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 12/29/2008

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 1,983 1 1,799 1 34.0% 3 31.0% 647 4,962 6,132 34 3 1 16 65.8%
18-P.Manning IND 1,709 2 1,780 2 36.0% 1 36.0% 572 3,967 5,366 27 0 0 11 67.1%
13-K.Warner ARI 1,513 3 1,446 5 22.5% 6 23.4% 631 4,476 5,429 30 4 7 12 67.8%
17-P.Rivers SD 1,504 4 1,621 3 35.6% 2 38.7% 510 3,993 4,667 34 2 4 11 65.5%
6-J.Cutler DEN 1,319 5 1,503 4 22.1% 8 24.9% 630 4,530 5,155 25 2 0 18 62.9%
2-M.Ryan ATL 1,177 6 1,030 8 30.8% 4 26.0% 455 3,419 3,833 16 2 1 11 61.3%
10-C.Pennington MIA 1,152 7 1,399 6 25.6% 5 32.8% 501 3,559 4,131 19 2 1 7 67.6%
5-D.McNabb PHI 1,126 8 1,066 7 15.2% 13 16.0% 595 3,812 4,693 24 0 4 11 61.2%
10-E.Manning NYG 1,030 9 942 10 19.7% 9 17.0% 515 3,182 4,096 21 3 2 9 60.6%
12-A.Rodgers GB 954 10 966 9 14.8% 14 15.7% 571 3,807 4,194 28 6 3 13 64.5%
9-T.Romo DAL 909 11 732 14 18.5% 10 13.6% 475 3,290 3,621 26 4 5 14 61.9%
8-M.Schaub HOU 869 12 690 16 22.3% 7 15.2% 406 2,938 3,297 15 3 4 10 67.5%
17-J.Delhomme CAR 837 13 817 11 18.0% 11 17.6% 438 3,204 3,429 15 1 3 12 59.6%
9-D.Garrard JAC 822 14 734 13 11.0% 15 8.6% 581 3,466 4,110 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 708 15 718 15 15.3% 12 14.5% 430 2,713 3,212 12 4 1 7 58.6%
17-J.Campbell WAS 696 16 582 18 8.3% 18 6.1% 542 3,006 3,664 13 5 1 5 62.6%
16-M.Cassel NE 630 17 781 12 6.4% 20 9.8% 565 3,502 3,883 21 3 4 11 63.8%
7-J.Garcia TB 513 18 665 17 10.5% 16 14.6% 396 2,588 2,779 12 3 2 6 65.9%
18-K.Orton CHI 366 19 323 21 -0.9% 25 -1.2% 495 2,875 3,115 18 1 3 12 58.9%
5-J.Flacco BAL 354 20 274 24 2.1% 22 -1.5% 465 2,785 2,779 14 5 2 11 60.3%
4-B.Favre NYJ 275 21 559 19 -2.2% 27 3.8% 560 3,353 3,382 22 5 2 21 66.3%
15-S.Wallace SEA 247 22 286 23 7.3% 19 6.8% 258 1,482 1,621 11 1 3 3 58.8%
7-T.Jackson MIN 245 23 211 27 9.9% 17 9.1% 164 1,052 1,170 9 1 2 2 59.9%
5-T.Edwards BUF 237 24 476 20 -0.2% 24 7.4% 400 2,592 2,389 11 3 4 10 65.9%
7-B.Roethlisberger PIT 229 25 228 25 -2.2% 26 -4.1% 518 3,110 2,909 17 7 5 13 60.6%
6-D.Orlovsky DET 181 26 157 28 0.1% 23 -2.1% 273 1,552 1,641 8 3 0 7 56.5%
13-S.Hill SF 156 27 306 22 -2.4% 28 3.8% 313 1,912 1,864 13 6 1 8 63.7%
18-S.Rosenfels HOU 156 28 140 29 3.9% 21 0.2% 184 1,391 1,212 6 2 1 10 67.4%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD FK FL INT C%
12-G.Frerotte MIN 91 29 25 30 -10.4% 31 -10.0% 337 2,134 1,831 12 3 1 15 59.3%
4-T.Thigpen KC 78 30 219 26 -6.1% 30 -3.7% 447 2,500 2,491 18 2 0 11 55.3%
9-C.Palmer CIN 60 31 -56 33 -5.0% 29 -17.4% 142 690 795 3 2 0 4 59.4%
8-B.Griese TB 19 32 -19 32 -12.3% 32 -12.7% 193 1,028 1,002 5 0 1 7 60.4%
8-J.Kitna DET -13 33 -119 34 -20.1% 37 -25.0% 137 698 675 5 2 1 5 57.1%
3-D.Anderson CLE -97 34 -152 36 -12.5% 33 -19.0% 303 1,524 1,419 9 5 1 8 50.2%
11-D.Culpepper DET -125 35 -274 38 -31.9% 38 -45.8% 127 691 465 4 3 1 6 53.1%
2-J.Russell OAK -188 36 -4 31 -16.0% 34 -11.3% 402 2,313 1,772 13 4 7 8 54.1%
11-R.Fitzpatrick CIN -229 37 -327 41 -18.0% 35 -23.3% 411 1,762 1,854 8 4 4 8 59.7%
8-M.Hasselbeck SEA -264 38 -262 37 -34.2% 39 -29.2% 230 1,116 808 5 1 0 10 52.4%
10-M.Bulger STL -265 39 -149 35 -19.8% 36 -16.1% 485 2,550 2,046 11 1 4 12 57.1%
7-J.Losman BUF -312 40 -293 40 -57.1% 41 -53.1% 116 465 139 2 2 3 4 63.0%
14-J.O'Sullivan SF -414 41 -292 39 -37.3% 40 -29.7% 257 1,594 707 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 166 170 66.2% 63.8% 38 281 409 2 0 0 0 60.0%
8-D.Carr NYG 127 113 138.4% 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%
7-C.Henne MIA 14 17 -2.3% 7.8% 12 67 91 0 0 0 0 58.3%
12-T.Brady NE 9 23 4.2% 16.7% 11 78 77 0 0 0 0 63.6%
12-B.Croyle KC 4 19 -0.2% -1.3% 30 141 163 0 0 0 0 69.0%
5-D.Stanton DET -21 -11 -27.5% -19.9% 23 84 78 1 0 0 0 52.9%
7-M.Leinart ARI -27 -20 -23.9% -21.3% 31 248 124 1 1 1 1 51.7%
8-R.Grossman CHI -36 -94 -28.0% -33.7% 65 249 286 2 0 0 2 52.4%
5-B.Bollinger DAL -38 -59 -55.0% -61.5% 20 49 42 1 0 0 1 58.8%
5-C.Frye SEA -40 -82 -46.9% -60.9% 26 64 78 2 0 0 2 52.2%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD FK FL INT C%
10-B.Quinn CLE -56 26 -23.2% -6.6% 90 509 383 2 0 0 2 50.6%
5-J.Palmer CIN -70 -84 -85.7% -99.9% 14 30 -19 0 0 0 1 58.3%
4-K.Kolb PHI -128 -174 -75.2% -91.6% 34 144 0 0 0 0 4 50.0%
10-V.Young TEN -149 -121 -69.6% -58.1% 40 219 3 1 2 0 2 61.1%
12-T.Green STL -190 -181 -53.0% -48.2% 79 471 134 0 0 0 6 52.8%
14-B.Johnson DAL -199 -232 -50.7% -55.5% 88 364 150 2 1 0 5 52.6%
11-D.Huard KC -202 -209 -53.0% -51.0% 90 420 147 2 2 1 4 62.5%
16-A.Walter OAK -219 -263 -85.1% -92.0% 54 150 -35 0 2 0 3 45.8%
7-B.Gradkowski CLE -234 -269 -192.5% -219.1% 25 8 -215 0 0 0 3 33.3%
11-K.Dorsey CLE -239 -341 -52.7% -70.2% 99 353 140 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
16-M.Cassel NE 100 1 98 1 25.1% 5 24.2% 48 291 430 2 0
17-J.Campbell WAS 88 2 84 4 44.2% 3 41.5% 31 273 318 1 0
4-T.Thigpen KC 86 3 87 2 15.2% 10 18.1% 56 386 409 3 2
11-R.Fitzpatrick CIN 85 4 86 3 21.7% 7 20.7% 48 308 384 2 2
12-A.Rodgers GB 77 5 68 6 16.4% 9 14.2% 42 211 368 4 0
9-D.Garrard JAC 76 6 83 5 9.6% 12 10.5% 64 328 443 2 1
13-S.Hill SF 38 7 41 7 24.1% 6 27.4% 17 117 165 2 1
7-J.Losman BUF 34 8 33 9 58.6% 1 57.9% 8 66 113 2 1
2-J.Russell OAK 34 9 35 8 18.5% 8 22.2% 15 129 153 1 1
10-C.Pennington MIA 34 10 29 13 36.6% 4 32.1% 13 77 125 1 0
8-M.Hasselbeck SEA 30 11 29 11 46.4% 2 47.9% 11 69 106 0 0
7-J.Garcia TB 29 12 29 12 4.1% 15 4.7% 29 146 192 1 2
5-T.Edwards BUF 28 13 33 10 7.8% 14 11.4% 25 130 165 3 2
14-J.O'Sullivan SF 22 14 20 15 9.1% 13 8.9% 22 151 120 0 1
6-J.Cutler DEN 14 15 24 14 -4.3% 17 0.0% 40 215 176 2 2
8-M.Schaub HOU 9 16 -1 21 -5.8% 19 -13.3% 22 75 112 2 3
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Runs Yards EYds TD FUM
15-S.Wallace SEA 9 17 10 17 1.1% 16 3.4% 12 81 67 0 0
5-J.Flacco BAL 9 18 8 18 -4.9% 18 -7.5% 31 190 139 2 4
5-K.Collins TEN 7 19 13 16 10.3% 11 15.9% 8 61 51 0 0
18-K.Orton CHI 0 20 6 20 -15.7% 22 -5.9% 15 54 69 3 2
17-P.Rivers SD -4 21 8 19 -11.8% 20 -6.5% 21 86 87 0 2
7-B.Roethlisberger PIT -6 22 -7 23 -13.5% 21 -17.8% 23 110 78 2 2
9-D.Brees NO -7 23 -9 24 -23.8% 24 -27.1% 8 34 26 0 1
11-D.Culpepper DET -15 24 -23 26 -34.4% 28 -45.7% 12 24 17 1 1
9-T.Romo DAL -15 25 -20 25 -31.5% 27 -39.5% 12 57 17 0 2
7-T.Jackson MIN -17 26 -3 22 -21.8% 23 -14.7% 21 136 46 0 2
18-P.Manning IND -22 27 -26 27 -35.2% 29 -42.0% 10 31 12 1 1
3-D.Anderson CLE -23 28 -31 31 -35.6% 30 -44.4% 17 55 17 0 2
18-S.Rosenfels HOU -25 29 -28 30 -60.5% 31 -62.5% 9 38 -18 0 1
2-M.Ryan ATL -31 30 -27 28 -29.9% 26 -26.4% 31 126 65 1 2
5-D.McNabb PHI -37 31 -27 29 -27.1% 25 -26.3% 33 155 55 2 3
4-B.Favre NYJ -44 32 -45 32 -71.8% 32 -76.2% 12 41 -52 1 3