Quarterback Intended Air Yards Leaders
Quarterback Intended Air Yards — 2020 NFL leaders, updated Sep 29, 2026. Tom Brady (TB) threw for the most intended air yards in the league at 5,532 across 36 qualifying players. Based on verified 2020 play-by-play data (nflverse); Half-PPR scoring. Through the 2020 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 | Tom Brady | 5,532 | 9.07 | 610 | 401 | 4,633 | 0.84 | |
| 2 | Matt Ryan | 5,342 | 8.53 | 626 | 407 | 4,581 | 0.86 | |
| 3 | Patrick Mahomes | 4,917 | 8.36 | 588 | 390 | 4,740 | 0.96 | |
| 4 | Josh Allen | 4,857 | 8.49 | 572 | 396 | 4,544 | 0.94 | |
| 5 | Deshaun Watson | 4,842 | 8.90 | 544 | 382 | 4,823 | 1.00 | |
| 6 | Russell Wilson | 4,809 | 8.62 | 558 | 384 | 4,212 | 0.88 | |
| 7 | Matthew Stafford | 4,609 | 8.73 | 528 | 339 | 4,084 | 0.89 | |
| 8 | Justin Herbert | 4,368 | 7.34 | 595 | 396 | 4,336 | 0.99 | |
| 9 | Kyler Murray | 4,355 | 7.80 | 558 | 375 | 3,971 | 0.91 | |
| 10 | Ben Roethlisberger | 4,225 | 6.95 | 608 | 399 | 3,803 | 0.90 | |
| 11 | Derek Carr | 4,184 | 8.09 | 517 | 348 | 4,103 | 0.98 | |
| 12 | Aaron Rodgers | 4,135 | 7.86 | 526 | 372 | 4,299 | 1.04 | |
| 13 | Baker Mayfield | 4,135 | 8.51 | 486 | 305 | 3,563 | 0.86 | |
| 14 | Kirk Cousins | 4,103 | 7.95 | 516 | 349 | 4,265 | 1.04 | |
| 15 | Ryan Tannehill | 4,024 | 8.37 | 481 | 315 | 3,819 | 0.95 | |
| 16 | Drew Lock | 3,908 | 8.82 | 443 | 254 | 2,933 | 0.75 | |
| 17 | Philip Rivers | 3,888 | 7.16 | 543 | 369 | 4,169 | 1.07 | |
| 18 | Carson Wentz | 3,871 | 8.86 | 437 | 251 | 2,620 | 0.68 | |
| 19 | Jared Goff | 3,579 | 6.48 | 552 | 370 | 3,952 | 1.10 | |
| 20 | Teddy Bridgewater | 3,507 | 7.13 | 492 | 340 | 3,733 | 1.06 | |
| 21 | Joe Burrow | 3,429 | 8.49 | 404 | 264 | 2,688 | 0.78 | |
| 22 | Daniel Jones | 3,402 | 7.59 | 448 | 280 | 2,943 | 0.86 | |
| 23 | Lamar Jackson | 3,248 | 8.64 | 376 | 242 | 2,757 | 0.85 | |
| 24 | Sam Darnold | 2,794 | 7.68 | 364 | 217 | 2,208 | 0.79 | |
| 25 | Gardner Minshew | 2,558 | 7.82 | 327 | 216 | 2,259 | 0.88 | |
| 26 | Nick Foles | 2,502 | 8.02 | 312 | 202 | 1,852 | 0.74 | |
| 27 | Cam Newton | 2,496 | 6.78 | 368 | 242 | 2,657 | 1.06 | |
| 28 | Drew Brees | 2,361 | 6.05 | 390 | 275 | 2,942 | 1.25 | |
| 29 | Mitchell Trubisky | 2,325 | 7.83 | 297 | 199 | 2,055 | 0.88 | |
| 30 | Andy Dalton | 2,289 | 6.87 | 333 | 216 | 2,170 | 0.95 | |
| 31 | Tua Tagovailoa | 2,175 | 7.50 | 290 | 186 | 1,814 | 0.83 | |
| 32 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | 2,080 | 7.79 | 267 | 183 | 2,091 | 1.00 | |
| 33 | Nick Mullens | 2,053 | 6.30 | 326 | 211 | 2,437 | 1.19 | |
| 34 | Dak Prescott | 1,762 | 7.94 | 222 | 151 | 1,856 | 1.05 | |
| 35 | Dwayne Haskins | 1,622 | 6.73 | 241 | 148 | 1,439 | 0.89 | |
| 36 | Alex Smith | 1,286 | 5.10 | 252 | 168 | 1,582 | 1.23 |
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- Target Share
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- 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
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