Time to Throw Leaders
Time to Throw — 2016 NFL leaders, updated Oct 2, 2026. Alex Smith (KC) got the ball out the quickest, 2.38 seconds from snap to throw on average across 33 qualifying players. Based on NFL Next Gen Stats player tracking via nflverse, regular season only. Through the 2016 season.
Time to throw is the average number of seconds from the snap to the moment a quarterback releases a pass, measured by NFL Next Gen Stats player tracking. This board ranks QUICKEST FIRST: rank 1 has the shortest average, which describes an offense built on getting the ball out as much as the passer himself, and a long time to throw is often a quarterback extending plays rather than holding the ball. 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 | TTT | Aggr% | AY to Sticks | Att | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Smith | 2.38 | 16.0% | -1.7 | 489 | |
| 2 | Case Keenum | 2.38 | 23.0% | -0.2 | 322 | |
| 3 | Drew Brees | 2.42 | 17.5% | -1.0 | 673 | |
| 4 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | 2.45 | 20.1% | +1.1 | 403 | |
| 5 | Sam Bradford | 2.48 | 19.4% | -2.0 | 552 | |
| 6 | Carson Palmer | 2.49 | 19.6% | +0.9 | 597 | |
| 7 | Derek Carr | 2.49 | 19.6% | -0.7 | 560 | |
| 8 | Brian Hoyer | 2.49 | 22.0% | -0.8 | 200 | |
| 9 | Andy Dalton | 2.50 | 17.9% | -0.3 | 563 | |
| 10 | Eli Manning | 2.53 | 19.7% | -0.4 | 598 | |
| 11 | Jared Goff | 2.54 | 25.9% | -2.1 | 205 | |
| 12 | Matthew Stafford | 2.54 | 20.6% | -0.8 | 593 | |
| 13 | Tom Brady | 2.56 | 17.6% | -0.5 | 432 | |
| 14 | Joe Flacco | 2.57 | 17.0% | -1.3 | 672 | |
| 15 | Blake Bortles | 2.59 | 23.8% | +0.1 | 625 | |
| 16 | Ben Roethlisberger | 2.59 | 14.7% | +0.7 | 509 | |
| 17 | Ryan Tannehill | 2.60 | 15.7% | -0.9 | 389 | |
| 18 | Russell Wilson | 2.61 | 17.9% | -0.0 | 546 | |
| 19 | Brock Osweiler | 2.62 | 21.4% | +0.8 | 510 | |
| 20 | Matt Ryan | 2.64 | 21.0% | -0.2 | 534 | |
| 21 | Carson Wentz | 2.65 | 21.1% | -1.0 | 607 | |
| 22 | Philip Rivers | 2.65 | 18.7% | -0.0 | 578 | |
| 23 | Matt Barkley | 2.68 | 21.8% | +1.3 | 216 | |
| 24 | Cam Newton | 2.70 | 24.5% | +1.7 | 510 | |
| 25 | Trevor Siemian | 2.72 | 20.4% | +0.3 | 486 | |
| 26 | Marcus Mariota | 2.75 | 20.0% | +0.8 | 451 | |
| 27 | Colin Kaepernick | 2.76 | 13.3% | -0.9 | 331 | |
| 28 | Kirk Cousins | 2.81 | 14.1% | +0.7 | 605 | |
| 29 | Aaron Rodgers | 2.88 | 16.4% | +0.8 | 610 | |
| 30 | Dak Prescott | 2.88 | 20.9% | -0.4 | 459 | |
| 31 | Andrew Luck | 2.88 | 18.7% | -0.1 | 545 | |
| 32 | Jameis Winston | 2.88 | 21.9% | +1.4 | 567 | |
| 33 | Tyrod Taylor | 3.13 | 14.2% | +0.8 | 436 |
Other seasons
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