[[Update: Mahomes hit the 1,500 pass attempt mark in week 11 against Tampa Bay, and did so with exactly 1,000 completions. He had thrown for 12,782 passing yards, with 105 TDs and 20 INTs. That translates to an amazing 110.9 passer rating. When he threw that 1500th pass, a 9-yard completion to Demarcus Robinson right after the 2-minute warning in the first half, he automatically became the all-time career leader in passer rating. He moved ahead of Deshaun Watson (103.6), who had just moved ahead of Rodgers (103.3) after his great performance on Thanksgiving. Mahomes is now the newest career passer rating king, and will finish the 2020 season — and probably several more — as the all-time leader.]]
To qualify for the career leaderboard in rate statistics, a passer needs to record 1,500 pass attempts.
Aaron Rodgers reached the 1,500 pass attempt threshold on November 28, 2010 in a loss to the Falcons. At the time, his career passer rating was a few hundredths of a point behind Philip Rivers (97.34 to 97.28). As of Christmas, 2010, Rivers still held a narrow lead, but Rodgers passed him (with little fanfare) in week 16. And since week 16 of the 2010 season, Rodgers has been alone atop the passer rating leaderboard.
But in a couple of weeks, he will lose his crown. That’s because Patrick Mahomes, he of the 110.5 career passer rating, is coming up on 1,500 career pass attempts. When he does, he will become the newest passer rating king. The statistic wasn’t first used in the NFL until the 1973 season, but we can still create a historical archive (which is exactly what PFR’s Mike Kania did). The graph below shows the career leader in passer rating after every season, minimum 1,500 NFL attempts, color-coded by team. [continue reading…]