Intended air yards (IAY)
Intended air yards are the total distance a quarterback's passes travelled past the line of scrimmage, whether or not they were caught. Matthew Stafford led 2025 with 5,428 across 597 attempts, and the Rams led all 32 offenses with the same figure.
Every pass carries air yards: the distance from the line of scrimmage to where the ball was aimed. Add them up over a season and you have intended air yards. Nothing about the outcome enters it — a drop, an interception and a 40-yard touchdown on the same throw all count identically — which is why the word is intended.
Quarterback Intended Air Yards — 2026 leaders
| # | Player | IAY | IAY/Att | Att | Cmp | Yds | PACR | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jordan Love | 3,239 | 9.50 | 341 | 215 | 2,618 | 0.81 | Read |
| 2 | Dak Prescott | 2,762 | 8.22 | 336 | 218 | 2,381 | 0.86 | Read |
| 3 | C.J. Stroud | 2,687 | 9.53 | 282 | 181 | 2,251 | 0.84 | Read |
| 4 | Matthew Stafford | 2,603 | 7.52 | 346 | 230 | 2,374 | 0.91 | Read |
| 5 | Kirk Cousins | 2,525 | 8.02 | 315 | 202 | 2,340 | 0.93 | Read |
| 6 | Drake Maye | 2,485 | 9.14 | 272 | 178 | 2,282 | 0.92 | Read |
| 7 | Bryce Young | 2,474 | 8.03 | 308 | 186 | 2,197 | 0.89 | Read |
| 8 | Tyler Shough | 2,363 | 7.67 | 308 | 204 | 1,986 | 0.84 | Read |
| 9 | Daniel Jones | 2,245 | 7.43 | 302 | 182 | 1,722 | 0.77 | Read |
| 10 | Joe Burrow | 2,227 | 7.52 | 296 | 219 | 2,386 | 1.07 | Read |
Why it matters
It separates what an offense tried from what it got. Two quarterbacks can finish within a hundred passing yards of each other and be a thousand apart here, and that gap is the appetite for throwing downfield rather than any measure of accuracy. In 2025 Stafford and the Rams led at 5,428; the Raiders were last at 3,208, a difference of more than two thousand yards of intent across the same seventeen games. Divide by attempts and you get the per-throw version, which is the same idea as a quarterback's average depth of target and is the number to read when volume would otherwise decide the list.
The counter
It is a measure of ambition, not of quality. A quarterback can lead the league in intended air yards by throwing deep and missing, and the total rewards whoever attempted the most passes.
More football stats explained
- EPA (expected points added)
- EPA per dropback
- Success rate
- CPOE (completion percentage over expected)
- ANY/A (adjusted net yards per attempt)
- RYOE (rushing yards over expected)
- Target share
- Air yards share
- WOPR (weighted opportunity rating)
- aDOT (average depth of target)
- YAC over expected
- Separation
- Pressure rate
- Blitz rate
- Man and zone coverage splits
- PROE (pass rate over expected)
- Stacked box rate
- Half-PPR (and how it differs from full PPR)
- The usage gap (snaps versus production)
- Pythagorean wins
- Stickiness (what repeats and what does not)
- Snap share
- Pass-snap share
- YPRR (yards per route run)
- Availability (the “stayed” rate)
- Handcuff
- Play-action rate
- Pre-snap motion rate
- Drop rate
- Contested catch rate
- Interception-worthy throws
- Quarterback-fault sacks
- Deep ball rate
- QB Composite Rating
- Screen pass rate
- No-huddle rate
- RPO rate
- Light box rate
- Throwaway rate
- Catchable throw rate
- Out-of-pocket rate
- Time to throw
- Aggressiveness
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