Quarterback Intended Air Yards Leaders
Quarterback Intended Air Yards — 2018 NFL leaders, updated Sep 30, 2026. Patrick Mahomes (KC) threw for the most intended air yards in the league at 5,255 across 33 qualifying players. Based on verified 2018 play-by-play data (nflverse); Half-PPR scoring. Through the 2018 season.
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 | IAY | IAY/Att | Att | Cmp | Yds | PACR | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Mahomes | 5,255 | 9.06 | 580 | 383 | 5,097 | 0.97 | |
| 2 | Ben Roethlisberger | 5,254 | 7.78 | 675 | 452 | 5,129 | 0.98 | |
| 3 | Aaron Rodgers | 5,241 | 8.78 | 597 | 372 | 4,442 | 0.85 | |
| 4 | Matt Ryan | 5,201 | 8.55 | 608 | 422 | 4,924 | 0.95 | |
| 5 | Jared Goff | 4,865 | 8.67 | 561 | 364 | 4,688 | 0.96 | |
| 6 | Andrew Luck | 4,770 | 7.46 | 639 | 430 | 4,593 | 0.96 | |
| 7 | Baker Mayfield | 4,515 | 9.29 | 486 | 310 | 3,725 | 0.82 | |
| 8 | Tom Brady | 4,487 | 7.87 | 570 | 375 | 4,355 | 0.97 | |
| 9 | Kirk Cousins | 4,396 | 7.25 | 606 | 425 | 4,298 | 0.98 | |
| 10 | Case Keenum | 4,369 | 7.46 | 586 | 365 | 3,890 | 0.89 | |
| 11 | Deshaun Watson | 4,320 | 8.55 | 505 | 345 | 4,165 | 0.96 | |
| 12 | Eli Manning | 4,229 | 7.34 | 576 | 380 | 4,299 | 1.02 | |
| 13 | Jameis Winston | 4,086 | 10.81 | 378 | 244 | 2,992 | 0.73 | |
| 14 | Dak Prescott | 3,973 | 7.55 | 526 | 356 | 3,885 | 0.98 | |
| 15 | Philip Rivers | 3,948 | 7.77 | 508 | 347 | 4,308 | 1.09 | |
| 16 | Mitchell Trubisky | 3,859 | 8.89 | 434 | 289 | 3,223 | 0.83 | |
| 17 | Matthew Stafford | 3,836 | 6.91 | 555 | 367 | 3,777 | 0.98 | |
| 18 | Russell Wilson | 3,833 | 8.98 | 427 | 280 | 3,448 | 0.90 | |
| 19 | Sam Darnold | 3,832 | 9.26 | 414 | 239 | 2,865 | 0.75 | |
| 20 | Derek Carr | 3,778 | 6.83 | 553 | 381 | 4,049 | 1.07 | |
| 21 | Josh Allen | 3,509 | 11.00 | 319 | 168 | 2,044 | 0.58 | |
| 22 | Drew Brees | 3,502 | 7.16 | 489 | 364 | 3,992 | 1.14 | |
| 23 | Cam Newton | 3,380 | 7.18 | 471 | 320 | 3,395 | 1.00 | |
| 24 | Josh Rosen | 3,262 | 8.30 | 393 | 217 | 2,278 | 0.70 | |
| 25 | Joe Flacco | 3,237 | 8.54 | 379 | 232 | 2,465 | 0.76 | |
| 26 | Carson Wentz | 3,120 | 7.78 | 401 | 279 | 3,074 | 0.98 | |
| 27 | Andy Dalton | 2,947 | 8.07 | 365 | 226 | 2,566 | 0.87 | |
| 28 | Blake Bortles | 2,889 | 7.17 | 403 | 243 | 2,718 | 0.94 | |
| 29 | Alex Smith | 2,650 | 8.08 | 328 | 205 | 2,180 | 0.82 | |
| 30 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | 2,546 | 10.35 | 246 | 164 | 2,366 | 0.93 | |
| 31 | Marcus Mariota | 2,516 | 7.60 | 331 | 228 | 2,528 | 1.00 | |
| 32 | Ryan Tannehill | 2,229 | 8.14 | 274 | 176 | 1,979 | 0.89 | |
| 33 | Nick Mullens | 1,900 | 6.93 | 274 | 176 | 2,277 | 1.20 |
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- Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt
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- Clean-Core Rating
- Usage vs Production
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- Quarterback EPA per Dropback
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- Regression Flags
- Weighted Opportunity Rating
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- Availability
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- 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
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