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I don’t Know about you, but I think the best word in any human language is ‘Unknown’! I spent 46 years in education, the last 20 or so as an administrator and I wish I had a nickel for every time I answered a teacher or student question with, ‘I don’t know, let’s find out’! If I had that, ‘them nickels’, I would own 2/3’s of Wisconsin!

So with that in mind, one of the things I knew and then forgot about (forgetting is a lot like not knowing) was how QB ratings are determined in the college game, and then, how it differs (if it differs) from how it is determined at in the NFL? So I sat down today, after I got back from a visit with the grand kids, and now, it is no longer an unknown!

First let’s do college, after all this is a college football site! The NFL can get a number and get in line!

There are 7 steps to determine a QB rating via the NCAA formula:

1. The QB’s passing yards X 8.4
2. The number of TD’s the QB has thrown X 330
3. The Quarterback’s completions x 100
4. You now add A, B, & C to get a total!
5. Now factor in the INT’s the QB has thrown and X them by 200
6. You now subtract the INT total from your first total (steps 1, 2, & 3)!
7. You now divide the #6’s total, by the number of QB attempts (passes thrown)

Let’s take a few QB numbers and will do a walk through!

Mississippi’s Jackson Dart had the highest rating of any QB for the 2024 season. So here’s Jackson

1. JD passed for 4279 yards, so we times it by 8.4 and our 1st number is 35,943.60
2. Dart hit on 29 TD’s in 2024, we times 29 TD’s by 330 and we now have our 2nd number, 9,570.
3. He hit his target (completions) 276 times, which we times by 100 and we arrive at our 3rd number, 27,600.
4. We now add the three sub-totals together to get our first total, 73,113.60
5. JD threw 6 INT’s which we times by 200 and get a second total of 1200
6. We now subtract the 1200 from our 1st total of, 73,113.60 and we have our final number, 71,913.60!
7. We now divide 71,913.60 by the number of attempts (passes thrown) Dart had in 2024, 398 attempts. Jackson’s’ QB Rating was 180.69!

If you go to the NCAA web site listed below you will find, Jackson Dart, at the top of the page, listed at 180.69.

https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/individual/8

Let’s do another high profile QB this season, Ohio State’s, Will Howard!

1. Will passes for 4,010 yards, so we times it by 8.4 and our 1st # is 33,684.
2. Howard threw for 35 TD’s in 2024, so we times 35 by 330 and we get a second number, 11,550.
3. He completed 309 passes which we multiply by 100 in our formula and we arrives at our 3rd number, 30,900.
4. We now add our sub-totals and we get our 1st composite total of 76,134.0
5. Next we identify the number of INT Howard threw in 2024; he hit the wrong color jersey 10 times. Ten picks times 200, equals 2000.
6. We now subtract 2000 from our 1st total of 76,134 and we end up with 74,134.
7. Finally, we divide 74,134 by the number of passes Will threw in 2024, 423 / into 74,134. Howard’s QBR was 175.26 / 3rd best in the country!

Finally, since Sully’s College Football Page (SCFP) is located in Wisconsin, let’s take a peek at our own QB, Braedyn Locke.

1. Braedyn passed for 1,936 yards and as before, we times the number by 8.4, which equates to 16,262.4
2. Locke threw 13 TD’s, which we times by 330 to get a total of 4,290.
3. He completed 164 passes and in our formula, we multiply the 164 by 100 and get our 3rd sub-total of 16,400.
4. The 3 sub-totals equal a composite score of 36,952.4.
5. Locke threw 10 INT’s, times 200 and we end up at 2,000.
6. We now subtract 2000 from 36,952.4 and our final total is 34,952.4
7. Braedyn passed the ball 296 times in 2024, which we divide into 34,952.4 and we arrive at Locke’s QBR of 118.08 or 112th best in the nation!

The NFL system seems much more involved, at least to a Mental Math Midget like myself!

1. The NFL takes a QB’s completions and divides them by his attempts (passes thrown), it then subtracts from that number by 0.3, and then times the quotient by 5. This gives you your 1st number.
2. In their 2nd step , they divide a QB total passing yards by, again, their attempts. They now subtract 3 from the passing yards/by attempts from the quotient, and then times that number by 0.25.
3. In step three, they divide the QB’s TD passes by his total attempts and then times that number by 20.
4. You take 2.375 and hold on to it, while you complete the what is in the brackets 1st. U divide INT’s by attempts, times that number by 25, and then subtract the 2.375!
5. You take the 4 sub-totals listed above, add them together, divide the total by 6 and then times that number by 100. You now have your QB rating

Ok, let’s do a NFL QB to see if I can unconfused you! How about we do KC’s Patrick Mahomes .

1. Patrick completed 392 passes / attempted 581 = 0.675, we now subtract 0.3 which leaves us with 0.375. Now we times the 0.375 number by 5 and we have our 1st number, 1.8750
2. Mahomes passed for 3928 yards in 2024, so we divide that number by his attempts, 581, and we get 6.76 YPA. We now subtract 3 and we are left with 3.76 which we now multiply by 0.25 and we get our 2nd number of .94.
3. In the NFL’s 3rd step, we divide TD’s by, again, attempts. Patrick threw 26 Touchdowns which we divide by his attempts of 581, this leaves us with 0.045. Now we multiply the 0.045 by 20 and we get a response of 0.900
4. In our fourth phase, we take a look at INT’s and find that Mahomes threw11 picks in 2024, again we divide by attempts, 581 and we arrive at 0.0189. In the NFL’s Formula, you now multiply this number (0.0189) by 25 and get 0.4725, which we subtract 2.375 and get our fourth number of 1.9025
5. We now add our 4 totals together, 1.8750, .94, .900, & 1.9025 = 5.615. We then divide by 6 which = .935 / Now X by 100 = our QB rating for Mahomes is 93.5

In the likelihood , you doubt my findings (I did as well) here is a site that shows you NFL QB Ratings for 2024

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/stats/player/passing/nfl/regular/qualifiers/

I was asked about this yesterday and while I used to do this back in 2009 & 2010, I really had little to nothing to offer how the NCAA / NFL Formulas worked and or how they were different Not anymore!

And now … you know as well!