QBR rating explained | These are the highest rated quarterbacks so far this season

Few stats capture the imagination of football fans like the Quarterback Rating. As a metric, it is often expressed as the gold standard of a quarterback’s, and therefore a team’s, performance during a game.

There are two main quarterback rating systems used in football, which are often confused with each other: the NFL Passer Rating and ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating (QBR).

NFL Passer Rating

The NFL Passer Rating is a widely used statistic to measure a quarterback’s passing performance.

It considers four factors:

The formula to calculate the Passer Rating is slightly complex and involves these four components. The rating ranges from 0 to 158.3, with a higher rating indicating a better performance.

Total Quarterback Rating (QBR)

ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating, also known as QBR, is a metric introduced by ESPN to provide a more complete evaluation of a quarterback’s overall contribution to a game. QBR considers various factors, including passing performance, rushing, fumbles, and situational factors, such as down and distance, adjusted for the strength and ranking of opposing defenses. It aims to provide a more holistic view of a quarterback’s impact on a game beyond traditional passing statistics.

The QBR scale ranges from 0 to 100, with 50 being an average performance. A score above 75 is typically considered excellent, while a score below 25 indicates a subpar performance.

2025 NFL season: highest-rated quarterbacks

Related stories

NFL

Maye leaves bookies in no doubt about the NFL’s MVP favorite

NFL

Ann Michael Hudson, cheering on Pats QB Drake Maye

Over the first 13 weeks on the 2025 season, these are the top-10 passers in the league:

The season is just getting underway, but there are some suprsises at the bottom the list. Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers, Tua Tagovaiola and Cam Ward are just a few of the 31 QBs with at least six games played this season that most fans would expect to see higher up in the ranking.