Quarterbacks vs the Blitz Leaders
Quarterbacks vs the Blitz — 2023 NFL leaders, updated Oct 2, 2026. Kirk Cousins (MIN) led the league in blitz rate faced at 35.6%, ahead of 28 other qualifying players. Based on verified play-level charting from FTN Data via nflverse, regular season only. Through the 2023 season.
This board ranks quarterbacks by how often they were blitzed: the share of their charted dropbacks against five or more pass rushers, the same definition the defensive blitz rate board uses. Beside it sit his expected points added per dropback with and without a blitz, from nflverse play-by-play. Rank 1 faced the blitz most often, which says more about the defenses he met than about him; the two expected-points columns are where his answer to it shows. In season every figure here is season to date, and before Week 4 it rests on two or three games — a gap of a few points between neighbours is noise until the sample grows.
| # | Player | Blitzed% | EPA/DB vs Blitz | EPA/DB No Blitz | Blitzed | DB | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirk Cousins | 35.6% | 0.08 | 0.05 | 116 | 326 | |
| 2 | Gardner Minshew | 34.0% | -0.01 | -0.01 | 178 | 524 | |
| 3 | Lamar Jackson | 33.3% | 0.14 | 0.07 | 164 | 493 | |
| 4 | Justin Herbert | 31.8% | 0.11 | -0.02 | 154 | 485 | |
| 5 | Jalen Hurts | 31.7% | -0.09 | 0.15 | 182 | 574 | |
| 6 | Jordan Love | 31.6% | 0.15 | 0.13 | 192 | 607 | |
| 7 | Jared Goff | 30.7% | 0.14 | 0.10 | 194 | 631 | |
| 8 | Justin Fields | 30.2% | -0.17 | -0.08 | 125 | 414 | |
| 9 | Matthew Stafford | 28.6% | -0.09 | 0.15 | 157 | 548 | |
| 10 | Desmond Ridder | 28.3% | 0.12 | -0.18 | 118 | 417 | |
| 11 | Brock Purdy | 27.9% | 0.35 | 0.28 | 131 | 469 | |
| 12 | Russell Wilson | 27.7% | -0.18 | -0.04 | 135 | 488 | |
| 13 | Aidan O'Connell | 27.3% | -0.04 | -0.06 | 100 | 366 | |
| 14 | Bryce Young | 26.4% | -0.40 | -0.24 | 155 | 588 | |
| 15 | Derek Carr | 26.4% | 0.08 | 0.03 | 153 | 579 | |
| 16 | Dak Prescott | 26.2% | 0.30 | 0.13 | 165 | 629 | |
| 17 | Geno Smith | 26.2% | -0.13 | 0.13 | 138 | 526 | |
| 18 | Zach Wilson | 25.8% | -0.15 | -0.30 | 106 | 411 | |
| 19 | Kenny Pickett | 25.1% | -0.19 | -0.11 | 87 | 346 | |
| 20 | Sam Howell | 25.1% | -0.18 | -0.17 | 170 | 677 | |
| 21 | C.J. Stroud | 24.5% | 0.01 | 0.14 | 130 | 531 | |
| 22 | Josh Allen | 24.1% | -0.13 | 0.20 | 145 | 601 | |
| 23 | Mac Jones | 22.6% | -0.19 | -0.18 | 83 | 367 | |
| 24 | Joe Burrow | 20.1% | 0.08 | -0.02 | 78 | 388 | |
| 25 | Joshua Dobbs | 19.5% | -0.29 | -0.15 | 87 | 447 | |
| 26 | Tua Tagovailoa | 19.4% | 0.29 | 0.17 | 114 | 587 | |
| 27 | Patrick Mahomes | 19.0% | 0.01 | 0.05 | 118 | 622 | |
| 28 | Trevor Lawrence | 18.9% | -0.17 | -0.01 | 113 | 599 | |
| 29 | Baker Mayfield | 18.3% | 0.15 | 0.04 | 111 | 606 |
Other seasons
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Both men's 2025 production side by side, and which of them rests on inputs that historically repeat.
More leaderboards
- 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
- Quarterback Intended Air Yards
- 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
- Throwaway Rate
- Catchable Throw Rate
- Out-of-Pocket Rate
- Time to Throw
- Aggressiveness
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