Quarterback Intended Air Yards Leaders
Quarterback Intended Air Yards — 2026 NFL leaders, updated Oct 17, 2026. Matthew Stafford (LAR) threw for the most intended air yards in the league at 1,871 across 31 qualifying players. Based on verified 2026 play-by-play data (nflverse); Half-PPR scoring. Through Week 6 of the 2026 season, with Sunday, Sunday night and Monday night still to come.
Intended air yards add up the distance each pass travelled past the line of scrimmage, whether it was caught, dropped or thrown away. Because the receiver is left out of it entirely, the total is a record of what a quarterback and his coordinator tried to do rather than what came of it: two passers can finish within a hundred yards of each other and be a thousand apart here, and the gap is the offense's appetite for throwing downfield. Read the per-attempt figure next to the total — the total rewards volume, the rate does not.
| # | Player | Δ WK | G | IAY | IAY/Att | Att | Cmp | Yds | PACR | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Stafford | No change | 5 | 1,871 | 8.66 | 216 | 139 | 1,572 | 0.84 | Read |
| 2 | C.J. Stroud | No change | 5 | 1,777 | 9.61 | 185 | 119 | 1,402 | 0.79 | Read |
| 3 | Tyler Shough | No change | 5 | 1,631 | 7.96 | 205 | 137 | 1,299 | 0.80 | Read |
| 4 | Jordan Love | No change | 5 | 1,611 | 8.71 | 185 | 112 | 1,408 | 0.87 | Read |
| 5 | Aaron Rodgers | No change | 5 | 1,575 | 8.56 | 184 | 110 | 1,234 | 0.78 | Read |
| 6 | Jared Goff | No change; did not play this week | 5 | 1,512 | 7.92 | 191 | 128 | 1,485 | 0.98 | Read |
| 7 | Bryce Young | No change | 4 | 1,459 | 9.01 | 162 | 101 | 1,268 | 0.87 | Read |
| 8 | Dak Prescott | No change | 5 | 1,441 | 7.51 | 192 | 129 | 1,381 | 0.96 | Read |
| 9 | Jacoby Brissett | No change | 5 | 1,421 | 7.14 | 199 | 132 | 1,110 | 0.78 | Read |
| 10 | Kirk Cousins | No change | 5 | 1,410 | 8.20 | 172 | 112 | 1,269 | 0.90 | Read |
| 11 | Drake Maye | No change | 5 | 1,386 | 9.18 | 151 | 99 | 1,228 | 0.89 | Read |
| 12 | Joe Burrow | No change; did not play this week | 5 | 1,352 | 7.15 | 189 | 135 | 1,361 | 1.01 | Read |
| 13 | Malik Willis | No change; did not play this week | 5 | 1,342 | 10.32 | 130 | 73 | 849 | 0.63 | Read |
| 14 | Josh Allen | No change | 5 | 1,309 | 9.49 | 138 | 91 | 1,249 | 0.95 | Read |
| 15 | Daniel Jones | No change | 5 | 1,280 | 7.27 | 176 | 108 | 1,021 | 0.80 | Read |
| 16 | Jameis Winston | No change | 5 | 1,270 | 9.62 | 132 | 76 | 805 | 0.63 | |
| 17 | Justin Herbert | No change | 5 | 1,203 | 8.41 | 143 | 85 | 937 | 0.78 | Read |
| 18 | Jalen Hurts | No change | 5 | 1,159 | 7.53 | 154 | 89 | 933 | 0.81 | Read |
| 19 | Trevor Lawrence | No change | 5 | 1,124 | 7.86 | 143 | 96 | 1,174 | 1.04 | Read |
| 20 | Brock Purdy | No change | 5 | 1,103 | 7.77 | 142 | 98 | 1,196 | 1.08 | Read |
| 21 | Cam Ward | No change | 5 | 1,079 | 6.96 | 155 | 98 | 896 | 0.83 | Read |
| 22 | Sam Darnold | Up 7 places, from 29 | 6 | 1,077 | 7.23 | 149 | 90 | 1,033 | 0.96 | Read |
| 23 | Deshaun Watson | Down 1 place, from 22 | 5 | 1,059 | 7.16 | 148 | 95 | 1,010 | 0.95 | Read |
| 24 | Geno Smith | Down 1 place, from 23 | 5 | 1,000 | 6.80 | 147 | 102 | 1,084 | 1.08 | Read |
| 25 | Lamar Jackson | Down 1 place, from 24 | 5 | 972 | 10.12 | 96 | 68 | 967 | 0.99 | Read |
| 26 | Bo Nix | Up 1 place, from 27 | 6 | 929 | 4.92 | 189 | 114 | 1,049 | 1.13 | Read |
| 27 | Patrick Mahomes | Down 2 places, from 25 | 4 | 891 | 6.96 | 128 | 82 | 1,037 | 1.16 | Read |
| 28 | Baker Mayfield | Down 2 places, from 26 | 5 | 852 | 8.88 | 96 | 61 | 615 | 0.72 | Read |
| 29 | Jayden Daniels | Down 1 place, from 28 | 5 | 673 | 8.86 | 76 | 46 | 459 | 0.68 | Read |
| 30 | Kyler Murray | No change; did not play this week | 5 | 634 | 6.28 | 101 | 69 | 662 | 1.04 | Read |
| 31 | Michael Penix Jr. | No change | 5 | 490 | 6.36 | 77 | 52 | 719 | 1.47 | Read |
Other seasons
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Both men's 2025 production side by side, and which of them rests on inputs that historically repeat.
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- Rushing Yards Over Expected
- Target Share
- Running Back Receiving Efficiency
- Completion Percentage Over Expected
- Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt
- Quarterback Pressure Rate
- Defensive Blitz Rate
- Quarterbacks vs Man and Zone Coverage
- Pass Rate Over Expected
- Clean-Core Rating
- Usage vs Production
- Team Expected Points Added
- Quarterback EPA per Dropback
- QB Composite Rating
- Air Yards Share
- Stacked Box Rate
- Regression Flags
- Weighted Opportunity Rating
- Snap Share
- Pass-Snap Share
- Receiving Yards per Pass Snap
- Availability
- Tight End Receiving Efficiency
- Tight End Average Depth of Target
- Stat Stickiness
- Play-Action Rate
- Pre-Snap Motion Rate
- Drop Rate
- Contested Catch Rate
- Interception-Worthy Throw Rate
- Quarterback-Fault Sack Rate
- Team Air Yards and Passing Volume
- Receiver Separation and Cushion
- Wide Receiver Receiving Efficiency
- Team Success Rate and Explosive Play Rate
- Goal-Line Usage
- Quarterback Deep Ball
- Team Pace
- Screen Pass Rate
- No-Huddle Rate
- RPO Rate
- Light Box Rate
- Quarterbacks vs the Blitz
- Throwaway Rate
- Catchable Throw Rate
- Out-of-Pocket Rate
- Time to Throw
- Aggressiveness
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