Production
Yards, touchdowns and first downs created over the course of a game.
QBSCORECARDNFL QUARTERBACK ANALYTICS • POWERED BY QOPIWHAT QOPI REWARDS
The six ideas behind the score
QOPI blends several signals instead of leaning on one box-score stat.
Efficiency
How much offense a quarterback generates with each opportunity.
Ball security
Interceptions and lost fumbles reduce the score.
Contextual accuracy
Accuracy is judged with throw difficulty and available context in mind.
Starter results
Wins matter, but are deliberately kept from overwhelming individual performance.
Clutch performance
Late-game efficiency and real game-winning-drive opportunities add a modest signal.
READING QOPI
What does a score mean?
The scale is centered around a reference quarterback performance level. Higher is better.
70+HistoricRare, exceptional performance
60sExcellentHigh-end quarterback play
50Reference averageThe center of the QOPI scale
40sBelow averagePerformance below the reference level
Important:QOPI is not a percentile and a 60 is not “10% better” than a 50. Think of it as a standardized performance score built for comparison.
THE FOUR SCORECARDS
Why the views are scored differently
Each page answers a slightly different football question.
Season Rankings
Compares quarterbacks within one completed season. The scoring environment is anchored to qualified quarterbacks from that year.
Current Season
Uses the same QOPI center but allows for the extra volatility of one week or a short stretch. The scale stabilizes as the sample grows.
All-Time
Builds a career score from season-by-season QOPI, with small-sample protection, diminishing-return credit for sustained excellence, and modest postseason context.
Best Seasons
Places qualifying individual seasons on one fixed historical scale so peak years can be compared across eras.
Qualification:Historical ranked seasons generally require at least 200 QB opportunities. Smaller samples may still appear on player profiles, but they are protected from carrying full-season weight in career scoring.
CAREER QOPI
Rewarding quality without simply rewarding longevity
Score each season
Every season is evaluated on the fixed historical QOPI scale.
Protect small seasons before averaging
Seasons with very few opportunities are pulled toward the 50-point reference before career averaging. Once a player has produced legitimate season samples, that multi-season performance average is not shrunk toward 50 again.
Reward sustained excellence
Repeated strong seasons add a separate longevity bonus with diminishing returns. Career reliability controls how quickly that sustained-excellence credit becomes established; it does not compress the underlying performance average.
Add limited résumé context
Championship and postseason success can help, but the adjustment is intentionally modest so regular-season performance remains the foundation.
DATA TRANSPARENCY
Modern detail, historical estimates
The available football data changes significantly across eras.
Uses modern charting-style fields including target depth, pressure context and on-target information where available.
Uses completion performance relative to expected passing environment.
Uses the best comparable passing information available for older seasons rather than pretending modern tracking fields exist.
Historical caveats: 1966–1980 first downs are estimated because comparable historical first-down fields are unavailable. Pre-1982 sack totals are historical/unofficial; 1966 AFL sack fields are not populated by the source, so those rows use a league-rate estimate based on the 1967 AFL. Pre-2000 rushing attempts include kneels where comparable play-by-play is unavailable.
Starter and playoff coverage: detailed postseason production is strongest from 2000 onward, while verified postseason QB starts and wins are available for 1980–1999. For 1966–1979, starter win rate and Clutch/GWD are held neutral and postseason box-score résumé adjustments are not inferred; the separate Super Bowl career adjustment still recognizes championship-winning starters.
SOURCES
Public football data
QB Scorecard combines public historical totals with modern play-by-play and advanced passing data.
Modern player totals and play-by-play come primarily from nflverse / nflfastR, with advanced passing information credited to Pro Football Reference through nflverse. Historical 1966–1999 regular-season totals come from NFL.com historical player tables. Quarterback starter records for 1980–1999 come from The Football Database; the earlier 1966–1979 starter-results component is held neutral.