Passer Rating Calculator

Passer rating is a statistical measurement commonly used in football to determine the performance of a quarterback in a season or game. This metric helps analysts, fans, and coaches estimate the effectiveness of a quarterback based on performance indicators such as attempts, passing yards, completions, touchdowns, and interceptions.

In this article, I will explain everything about passer rating; what is it? Formula along with a real-world example and faqs. If you are interested in the baseball statistics, check out our slugging percentage calculator.

What is Passer Rating?

Passer rating, also known as quarterback rating, is commonly used in American and Canadian football. It is a formula-driven statistic that helps to determine how well a quarterback performs during a game. It looks at several key stats:

• Completions: The number of passes that the quarterback successfully completed.
• Attempts: The number of passes the quarterback tried to make.
• Passing Yards: The total number of yards that gained from completed passes.
• Touchdowns: The number of touchdowns that were thrown.
• Interceptions: The number of times the quarterback was intercepted.

However, a higher passer rating represents a better quarterback performance. For example, in the NFL (National Football League) and CFL (Canadian Football League), a perfect passer rating is 158.3. While in college (NCAA, full form is National Collegiate Athletic Association) it is 200.

How the Passer Rating is calculated?

In 1973, the NFL declared a formula that accounts for all relevant factors that I already mentioned, such as attempts, passing yards, completions, touchdowns, and interceptions:

The passer rating formula for NFL and CFL:

First, let's see that the NFL and CFL passer rating use the following components to calculate:

• Completion percentage (a)
• Yards per attempt (b)
• Touchdowns per attempt (c)
• Interceptions per attempt (d)

The following formula is used:

Passer Rating = ((a + b + c + d) / 6) × 100

Where:

• a = ((Completions / Attempts) × 100 - 30 ) / 20
• b = ((Passing Yards / Attempts) - 3 ) / 4
• c = (Touchdowns / Attempts) × 20
• d = 2.375 - ((Interceptions / Attempts) × 25)

So, these values are calculated. If any of a,b,c, and d are negative, they are set to zero, and if they are greater than 2.375, they are set to 2.375, which keeps it adjusted to a range between 0 and 2.375.

Real World Example for NFL and CFL Passer Rating

Let's use a QB (quarterback) with the following stats as an example:

• Completions: 20
• Attempts: 30
• Passing Yards: 250
• Touchdowns: 3
• Interceptions: 1

Calculation:

Let's calculate each four-factor components using the formula:

• a = ((20 / 30) × 100 - 30) / 20 = 1.83
• b = ((250 / 30) - 3) / 4 = 1.33
• c = (3 / 30) × 20 = 2.00
• d = 2.375 - ((1 / 30) × 25) = 1.54

Now, add all the components and divide by 6:

• Passer Rating = ((1.83 + 1.33 + 2.00 + 1.54) / 6) × 100 = 111.81
• Passer Rating for NFL and CFL = 111.81

NCAA Passer Rating Formula:

If you are a player in college, not a professional, the passer rating is different:

• Passer Rating = (8.4 × Passing Yards + 330 × Touchdowns - 200 × Interceptions + 100 × Completions) / Attempts

So, the formula takes those four factors and directly combines them; the weight is adjusted for each based on its importance in college football.

Example for NCAA passer Rating Calculations

• Passer Rating = (8.4 × 250 + 330 × 3 - 200 × 1 + 100 × 20) / 30 = 163
• NCAA Passer Rating = 163

However, if you don't want to to calculate it manually with formulas, thanks to our convenient, effortless Passer Rating Calculator to calculate in seconds.