Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



QUARTERBACKS 2008

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 3/5/2009

Quarterbacks are ranked according to DYAR, or Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement. This gives the value of the quarterback's performance compared to replacement level, adjusted for situation and opponent and then translated into yardage. DYAR (and its cousin, YAR, which isn't adjusted based on opponent) is further explained here.

The other statistic given is DVOA, or Defense-adjusted Value Over Average. This number represents value, per play, over an average quarterback in the same game situations. The more positive the DVOA rating, the better the player's performance. Negative DVOA represents below-average offense. DVOA (and its cousin, VOA, which isn't adjusted based on opponent) is further explained here.

The simple version: DYAR means a quarterback with more total value. DVOA means a quarterback with more value per play.

Effective Yards (EYds), listed in red, translate DVOA into a yards per attempt figure. This provides an easy comparison: in general, players with more Effective Yards than standard yards played better than standard stats would otherwise indicate, while players with fewer EYds than standard yards played worse than standard stats would otherwise indicate. EYds are not the best way to measure total value because they are more dependent on usage than DYAR.

Passes total includes sacks and aborted snaps. Both count against a quarterback's value. Fumbles count the same whether lost to the defense or retained by the offense.

PASSING: Minimum 100 passes, 41 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD FK FL INT C%
9-D.Brees NO 1,920 1 1,799 1 33.9% 3 31.0% 647 4,962 6,046 34 3 1 16 65.8%
18-P.Manning IND 1,783 2 1,780 2 36.1% 1 36.0% 572 3,967 5,467 27 0 0 11 67.1%
17-P.Rivers SD 1,523 3 1,621 3 35.7% 2 38.7% 510 3,993 4,693 34 2 4 11 65.5%
13-K.Warner ARI 1,405 4 1,446 5 22.4% 6 23.4% 631 4,476 5,282 30 4 7 12 67.8%
6-J.Cutler DEN 1,382 5 1,503 4 22.0% 7 24.9% 630 4,530 5,241 25 1 0 18 62.9%
10-C.Pennington MIA 1,172 6 1,399 6 25.7% 5 32.8% 501 3,559 4,159 19 2 1 7 67.6%
2-M.Ryan ATL 1,166 7 1,030 8 30.9% 4 26.0% 455 3,419 3,818 16 2 1 11 61.3%
5-D.McNabb PHI 1,048 8 1,079 7 15.6% 12 16.4% 594 3,816 4,582 24 0 4 11 61.2%
10-E.Manning NYG 1,031 9 942 10 19.7% 9 17.0% 515 3,182 4,098 21 3 2 9 60.6%
12-A.Rodgers GB 933 10 966 9 14.8% 14 15.7% 571 3,807 4,166 28 6 3 13 64.5%
9-T.Romo DAL 878 11 732 14 18.5% 10 13.6% 475 3,290 3,579 26 4 5 14 61.9%
8-M.Schaub HOU 863 12 672 17 21.7% 8 14.4% 407 2,937 3,294 15 4 4 10 67.5%
17-J.Delhomme CAR 828 13 817 11 18.0% 11 17.6% 438 3,204 3,417 15 1 3 12 59.6%
9-D.Garrard JAC 823 14 734 13 11.0% 15 8.6% 581 3,466 4,113 15 3 3 10 63.2%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD FK FL INT C%
5-K.Collins TEN 737 15 715 15 15.3% 13 14.4% 430 2,712 3,252 12 4 1 7 58.6%
17-J.Campbell WAS 656 16 582 18 8.3% 18 6.1% 542 3,006 3,610 13 5 1 5 62.6%
16-M.Cassel NE 656 17 781 12 6.4% 20 9.8% 565 3,502 3,918 21 3 4 11 63.8%
7-J.Garcia TB 568 18 673 16 10.9% 16 14.9% 395 2,591 2,852 12 3 2 6 65.9%
5-J.Flacco BAL 378 19 274 24 2.0% 22 -1.5% 465 2,785 2,812 14 5 2 11 60.4%
4-B.Favre NYJ 335 20 559 19 -2.2% 26 3.8% 560 3,353 3,463 22 5 2 21 66.3%
18-K.Orton CHI 333 21 323 21 -0.9% 25 -1.2% 495 2,875 3,070 18 1 3 12 58.9%
15-S.Wallace SEA 295 22 286 23 7.4% 19 6.8% 258 1,482 1,687 11 1 3 3 58.8%
7-B.Roethlisberger PIT 289 23 228 25 -2.2% 27 -4.1% 518 3,110 2,992 17 7 5 13 60.6%
5-T.Edwards BUF 279 24 476 20 -0.3% 24 7.4% 400 2,592 2,447 11 3 4 10 65.9%
7-T.Jackson MIN 219 25 211 27 10.0% 17 9.1% 164 1,052 1,134 9 1 2 2 59.9%
6-D.Orlovsky DET 196 26 157 28 0.2% 23 -2.1% 273 1,552 1,662 8 3 0 7 56.5%
18-S.Rosenfels HOU 184 27 140 29 3.7% 21 0.2% 184 1,391 1,251 6 2 1 10 67.4%
13-S.Hill SF 180 28 306 22 -2.3% 28 3.8% 313 1,912 1,897 13 6 1 8 63.7%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD FK FL INT C%
4-T.Thigpen KC 146 29 219 26 -6.2% 30 -3.7% 447 2,500 2,585 18 2 0 11 55.3%
9-C.Palmer CIN 55 30 -56 33 -5.0% 29 -17.4% 142 690 788 3 2 0 4 59.4%
12-G.Frerotte MIN 16 31 25 30 -10.4% 31 -10.0% 337 2,134 1,729 12 3 1 15 59.3%
3-D.Anderson CLE -15 32 -140 35 -12.0% 32 -18.5% 302 1,527 1,526 9 5 1 8 50.2%
8-B.Griese TB -15 33 -19 32 -12.3% 33 -12.7% 193 1,028 955 5 0 1 7 60.4%
8-J.Kitna DET -78 34 -119 34 -19.9% 37 -25.0% 137 698 587 5 2 1 5 57.1%
2-J.Russell OAK -121 35 -4 31 -15.9% 34 -11.3% 402 2,313 1,863 13 4 7 8 54.1%
11-D.Culpepper DET -164 36 -274 38 -32.0% 38 -45.8% 127 691 411 4 3 1 6 53.1%
11-R.Fitzpatrick CIN -184 37 -327 41 -18.0% 35 -23.3% 411 1,762 1,914 8 4 4 8 59.7%
10-M.Bulger STL -258 38 -149 36 -19.8% 36 -16.1% 485 2,550 2,055 11 1 4 12 57.1%
7-J.Losman BUF -321 39 -293 40 -57.1% 41 -53.1% 116 465 127 2 2 3 4 63.0%
8-M.Hasselbeck SEA -334 40 -262 37 -34.2% 39 -29.2% 230 1,116 713 5 1 0 10 52.4%
14-J.O'Sullivan SF -413 41 -292 39 -37.3% 40 -29.7% 257 1,594 709 8 4 6 11 58.4%

PASSING, OTHERS: 10-99 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD FK FL INT C%
4-B.Leftwich PIT 175 170 65.9% 63.8% 38 281 420 2 0 0 0 60.0%
8-D.Carr NYG 128 113 138.4% 120.8% 14 137 242 2 0 0 0 75.0%
12-J.Sorgi IND 109 62 38.8% 17.3% 30 178 324 0 0 0 0 73.3%
12-B.Croyle KC 21 19 -0.1% -1.3% 30 141 186 0 0 0 0 69.0%
12-T.Brady NE 13 23 4.3% 16.7% 11 78 82 0 0 0 0 63.6%
7-C.Henne MIA 8 17 -2.3% 7.8% 12 67 82 0 0 0 0 58.3%
5-D.Stanton DET -21 -11 -27.6% -19.9% 23 84 78 1 0 0 0 52.9%
7-M.Leinart ARI -26 -20 -23.9% -21.3% 31 248 127 1 1 1 1 51.7%
5-B.Bollinger DAL -51 -59 -55.3% -61.5% 20 49 25 1 0 0 1 58.8%
5-C.Frye SEA -59 -82 -46.3% -60.9% 26 64 53 2 0 0 2 52.2%
10-B.Quinn CLE -68 26 -23.1% -6.6% 90 509 367 2 0 0 2 50.6%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD FK FL INT C%
8-R.Grossman CHI -70 -94 -27.9% -33.7% 65 249 239 2 0 0 2 52.4%
5-J.Palmer CIN -70 -84 -85.6% -99.9% 14 30 -20 0 0 0 1 58.3%
4-K.Kolb PHI -140 -175 -75.7% -92.1% 34 144 -16 0 0 0 4 50.0%
10-V.Young TEN -150 -121 -69.8% -58.1% 40 219 3 1 2 0 2 61.1%
12-T.Green STL -204 -181 -52.9% -48.2% 79 471 116 0 0 0 6 52.8%
14-B.Johnson DAL -207 -232 -50.7% -55.5% 88 364 140 2 1 0 5 52.6%
16-A.Walter OAK -213 -232 -77.8% -83.8% 53 163 -33 0 1 0 3 45.8%
11-D.Huard KC -228 -217 -54.7% -52.7% 90 414 112 2 2 1 4 62.5%
7-B.Gradkowski CLE -234 -269 -192.3% -219.1% 25 8 -215 0 0 0 3 33.3%
11-K.Dorsey CLE -242 -343 -52.8% -70.3% 99 349 139 0 2 0 6 47.3%

RUSHING: Minimum 8 rushes, 32 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
11-R.Fitzpatrick CIN 88 1 86 2 21.7% 6 20.7% 48 308 391 2 2
17-J.Campbell WAS 88 2 84 3 44.3% 3 41.5% 31 273 319 1 0
16-M.Cassel NE 82 3 79 5 15.8% 9 14.7% 50 291 404 2 0
9-D.Garrard JAC 80 4 83 4 9.7% 12 10.5% 64 328 453 2 1
4-T.Thigpen KC 78 5 87 1 15.1% 10 18.1% 56 386 391 3 2
12-A.Rodgers GB 73 6 68 6 16.4% 8 14.2% 42 211 358 4 0
13-S.Hill SF 38 7 41 7 24.1% 5 27.4% 17 117 163 2 1
7-J.Losman BUF 33 8 33 9 58.4% 1 57.9% 8 66 111 2 1
10-C.Pennington MIA 32 9 29 12 36.8% 4 32.1% 13 77 120 1 0
2-J.Russell OAK 31 10 35 8 18.6% 7 22.2% 15 129 146 1 1
8-M.Hasselbeck SEA 28 11 29 11 46.2% 2 47.9% 11 69 102 0 0
5-T.Edwards BUF 28 12 33 10 7.8% 14 11.4% 25 130 165 3 2
14-J.O'Sullivan SF 20 13 20 15 9.2% 13 8.9% 22 151 116 0 1
7-J.Garcia TB 20 14 22 14 -1.0% 17 0.3% 30 143 174 1 2
8-M.Schaub HOU 19 15 9 19 3.7% 15 -4.5% 21 76 132 2 2
6-J.Cutler DEN 16 16 24 13 -4.0% 18 0.0% 40 215 182 2 2
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
5-J.Flacco BAL 12 17 8 20 -4.8% 19 -7.5% 31 190 147 2 4
5-K.Collins TEN 11 18 13 16 10.5% 11 15.9% 8 61 58 0 0
15-S.Wallace SEA 8 19 10 18 1.0% 16 3.4% 12 81 64 0 0
17-P.Rivers SD 3 20 10 17 -9.8% 20 -4.3% 21 89 104 0 2
9-T.Romo DAL 0 21 -4 23 -12.0% 21 -18.4% 11 58 46 0 1
7-B.Roethlisberger PIT -2 22 -7 24 -13.4% 22 -17.8% 23 110 88 2 2
18-K.Orton CHI -3 23 6 21 -15.4% 24 -5.9% 15 54 62 3 2
7-T.Jackson MIN -4 24 5 22 -15.2% 23 -7.7% 21 136 77 0 2
9-D.Brees NO -7 25 -9 25 -24.0% 25 -27.1% 8 34 26 0 1
11-D.Culpepper DET -16 26 -23 26 -34.5% 28 -45.7% 12 24 14 1 1
18-P.Manning IND -20 27 -26 27 -35.1% 29 -42.0% 10 31 16 1 1
18-S.Rosenfels HOU -27 28 -28 29 -60.6% 31 -62.5% 9 38 -22 0 1
3-D.Anderson CLE -29 29 -39 31 -41.0% 30 -50.3% 18 52 5 0 2
2-M.Ryan ATL -34 30 -27 28 -30.0% 26 -26.4% 31 126 59 1 2
5-D.McNabb PHI -38 31 -36 30 -31.3% 27 -30.3% 34 151 56 2 3
4-B.Favre NYJ -42 32 -45 32 -71.5% 32 -76.2% 12 41 -46 1 3