What does QBR rating mean? Who are the highest rated quarterbacks in the NFL so far this season?

Few stats capture the imagination of football fans like a 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).

What is the NFL Passer Rating?

The NFL Passer Rating is a compound statistic used by the league to measure a quarterback’s overall passing performance in any given game.

It considers four factors: completion percentage; yards per attempt; touchdown percentage; and interception percentage.

The NFL Passer Rating is calculated using a complicated formula, but it is essentially a combination of those four key output metrics. Each QB’s performance is given a rating between 0 and 158.3, with the higher score indicating a better performance.

What is the Total Quarterback Rating (QBR)?

ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating, also known as QBR, is a metric designed to provide a more complete evaluation of a quarterback’s overall contribution to a game.

Unlike the NFL Passer Rating, QBR considers other factors including rushing, fumbles, and situational factors, such as the down and distance of each play. On top of that, the ESPN metric is adjusted for the strength and ranking of opposing defences. 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 poor performance.

Who are the highest-rated quarterbacks in the NFL in 2024?

After three Matchweeks there is a consensus No. 1-rated quarterback in the NFL. Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen has starred in the opening weeks of the 2024 season, leading his team to three victories and registering 112 points across those games. He tops both the NFL and ESPN rating systems at this early stage.

ESPN’s data also suggests that Allen has contributed 20.1 more points that the average quarterback would have been expected to earn across those opening three games. That figure is more than twice that of any other QB in the league.

Allen shone in a brutal 47-10 demolition of the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football, reiterating the Bills’ reputation as one of the most effective offensive units in the league. Ahead of the season NFL legend Tom Brady tipped Allen to become the next QB to lift his first Super Bowl, potentially winning the Bills their first-ever NFL championship.