2023 season · Quarterbacks, 36+ deep attempts through Week 3, 35 qualifiers

Quarterback Deep Ball Leaders

Name: Quarterback Deep Ball — 2023 NFL Leaders
Creator: Muffed
License: https://muffed.ai/methodology

Quarterback Deep Ball — 2023 NFL leaders, updated Sep 29, 2026. Brock Purdy (SF) led the league in deep-ball expected points added per attempt at 1.26, ahead of 34 other qualifying players. Based on verified 2023 play-by-play data (nflverse); Half-PPR scoring. Through the 2023 season.

Who led the NFL in deep ball EPA in 2023?Who led the NFL in deep attempt rate in 2023?Who led the NFL in deep completion percentage in 2023?

A deep ball is defined by where it was aimed, not by where it ended up: 20 or more air yards past the line of scrimmage, caught, dropped or overthrown. That is why the split is worth its own page. A completion rate near 50 percent down here is excellent where the same number on a full passing line would be alarming, and the expected-points column is the one that settles arguments, because a deep incompletion costs an offense almost nothing while a deep completion is often the whole drive. Read the rate column last: how often a quarterback goes deep is mostly his coordinator's decision, and it belongs next to how well it went rather than inside it.

Quarterback Deep Ball, 2023 NFL season
#	Player	Deep Att	Deep Cmp%	EPA/Att	Deep Yds	Deep Rate
1	Brock PurdySF	47	55.3%	1.26	887	10.6%
2	Tua TagovailoaMIA	64	50.0%	0.93	1,149	11.4%
3	Jake BrowningCIN	24	45.8%	0.91	368	9.8%
4	C.J. StroudHOU	59	49.2%	0.90	1,049	11.7%
5	Dak PrescottDAL	67	49.3%	0.90	990	11.3%
6	Matthew StaffordLAR	59	47.5%	0.87	939	11.3%
7	Kirk CousinsMIN	27	48.1%	0.70	440	8.7%
8	Geno SmithSEA	50	46.0%	0.70	769	10.0%
9	Trevor LawrenceJAX	70	42.9%	0.67	972	12.3%
10	Justin FieldsCHI	54	40.7%	0.67	661	14.5%
11	Derek CarrNO	68	39.7%	0.64	933	12.4%
12	Jared GoffDET	50	48.0%	0.62	814	8.2%
13	Joe FlaccoCLE	30	40.0%	0.56	468	14.6%
14	Desmond RidderATL	46	43.5%	0.45	642	11.8%
15	Jordan LoveGB	77	36.4%	0.42	997	13.3%
16	Bailey ZappeNE	30	33.3%	0.41	308	14.2%
17	Russell WilsonDEN	65	32.3%	0.41	791	14.4%
18	Lamar JacksonBAL	57	31.6%	0.39	669	12.4%
19	Jalen HurtsPHI	68	32.4%	0.35	788	12.6%
20	Justin HerbertLAC	59	32.2%	0.32	589	12.9%
21	Will LevisTEN	57	36.8%	0.30	688	22.3%
22	Gardner MinshewIND	54	37.0%	0.22	715	11.0%
23	Kenny PickettPIT	31	35.5%	0.18	389	9.5%
24	Josh AllenBUF	79	31.6%	0.15	879	13.6%
25	Sam HowellWAS	76	27.6%	0.14	620	12.4%
26	Baker MayfieldTB	79	29.1%	0.13	769	13.9%
27	Joshua DobbsARI	46	30.4%	0.09	428	11.0%
28	Aidan O'ConnellLV	35	31.4%	0.09	345	10.2%
29	Joe BurrowCIN	31	29.0%	0.07	342	8.5%
30	Zach WilsonNYJ	37	32.4%	0.05	355	10.0%
31	Patrick MahomesKC	61	27.9%	0.05	597	10.2%
32	Ryan TannehillTEN	32	31.2%	0.01	375	13.9%
33	Bryce YoungCAR	58	22.4%	-0.40	402	11.0%
34	Kyler MurrayARI	28	32.1%	-0.61	276	10.3%
35	Mac JonesNE	36	8.3%	-0.88	89	10.4%

Sacks are excluded, because a sack has no air yards and is not an attempt. The deep rate divides by the passer's own attempts rather than by his dropbacks for the same reason.

New to this stat? What deep-ball expected points added per attempt means.

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