy games. And Andrew Luck isn’t too far behind them.

What stands out to you? What do you make of this metric?

References[+]

References
↑1	And by first, I mean that in the most literal sense: in 1960, Tripucka, playing in the AFL and a 14-game season, crossed the 3,000 yard mark in the final game of the season. For Denver, that happened to be a Saturday. The next day, another AFL quarterback, Jack Kemp, crossed the 3,000-yard threshold with the Chargers. The AFL opened with a 14-game schedule to get a jump on the NFL, which was still playing a 12-game schedule in 1960. The NFL’s regular season ended at the same time, and Johnny Unitas became the first NFL passer to hit 3,000 yards on the same day as Kemp.
↑2	For quarterbacks who played prior to 1950, like Tripucka, they are included, but only their post-1950 stats are counted.
↑3	Note that I have included Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, and Aaron Rodgers as HOF quarterbacks for these purposes. This is not based on my subjective opinion of those players, but based on my subjective opinion of their likelihoods of enshrinement. If one was to sort by the HOF category, I thought it would be more useful to have them as a “Yes” than as a “No.” Your mileage may vary.

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