Pressure rate
Pressure rate is the share of dropbacks on which a quarterback was hurried, hit or sacked. The 2025 league rate was 29.8%; Shedeur Sanders of the Browns faced the most at 45.5%, Aaron Rodgers of the Steelers the least at 21.0%.
FTN charts every dropback for whether the passer was disrupted. Pressure rate is those plays divided by all dropbacks. A related figure, pressure-to-sack rate, asks what share of those pressures actually ended in a sack — which is far more about the quarterback than the line.
Quarterback Pressure Rate — 2026 rankings
| # | Player | DB | Press% | Prs→Sk% | EPA/DB | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Rodgers | 538 | 20.8% | 25.9% | 0.08 | Read |
| 2 | Matthew Stafford | 624 | 23.9% | 15.4% | 0.26 | Read |
| 3 | Michael Penix | 303 | 24.1% | 17.8% | 0.08 | Read |
| 4 | Tyler Shough | 376 | 26.1% | 31.6% | 0.08 | Read |
| 5 | Bo Nix | 674 | 26.6% | 12.3% | 0.14 | Read |
| 6 | Josh Allen | 554 | 26.9% | 26.9% | 0.22 | Read |
| 7 | Marcus Mariota | 262 | 27.5% | 22.2% | 0.08 | |
| 8 | Daniel Jones | 431 | 27.8% | 18.3% | 0.20 | Read |
| 9 | Tua Tagovailoa | 426 | 27.9% | 25.2% | 0.07 | Read |
| 10 | Trevor Lawrence | 643 | 28.0% | 22.8% | 0.13 | Read |
Why it matters
Pressure is the largest single swing in passing production: league-wide in 2025, clean dropbacks produced +0.257 expected points added per play and pressured dropbacks -0.464. Splitting pressure rate from pressure-to-sack rate separates the protection from the passer — Brock Purdy of the 49ers turned the smallest share of pressures into sacks at 12.2%, while Geno Smith of the Raiders turned the largest at 31.8%. A passer who escapes pressure keeps his pass catchers in business behind a bad line.
The counter
Charted pressure is a judgment call, and holding the ball longer creates some of it.
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
- 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
- Intended air yards (IAY)
- 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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