The 2024 National Football League (NFL) regular season is over halfway completed, and the race for a coveted playoff berth is well and truly on. The teams who navigate to the playoffs and then onward to Super Bowl LIX will all share one thing in common: they’ll have a quarterback who enjoyed a productive season.
Although NFL teams are a sum of their parts, the quarterback is the most important position on the football field. Anyone who knows how to bet on NFL games online profitably always checks to see if a team’s first-choice quarterback is fit before parting with their hard-earned cash. Even elite franchises struggle when they don’t have their star man in the pocket.
Quarterbacks are judged across dozens of statistics, including passer rating. A formula uses pass attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns, and interceptions to generate a passer rating between 0 and 158.3. This article looks at the 2024 NFL quarterbacks with the highest passer rating who have attempted at least 100 passes.
Lamar Jackson – Baltimore Ravens
Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens leads the way in the NFL quarterback passer ratings race. The reigning NFL Most Valuable Player is on course to become only the second quarterback to throw 4,000 yards and rush 1,000 yards in a single season. The former 32nd overall pick is the only player in NFL history to throw four perfect 158.3 games!
Through the first nine games of this season, Jackson has completed 174 of his 255 pass attempts (68.2%), throwing for 2,379 yards, 20 touchdowns, and only two interceptions, leading to a 120.7 passer rating. Jackson is deadly when running at defenses, with the dual-threat quarterback racking up 505 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
The Ravens are currently 6-3 in the AFC North and the third-favorite to win Super Bowl LIX behind only the Kansas City Chiefs and the surprise team of 2024, the Detroit Lions.
Jared Goff – Detroit Lions
The Los Angeles Rams selected Jared Goff as the first overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft. Although he put up some impressive numbers, Rams management did not believe Goff was the man to deliver the team a Super Bowl. In 2021, Goff was traded to the Detroit Lions in a massive deal that saw Matthew Stafford head to Los Angeles.
This is Goff’s fourth season in Detroit, and everything is going excellently. In Week 8 against the Tennessee Titans, Goff enjoyed a 149.8 passer rating after completing 80% of his passes for an incredible 680 yards and eight touchdowns! His 2024 figures through eight games read 158 completions from 211 attempts (74.9%), 1,840 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and four interceptions. His passer rating is an impressive 115.0, which has helped the Lions rush to a 7-1 record in the NFC North, the team’s best start since 1956!
Joe Burrow – Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals (4-5) have struggled with consistency throughout the 2024 campaign, but quarterback Joe Burrow is not to blame. Burrow was the first overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, and it is fair to say he has lived up to the hype since. His breakout year in 2021 saw him throw over 4,600 yards and 34 touchdowns, finishing with a 108.3 rating. Burrow finished 2022 with a three-figure passer rating and is on course to do so again in 2023 despite the Bengals’ well-documented struggles.
Burrow has been present in the Bengals’ nine regular-season games in 2024. He has completed 212 of his 302 passing attempts (70.2%) and thrown 2,244 yards for 20 touchdowns and four interceptions. Burrow’s passer rating stands at 108.1, which is impressive considering the Bengals are 4-5 at this stage of the season.
Sam Darnold – Minnesota Vikings
A few eyebrows were raised when the Minnesota Vikings signed Sam Darnold on a one-year deal. Darnold, a former number three pick, has always been a dependable NFL quarterback but one who has never really shone brightly. However, this season, his seventh as a pro, has seen Darnold show why he was so highly rated in college.
The Vikings allowed starting quarterback Kirk Cousins to leave and threw Darnold into the team. Darnold has repaid the faith shown in him by completing 155 of his 223 pass attempts (69.5%), throwing 1,900 yards, 17 touchdowns, and seven interceptions for a 107.8 passer rating. At his current rate, Darnold should break through 3,000 passing yards for only the second time in his career and could eclipse 4,000 yards if things go his way on the football field.
Jayden Daniels – Washington Commanders
The Washington Commanders have been crying out for a top-tier quarterback for several seasons, and they appear to have solved their problem by drafting Jayden Williams. Putting your faith in a rookie quarterback poses a significant risk, but Daniels has taken to professional football like a duck to water.
The Commanders selected Daniels as the second overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft and awarded him a four-year, $37.75 million fully guaranteed contract. Williams’ accuracy has stood out, with the talented youngster completing 163 of his 228 attempts (71.5%) for 1,945 yards, nine touchdowns, and only two interceptions. Daniels has also been productive with the ball on the ground, accumulating 459 yards and scoring four touchdowns.
The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner has won the 2024 Rookie of the Week in six of the season’s nine weeks, the NFC Offensive Player of the Week on Week 3, and the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Month in September. Unsurprisingly, Daniels is the overwhelming favorite to win the coveted 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year.
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