Quarterback EPA per Dropback Leaders
Quarterback EPA per Dropback — 2017 NFL leaders, updated Sep 29, 2026. Tom Brady (NE) led the league in expected points added per dropback at 0.22, ahead of 35 other qualifying players. Based on verified 2017 play-by-play data (nflverse); Half-PPR scoring. Through the 2017 season.
Expected points added per dropback asks what each pass attempt was worth; success rate asks how often the attempt simply worked, with no credit for the size of the gain. Read them together. A quarterback high in the first and low in the second lives on explosive plays and disappears for stretches; high in both is the profile of an offense that stays on schedule. The dropback is the honest denominator because it charges a passer for the snaps that never became throws — a sack and a scramble are both quarterback outcomes, and a passer whose per-attempt line looks tidy because he takes the sack instead of testing the coverage is exactly who this separates.
| # | Player | DB | EPA/DB | Success% | Total EPA | Scr% | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Brady | 624 | 0.22 | 50.3% | 139.8 | 1.0% | |
| 2 | Carson Wentz | 501 | 0.21 | 47.9% | 104.9 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Alex Smith | 573 | 0.19 | 48.2% | 106.5 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Philip Rivers | 594 | 0.18 | 48.0% | 109.3 | 0.3% | |
| 5 | Deshaun Watson | 242 | 0.16 | 47.5% | 38.7 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Jared Goff | 510 | 0.16 | 45.1% | 80.3 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Drew Brees | 558 | 0.15 | 49.6% | 86.3 | 0.9% | |
| 8 | Ben Roethlisberger | 592 | 0.15 | 50.0% | 90.5 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Matt Ryan | 567 | 0.15 | 49.6% | 86.4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Case Keenum | 523 | 0.13 | 47.6% | 67.3 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | Aaron Rodgers | 277 | 0.10 | 49.5% | 28.9 | 5.8% | |
| 12 | Jameis Winston | 497 | 0.08 | 50.9% | 41.9 | 4.6% | |
| 13 | Blake Bortles | 574 | 0.07 | 46.0% | 39.7 | 4.2% | |
| 14 | Russell Wilson | 650 | 0.07 | 46.2% | 42.5 | 8.2% | |
| 15 | Matthew Stafford | 632 | 0.06 | 45.6% | 38.7 | 2.7% | |
| 16 | Josh McCown | 446 | 0.04 | 45.1% | 19.6 | 3.1% | |
| 17 | Tyrod Taylor | 506 | 0.04 | 42.3% | 20.1 | 7.9% | |
| 18 | Cam Newton | 558 | 0.02 | 43.2% | 10.6 | 5.6% | |
| 19 | Kirk Cousins | 604 | 0.01 | 44.9% | 6.6 | 3.8% | |
| 20 | Derek Carr | 546 | 0.00 | 43.4% | 0.0 | 1.6% | |
| 21 | Marcus Mariota | 501 | -0.03 | 43.7% | -13.0 | 4.4% | |
| 22 | Dak Prescott | 555 | -0.04 | 43.1% | -20.2 | 5.8% | |
| 23 | Carson Palmer | 291 | -0.06 | 43.3% | -18.1 | 0.3% | |
| 24 | Andy Dalton | 545 | -0.08 | 40.9% | -42.9 | 2.0% | |
| 25 | Jacoby Brissett | 559 | -0.08 | 39.7% | -46.7 | 7.2% | |
| 26 | Joe Flacco | 580 | -0.09 | 41.7% | -54.0 | 1.0% | |
| 27 | Jay Cutler | 455 | -0.09 | 42.0% | -42.5 | 1.3% | |
| 28 | Mitchell Trubisky | 381 | -0.10 | 39.6% | -38.4 | 5.3% | |
| 29 | Eli Manning | 611 | -0.10 | 43.4% | -61.6 | 0.8% | |
| 30 | Brian Hoyer | 229 | -0.12 | 38.4% | -28.3 | 0.4% | |
| 31 | Trevor Siemian | 408 | -0.14 | 40.0% | -55.1 | 5.9% | |
| 32 | Brett Hundley | 367 | -0.16 | 40.6% | -57.7 | 5.7% | |
| 33 | C.J. Beathard | 254 | -0.19 | 39.0% | -49.2 | 4.7% | |
| 34 | Tom Savage | 245 | -0.20 | 38.8% | -49.4 | 0.8% | |
| 35 | DeShone Kizer | 558 | -0.20 | 35.7% | -114.1 | 8.1% | |
| 36 | Blaine Gabbert | 208 | -0.26 | 38.0% | -53.4 | 6.7% |
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- Interception-Worthy Throw Rate
- Quarterback-Fault Sack Rate
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