Guest Post: Introducing Marginal Yards After the Catch, Part III

by Chase Stuart on November 3, 2014

Adam Steele is back for his third guest post in his Marginal YAC series.

In my two previous two posts, I introduced Marginal YAC and Marginal Air Yards. Today, I’m posting the career mYAC and mAir for the 96 quarterbacks with at least 1,000 pass attempts from 1992-2013. There’s a lot of data here, so I’ll let the readers do most of the commentary.

Here is a table of career Marginal YAC. The “Per 300” column is the rate of mYAC per 300 completions, or roughly equivalent to one full season. And on a “per season” basis, no quarterback benefited more from YAC than Steve Young, who also had four top-40 seasons.

Quarterback	Career	Rank	Per300	Rank	Att	Comp	Yards	YAC	YAC/C	YAC %
Brett Favre	2338	1	111	12	10165	6300	71838	33966	5.39	47.3
Donovan McNabb	1852	2	175	5	5374	3170	37276	17953	5.66	48.2
Tom Brady	1822	3	131	10	6572	4170	49067	23403	5.61	47.7
Steve Young	1620	4	245	1	2961	1982	24266	11440	5.77	47.1
Philip Rivers	1418	5	162	6	4078	2629	32221	15465	5.88	48
Trent Green	1371	6	185	4	3667	2228	27950	12364	5.55	44.2
Kurt Warner	1023	7	117	11	3994	2624	31940	14321	5.46	44.8
Aaron Rodgers	987	8	155	7	2896	1910	23868	11314	5.92	47.4
Jeff Blake	887	9	152	8	3092	1746	20751	9661	5.53	46.6
Boomer Esiason	784	10	193	3	2105	1216	13656	6798	5.59	49.8
Jason Campbell	745	11	151	9	2448	1476	16432	8567	5.8	52.1
Rich Gannon	738	12	109	13	3313	2029	23119	10823	5.33	46.8
Cam Newton	703	13	239	2	1475	882	11299	5548	6.29	49.1
Daunte Culpepper	610	14	91	16	3199	2016	24153	10612	5.26	43.9
Jeff Garcia	572	15	76	21	3676	2264	25537	11882	5.25	46.5
Gus Frerotte	564	16	108	14	2850	1561	19546	8405	5.38	43
Ben Roethlisberger	527	17	58	24	4346	2749	34105	15029	5.47	44.1
Drew Brees	490	18	33	36	6772	4466	50860	23785	5.33	46.8
Vinny Testaverde	468	19	50	26	4798	2801	33343	14364	5.13	43.1
Tony Banks	396	20	94	15	2329	1263	15126	6733	5.33	44.5
Tony Romo	389	21	48	28	3775	2439	29565	13381	5.49	45.3
Matthew Stafford	365	22	77	20	2401	1428	16922	8187	5.73	48.4
John Elway	340	23	53	25	3227	1922	23501	9873	5.14	42
David Carr	306	24	70	22	2206	1316	14026	6804	5.17	48.5
Dave Krieg	298	25	90	17	1712	996	11814	5241	5.26	44.4
Matt Schaub	280	26	43	32	3020	1951	23221	10738	5.5	46.2
Jake Delhomme	267	27	49	27	2732	1618	19506	8451	5.22	43.3
Brian Griese	242	28	42	34	2761	1733	19218	8860	5.11	46.1
Alex Smith	222	29	42	35	2686	1599	17599	8806	5.51	50
Charlie Batch	217	30	88	18	1326	743	9016	3956	5.32	43.9
Matt Cassel	206	31	46	29	2259	1334	15049	7402	5.55	49.2
Elvis Grbac	204	32	43	31	2395	1411	16381	7313	5.18	44.6
Joey Harrington	203	33	43	33	2538	1424	14693	7218	5.07	49.1
Bobby Hebert	178	34	62	23	1443	858	10027	4365	5.09	43.5
Mark Rypien	169	35	81	19	1143	623	6938	3197	5.13	46.1
Michael Vick	153	36	27	38	3017	1697	21403	8933	5.26	41.7
Jay Fiedler	136	37	44	30	1603	936	11040	4772	5.1	43.2
Aaron Brooks	130	38	23	39	2963	1673	20261	8375	5.01	41.3
Randall Cunningham	114	39	31	37	1855	1100	13487	5586	5.08	41.4
Steve Beuerlein	92	40	18	40	2655	1568	19276	7931	5.06	41.1
Joe Flacco	79	41	13	41	3103	1869	21545	10235	5.48	47.5
Trent Dilfer	53	42	9	44	3024	1692	19721	8508	5.03	43.1
Kyle Orton	48	43	12	42	2124	1241	14054	6637	5.35	47.2
Jeff George	39	44	7	46	3007	1746	21674	8739	5.01	40.3
Jake Plummer	27	45	3	47	4350	2484	29253	12369	4.98	42.3
Andrew Luck	22	46	10	43	1197	682	8196	3744	5.49	45.7
Christian Ponder	17	47	8	45	1013	610	6436	3340	5.48	51.9
Brad Johnson	-15	48	-2	48	4164	2573	28126	12843	4.99	45.7
Dave Brown	-15	49	-5	49	1553	846	9729	4263	5.04	43.8
Rex Grossman	-52	50	-22	55	1296	723	8639	3767	5.21	43.6
Andy Dalton	-58	51	-17	52	1630	992	11360	5390	5.43	47.4
Vince Young	-62	52	-25	56	1268	733	8745	3750	5.12	42.9
Steve Bono	-78	53	-35	62	1211	663	7296	3272	4.94	44.8
Chris Chandler	-93	54	-14	51	3393	2005	24555	9899	4.94	40.3
Stan Humphries	-95	55	-21	54	2350	1335	16085	6523	4.89	40.6
Josh Freeman	-110	56	-28	57	2020	1164	13724	6234	5.36	45.4
Doug Flutie	-110	57	-34	60	1751	983	12143	4833	4.92	39.8
Kerry Collins	-125	58	-11	50	5991	3347	39361	16683	4.98	42.4
Kent Graham	-135	59	-67	73	1148	607	6826	2926	4.82	42.9
Derek Anderson	-142	60	-56	67	1436	756	9148	3753	4.96	41
Jim Harbaugh	-159	61	-28	58	2842	1684	19209	8231	4.89	42.8
Ryan Fitzpatrick	-172	62	-33	59	2599	1555	16790	8223	5.29	49
Josh McCown	-174	63	-69	74	1258	751	8345	3591	4.78	43
Sam Bradford	-176	64	-51	66	1760	1032	11065	5443	5.27	49.2
Neil O'Donnell	-186	65	-35	61	2771	1610	18445	7801	4.85	42.3
Matt Hasselbeck	-214	66	-21	53	4989	3016	34372	15209	5.04	44.2
Jeff Hostetler	-235	67	-64	71	1898	1095	13246	5197	4.75	39.2
Chad Pennington	-237	68	-47	65	2287	1519	16702	7364	4.85	44.1
Erik Kramer	-252	69	-67	72	1942	1136	13143	5428	4.78	41.3
Chad Henne	-257	70	-70	75	1864	1110	12372	5817	5.24	47
Jim Everett	-266	71	-58	69	2320	1374	15597	6567	4.78	42.1
Tommy Maddox	-275	72	-138	90	1017	598	7007	2657	4.44	37.9
Rick Mirer	-279	73	-78	77	2023	1078	11843	5078	4.71	42.9
Rodney Peete	-282	74	-90	78	1602	937	10947	4333	4.62	39.6
Jay Cutler	-301	75	-45	64	3310	2020	23937	10430	5.16	43.6
Dan Marino	-307	76	-42	63	3628	2169	25975	10519	4.85	40.5
Kyle Boller	-310	77	-115	85	1432	811	8260	3696	4.56	44.7
Byron Leftwich	-361	78	-128	88	1451	847	9636	3829	4.52	39.7
Tim Couch	-385	79	-113	83	1714	1025	11131	4735	4.62	42.5
Marc Bulger	-393	80	-60	70	3171	1969	22814	9472	4.81	41.5
Ryan Tannehill	-430	81	-202	95	1072	637	7207	3057	4.8	42.4
Jim Kelly	-479	82	-109	82	2217	1319	15893	6032	4.57	38
Mark Sanchez	-526	83	-154	92	1867	1028	12092	5071	4.93	41.9
Warren Moon	-568	84	-91	79	3106	1867	21418	8691	4.66	40.6
David Garrard	-591	85	-133	89	2151	1336	15312	6379	4.77	41.7
Drew Bledsoe	-723	86	-57	68	6651	3799	44211	18199	4.79	41.2
Kordell Stewart	-750	87	-173	94	2321	1300	14586	5747	4.42	39.4
Troy Aikman	-867	88	-114	84	3660	2280	25860	10479	4.6	40.5
Eli Manning	-905	89	-93	80	5008	2929	35345	14527	4.96	41.1
Steve McNair	-918	90	-102	81	4464	2692	30735	12488	4.64	40.6
Scott Mitchell	-936	91	-228	96	2195	1233	14934	5233	4.24	35
Mark Brunell	-1022	92	-115	86	4485	2672	31247	12343	4.62	39.5
Matt Ryan	-1184	93	-170	93	3288	2093	23472	10191	4.87	43.4
Jon Kitna	-1226	94	-140	91	4358	2623	29188	11987	4.57	41.1
Carson Palmer	-1244	95	-127	87	4682	2930	33739	14055	4.8	41.7
Peyton Manning	-1342	96	-73	76	8452	5532	64964	27058	4.89	41.7

Next up is career Marginal Air Yards. “Per 500” is the rate of mAir per 500 attempts. In this category, Peyton Manning is king.

Quarterback	Career	Rank	Per500	Rank	Att	Comp	Yards	AirYds	Com %	Air/C	Air/A	Air %
Peyton Manning	5608	1	332	1	8452	5532	64964	37906	65.5%	6.85	4.48	58.3
Ben Roethlisberger	2539	2	292	2	4346	2749	34105	19076	63.3%	6.94	4.39	55.9
Kurt Warner	2320	3	290	3	3994	2624	31940	17619	65.7%	6.71	4.41	55.2
Tony Romo	1913	4	253	7	3775	2439	29565	16184	64.6%	6.64	4.29	54.7
Carson Palmer	1801	5	192	14	4682	2930	33739	19684	62.6%	6.72	4.2	58.3
Eli Manning	1770	6	177	21	5008	2929	35345	20818	58.5%	7.11	4.16	58.9
Aaron Rodgers	1654	7	286	5	2896	1910	23868	12554	66%	6.57	4.33	52.6
Mark Brunell	1586	8	177	19	4485	2672	31247	18904	59.6%	7.07	4.21	60.5
Chris Chandler	1493	9	220	9	3393	2005	24555	14656	59.1%	7.31	4.32	59.7
Philip Rivers	1367	10	168	23	4078	2629	32221	16756	64.5%	6.37	4.11	52
Trent Green	1296	11	177	20	3667	2228	27950	15586	60.8%	7	4.25	55.8
Drew Brees	1289	12	95	36	6772	4466	50860	27075	65.9%	6.06	4	53.2
Dan Marino	1276	13	176	22	3628	2169	25975	15456	59.8%	7.13	4.26	59.5
Scott Mitchell	1265	14	288	4	2195	1233	14934	9701	56.2%	7.87	4.42	65
Jeff George	1227	15	204	11	3007	1746	21674	12935	58.1%	7.41	4.3	59.7
Steve Young	1221	16	206	10	2961	1982	24266	12826	66.9%	6.47	4.33	52.9
Jim Kelly	1212	17	273	6	2217	1319	15893	9861	59.5%	7.48	4.45	62
Daunte Culpepper	1188	18	186	16	3199	2016	24153	13541	63%	6.72	4.23	56.1
Marc Bulger	1152	19	182	18	3171	1969	22814	13342	62.1%	6.78	4.21	58.5
Matt Schaub	1127	20	187	15	3020	1951	23221	12483	64.6%	6.4	4.13	53.8
Troy Aikman	1124	21	154	28	3660	2280	25860	15381	62.3%	6.75	4.2	59.5
Steve Beuerlein	1074	22	202	12	2655	1568	19276	11345	59.1%	7.24	4.27	58.9
John Elway	1048	23	162	24	3227	1922	23501	13628	59.6%	7.09	4.22	58
Jay Cutler	1030	24	156	27	3310	2020	23937	13507	61%	6.69	4.08	56.4
Steve McNair	1008	25	113	33	4464	2692	30735	18247	60.3%	6.78	4.09	59.4
Matt Ryan	918	26	140	30	3288	2093	23472	13281	63.7%	6.35	4.04	56.6
Michael Vick	876	27	145	29	3017	1697	21403	12470	56.2%	7.35	4.13	58.3
David Garrard	843	28	196	13	2151	1336	15312	8933	62.1%	6.69	4.15	58.3
Jeff Hostetler	695	29	183	17	1898	1095	13246	8049	57.7%	7.35	4.24	60.8
Warren Moon	611	30	98	35	3106	1867	21418	12727	60.1%	6.82	4.1	59.4
Randall Cunningham	599	31	162	25	1855	1100	13487	7901	59.3%	7.18	4.26	58.6
Tom Brady	589	32	45	44	6572	4170	49067	25664	63.5%	6.15	3.91	52.3
Jon Kitna	568	33	65	40	4358	2623	29188	17201	60.2%	6.56	3.95	58.9
Doug Flutie	551	34	157	26	1751	983	12143	7310	56.1%	7.44	4.17	60.2
Jake Delhomme	539	35	99	34	2732	1618	19506	11055	59.2%	6.83	4.05	56.7
Chad Pennington	537	36	117	32	2287	1519	16702	9338	66.4%	6.15	4.08	55.9
Tommy Maddox	481	37	237	8	1017	598	7007	4350	58.8%	7.27	4.28	62.1
Stan Humphries	409	38	87	37	2350	1335	16085	9562	56.8%	7.16	4.07	59.4
Aaron Brooks	403	39	68	39	2963	1673	20261	11886	56.5%	7.1	4.01	58.7
Rodney Peete	383	40	119	31	1602	937	10947	6614	58.5%	7.06	4.13	60.4
Drew Bledsoe	303	41	23	49	6651	3799	44211	26012	57.1%	6.85	3.91	58.8
Vinny Testaverde	242	42	25	48	4798	2801	33343	18979	58.4%	6.78	3.96	56.9
Gus Frerotte	206	43	36	46	2850	1561	19546	11141	54.8%	7.14	3.91	57
Vince Young	204	44	81	38	1268	733	8745	4995	57.8%	6.81	3.94	57.1
Erik Kramer	166	45	43	45	1942	1136	13143	7715	58.5%	6.79	3.97	58.7
Byron Leftwich	147	46	51	42	1451	847	9636	5807	58.4%	6.86	4	60.3
Cam Newton	143	47	49	43	1475	882	11299	5751	59.8%	6.52	3.9	50.9
Ryan Tannehill	117	48	54	41	1072	637	7207	4150	59.4%	6.51	3.87	57.6
Jay Fiedler	105	49	33	47	1603	936	11040	6268	58.4%	6.7	3.91	56.8
Matt Hasselbeck	57	50	6	50	4989	3016	34372	19163	60.5%	6.35	3.84	55.8
Jim Everett	11	51	2	51	2320	1374	15597	9030	59.2%	6.57	3.89	57.9
Bobby Hebert	-5	52	-2	52	1443	858	10027	5662	59.5%	6.6	3.92	56.5
Mark Sanchez	-27	53	-7	54	1867	1028	12092	7021	55.1%	6.83	3.76	58.1
Derek Anderson	-30	54	-10	55	1436	756	9148	5395	52.6%	7.14	3.76	59
Jake Plummer	-38	55	-4	53	4350	2484	29253	16884	57.1%	6.8	3.88	57.7
Andrew Luck	-64	56	-27	57	1197	682	8196	4452	57%	6.53	3.72	54.3
Rex Grossman	-70	57	-27	58	1296	723	8639	4872	55.8%	6.74	3.76	56.4
Charlie Batch	-73	58	-28	59	1326	743	9016	5060	56%	6.81	3.82	56.1
Jim Harbaugh	-93	59	-16	56	2842	1684	19209	10978	59.3%	6.52	3.86	57.2
Dave Krieg	-97	60	-28	60	1712	996	11814	6573	58.2%	6.6	3.84	55.6
Tim Couch	-134	61	-39	66	1714	1025	11131	6396	59.8%	6.24	3.73	57.5
Kordell Stewart	-137	62	-30	61	2321	1300	14586	8839	56%	6.8	3.81	60.6
Josh Freeman	-142	63	-35	65	2020	1164	13724	7490	57.6%	6.43	3.71	54.6
Elvis Grbac	-146	64	-31	62	2395	1411	16381	9068	58.9%	6.43	3.79	55.4
Josh McCown	-179	65	-71	72	1258	751	8345	4754	59.7%	6.33	3.78	57
Neil O'Donnell	-192	66	-35	64	2771	1610	18445	10644	58.1%	6.61	3.84	57.7
Andy Dalton	-217	67	-66	71	1630	992	11360	5970	60.9%	6.02	3.66	52.6
Brian Griese	-311	68	-56	67	2761	1733	19218	10358	62.8%	5.98	3.75	53.9
Matthew Stafford	-343	69	-72	73	2401	1428	16922	8735	59.5%	6.12	3.64	51.6
Joe Flacco	-350	70	-56	68	3103	1869	21545	11310	60.2%	6.05	3.64	52.5
Chad Henne	-387	71	-104	77	1864	1110	12372	6555	59.5%	5.91	3.52	53
Kerry Collins	-387	72	-32	63	5991	3347	39361	22678	55.9%	6.78	3.79	57.6
Jeff Garcia	-445	73	-61	69	3676	2264	25537	13655	61.6%	6.03	3.71	53.5
Trent Dilfer	-467	74	-77	74	3024	1692	19721	11213	56%	6.63	3.71	56.9
Dave Brown	-467	75	-151	82	1553	846	9729	5466	54.5%	6.46	3.52	56.2
Rich Gannon	-519	76	-78	75	3313	2029	23119	12296	61.2%	6.06	3.71	53.2
Kent Graham	-535	77	-233	84	1148	607	6826	3900	52.9%	6.43	3.4	57.1
Kyle Orton	-575	78	-135	81	2124	1241	14054	7417	58.4%	5.98	3.49	52.8
Tony Banks	-607	79	-130	80	2329	1263	15126	8393	54.2%	6.65	3.6	55.5
Steve Bono	-611	80	-252	88	1211	663	7296	4024	54.7%	6.07	3.32	55.2
Brad Johnson	-661	81	-79	76	4164	2573	28126	15283	61.8%	5.94	3.67	54.3
Jeff Blake	-691	82	-112	78	3092	1746	20751	11090	56.5%	6.35	3.59	53.4
Christian Ponder	-767	83	-379	95	1013	610	6436	3096	60.2%	5.08	3.06	48.1
Mark Rypien	-806	84	-353	93	1143	623	6938	3741	54.5%	6	3.27	53.9
Matt Cassel	-819	85	-181	83	2259	1334	15049	7647	59.1%	5.73	3.39	50.8
Rick Mirer	-1005	86	-248	87	2023	1078	11843	6765	53.3%	6.28	3.34	57.1
Sam Bradford	-1026	87	-291	90	1760	1032	11065	5622	58.6%	5.45	3.19	50.8
Kyle Boller	-1054	88	-368	94	1432	811	8260	4564	56.6%	5.63	3.19	55.3
Donovan McNabb	-1223	89	-114	79	5374	3170	37276	19323	59%	6.1	3.6	51.8
Ryan Fitzpatrick	-1262	90	-243	85	2599	1555	16790	8567	59.8%	5.51	3.3	51
Boomer Esiason	-1325	91	-315	92	2105	1216	13656	6858	57.8%	5.64	3.26	50.2
Jason Campbell	-1326	92	-271	89	2448	1476	16432	7865	60.3%	5.33	3.21	47.9
Alex Smith	-1331	93	-248	86	2686	1599	17599	8793	59.5%	5.5	3.27	50
Brett Favre	-1335	94	-66	70	10165	6300	71838	37872	62%	6.01	3.73	52.7
David Carr	-1349	95	-306	91	2206	1316	14026	7222	59.7%	5.49	3.27	51.5
Joey Harrington	-2355	96	-464	96	2538	1424	14693	7475	56.1%	5.25	2.95	50.9

This table puts mAir and mYAC side-by-side for comparison. The “Total Diff” column is mAir – mYAC while “Rate Diff” is mAir/500 attempts – mYAC/300 completions. For the Differential stats, please note that a negative number isn’t necessarily bad; it just means the QB contributed more to his team with YAC than he did with Air Yards.

Quarterback	Att	mAir	Rank	mYAC	Rank	Air/500	Rank	YAC/300	Rank	Tot Diff	Rank	Rate Diff	Rank
Brett Favre	10165	-1335	94	2338	1	-66	70	111	12	-3673	96	-177	79
Peyton Manning	8452	5608	1	-1342	96	332	1	-73	76	6949	1	404	2
Drew Brees	6772	1289	12	490	18	95	36	33	36	799	25	62	42
Drew Bledsoe	6651	303	41	-723	86	23	49	-57	68	1026	21	80	40
Tom Brady	6572	589	32	1822	3	45	44	131	10	-1233	87	-86	68
Kerry Collins	5991	-387	72	-125	58	-32	63	-11	50	-262	62	-21	57
Donovan McNabb	5374	-1223	89	1852	2	-114	79	175	5	-3076	95	-289	89
Eli Manning	5008	1770	6	-905	89	177	21	-93	80	2675	3	269	9
Matt Hasselbeck	4989	57	50	-214	66	6	50	-21	53	270	44	27	47
Vinny Testaverde	4798	242	42	468	19	25	48	50	26	-226	61	-25	58
Carson Palmer	4682	1801	5	-1244	95	192	14	-127	87	3045	2	320	6
Mark Brunell	4485	1586	8	-1022	92	177	19	-115	86	2608	4	292	8
Steve McNair	4464	1008	25	-918	90	113	33	-102	81	1926	9	215	17
Jon Kitna	4358	568	33	-1226	94	65	40	-140	91	1794	10	205	20
Jake Plummer	4350	-38	55	27	45	-4	53	3	47	-65	55	-8	54
Ben Roethlisberger	4346	2539	2	527	17	292	2	58	24	2012	7	235	14
Brad Johnson	4164	-661	81	-15	48	-79	76	-2	48	-646	76	-78	67
Philip Rivers	4078	1367	10	1418	5	168	23	162	6	-50	54	6	49
Kurt Warner	3994	2320	3	1023	7	290	3	117	11	1297	18	173	27
Tony Romo	3775	1913	4	389	21	253	7	48	28	1525	15	206	19
Jeff Garcia	3676	-445	73	572	15	-61	69	76	21	-1017	84	-136	73
Trent Green	3667	1296	11	1371	6	177	20	185	4	-75	56	-8	55
Troy Aikman	3660	1124	21	-867	88	154	28	-114	84	1992	8	268	10
Dan Marino	3628	1276	13	-307	76	176	22	-42	63	1582	13	218	16
Chris Chandler	3393	1493	9	-93	54	220	9	-14	51	1586	12	234	15
Rich Gannon	3313	-519	76	738	12	-78	75	109	13	-1257	88	-187	80
Jay Cutler	3310	1030	24	-301	75	156	27	-45	64	1331	17	200	21
Matt Ryan	3288	918	26	-1184	93	140	30	-170	93	2103	6	309	7
John Elway	3227	1048	23	340	23	162	24	53	25	709	29	109	35
Daunte Culpepper	3199	1188	18	610	14	186	16	91	16	578	34	95	39
Marc Bulger	3171	1152	19	-393	80	182	18	-60	70	1545	14	242	13
Warren Moon	3106	611	30	-568	84	98	35	-91	79	1179	20	190	24
Joe Flacco	3103	-350	70	79	41	-56	68	13	41	-429	69	-69	64
Jeff Blake	3092	-691	82	887	9	-112	78	152	8	-1578	90	-264	88
Trent Dilfer	3024	-467	74	53	42	-77	74	9	44	-519	71	-86	69
Matt Schaub	3020	1127	20	280	26	187	15	43	32	846	24	143	30
Michael Vick	3017	876	27	153	36	145	29	27	38	723	28	118	34
Jeff George	3007	1227	15	39	44	204	11	7	46	1189	19	197	22
Aaron Brooks	2963	403	39	130	38	68	39	23	39	273	42	45	46
Steve Young	2961	1221	16	1620	4	206	10	245	1	-399	67	-39	61
Aaron Rodgers	2896	1654	7	987	8	286	5	155	7	667	30	131	32
Gus Frerotte	2850	206	43	564	16	36	46	108	14	-358	65	-72	65
Jim Harbaugh	2842	-93	59	-159	61	-16	56	-28	58	67	48	12	48
Neil O'Donnell	2771	-192	66	-186	65	-35	64	-35	61	-6	50	0	50
Brian Griese	2761	-311	68	242	28	-56	67	42	34	-552	73	-98	70
Jake Delhomme	2732	539	35	267	27	99	34	49	27	272	43	49	44
Alex Smith	2686	-1331	93	222	29	-248	86	42	35	-1553	89	-289	90
Steve Beuerlein	2655	1074	22	92	40	202	12	18	40	983	22	185	25
Ryan Fitzpatrick	2599	-1262	90	-172	62	-243	85	-33	59	-1090	86	-210	82
Joey Harrington	2538	-2355	96	203	33	-464	96	43	33	-2558	94	-507	95
Jason Campbell	2448	-1326	92	745	11	-271	89	151	9	-2071	92	-422	93
Matthew Stafford	2401	-343	69	365	22	-72	73	77	20	-708	77	-148	76
Elvis Grbac	2395	-146	64	204	32	-31	62	43	31	-351	64	-74	66
Stan Humphries	2350	409	38	-95	55	87	37	-21	54	505	37	108	37
Tony Banks	2329	-607	79	396	20	-130	80	94	15	-1003	83	-224	84
Kordell Stewart	2321	-137	62	-750	87	-30	61	-173	94	612	33	143	31
Jim Everett	2320	11	51	-266	71	2	51	-58	69	277	41	60	43
Chad Pennington	2287	537	36	-237	68	117	32	-47	65	773	26	164	28
Matt Cassel	2259	-819	85	206	31	-181	83	46	29	-1025	85	-228	85
Jim Kelly	2217	1212	17	-479	82	273	6	-109	82	1691	11	382	3
David Carr	2206	-1349	95	306	24	-306	91	70	22	-1655	91	-375	91
Scott Mitchell	2195	1265	14	-936	91	288	4	-228	96	2201	5	516	1
David Garrard	2151	843	28	-591	85	196	13	-133	89	1433	16	329	5
Kyle Orton	2124	-575	78	48	43	-135	81	12	42	-624	75	-147	75
Boomer Esiason	2105	-1325	91	784	10	-315	92	193	3	-2109	93	-508	96
Rick Mirer	2023	-1005	86	-279	73	-248	87	-78	77	-726	78	-171	78
Josh Freeman	2020	-142	63	-110	56	-35	65	-28	57	-33	53	-7	53
Erik Kramer	1942	166	45	-252	69	43	45	-67	72	418	40	109	36
Jeff Hostetler	1898	695	29	-235	67	183	17	-64	71	929	23	247	12
Mark Sanchez	1867	-27	53	-526	83	-7	54	-154	92	499	38	146	29
Chad Henne	1864	-387	71	-257	70	-104	77	-70	75	-129	58	-34	59
Randall Cunningham	1855	599	31	114	39	162	25	31	37	486	39	131	33
Sam Bradford	1760	-1026	87	-176	64	-291	90	-51	66	-849	81	-240	86
Doug Flutie	1751	551	34	-110	57	157	26	-34	60	661	32	191	23
Tim Couch	1714	-134	61	-385	79	-39	66	-113	83	251	46	73	41
Dave Krieg	1712	-97	60	298	25	-28	60	90	17	-395	66	-118	72
Andy Dalton	1630	-217	67	-58	51	-66	71	-17	52	-159	59	-49	62
Jay Fiedler	1603	105	49	136	37	33	47	44	30	-32	52	-11	56
Rodney Peete	1602	383	40	-282	74	119	31	-90	78	665	31	210	18
Dave Brown	1553	-467	75	-15	49	-151	82	-5	49	-452	70	-145	74
Cam Newton	1475	143	47	703	13	49	43	239	2	-560	74	-190	81
Byron Leftwich	1451	147	46	-361	78	51	42	-128	88	507	36	178	26
Bobby Hebert	1443	-5	52	178	34	-2	52	62	23	-183	60	-64	63
Derek Anderson	1436	-30	54	-142	60	-10	55	-56	67	112	47	46	45
Kyle Boller	1432	-1054	88	-310	77	-368	94	-115	85	-744	79	-253	87
Charlie Batch	1326	-73	58	217	30	-28	59	88	18	-290	63	-115	71
Rex Grossman	1296	-70	57	-52	50	-27	58	-22	55	-18	51	-6	52
Vince Young	1268	204	44	-62	52	81	38	-25	56	266	45	106	38
Josh McCown	1258	-179	65	-174	63	-71	72	-69	74	-5	49	-2	51
Steve Bono	1211	-611	80	-78	53	-252	88	-35	62	-533	72	-217	83
Andrew Luck	1197	-64	56	22	46	-27	57	10	43	-86	57	-36	60
Kent Graham	1148	-535	77	-135	59	-233	84	-67	73	-400	68	-166	77
Mark Rypien	1143	-806	84	169	35	-353	93	81	19	-975	82	-434	94
Ryan Tannehill	1072	117	48	-430	81	54	41	-202	95	546	35	257	11
Tommy Maddox	1017	481	37	-275	72	237	8	-138	90	756	27	374	4
Christian Ponder	1013	-767	83	17	47	-379	95	8	45	-784	80	-387	92

This final table presents a quick comparison of the HoF and potential HoF quarterbacks covered in my study. I purposely excluded Dan Marino, John Elway, and Warren Moon, because a significant portion of their careers came before 1992 when this data started being tracked.

Quarterback	Att	Air/500	Rank	YAC/300	Rank	Rate Diff	Rank
Peyton Manning	8452	332	1	-73	9	404	1
Jim Kelly	2217	273	5	-109	11	382	2
Eli Manning	5008	177	7	-93	10	269	3
Troy Aikman	3660	154	9	-114	12	268	4
Ben Roethlisberger	4346	292	2	58	7	235	5
Kurt Warner	3994	290	3	117	5	173	6
Aaron Rodgers	2896	286	4	155	3	131	7
Drew Brees	6772	95	10	33	8	62	8
Philip Rivers	4078	168	8	162	2	6	9
Steve Young	2961	206	6	245	1	-39	10
Tom Brady	6572	45	11	131	4	-86	11
Brett Favre	10165	-66	12	111	6	-177	12

The first thing that hits me is the lack of correlation between Air Yards and YAC among the upper crust QB’s, indicating a variety of different styles. Peyton, Eli, Aikman, and Kelly have done all their damage with high air yardage, coming at the expense of YAC production. Brady and Favre were successful by gobbling up YAC at the expense of gaining much through the air. Young, Warner, Rodgers, and Rivers have displayed an impressive proclivity for producing high air yards and YAC, while sacrificing sacks (Young, Rodgers) or interceptions (Warner). At least from a statistical perspective, Philip Rivers has no real weaknesses in his game, which makes him a clear HoF’er in my book. Roethlisberger has posted very high air yardage and above average YAC, but has lost significant value with his terrible sack rate. Brees has been moderately above average with both air yards and YAC, but his rates look more impressive in the context of his annual 650+ attempt seasons. What stands out to you guys?

Tagged as: Adam Steele, Air Yards, Guest Posts, YAC

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