In American football, passing, along with running (also referred to as rushing), is one of the two main methods of advancing the ball down the field. Passes are typically attempted by the quarterback, but any offensive player can attempt a pass provided they are behind the line of scrimmage. To qualify as a passing play, the ball must have initially moved forward after leaving the hands of the passer; if the ball initially moved laterally or backwards, the play would instead be considered a running play. A player who catches a forward pass is a receiver. Passing yards are measured in flat yards along one direction of the field, always starting from the line of scrimmage and ending at the point that the receiver is ruled down. If the receiver reaches the end zone and scores a touchdown, then the yardage measurement ends at the opposing team's goal line (the zero-yard line). Passing yards do not include incomplete throws.
The National Football League (NFL) did not begin keeping official records until the 1932 season. In addition to the overall NFL passing yards leaders, league record books recognize the passing yards leaders of the American Football League (AFL), which operated from 1960 to 1969 before being absorbed into the NFL in 1970.
The record for passing yards in a season is held by Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos who passed for 5,477 yards in 2013. Drew Brees has led the NFL in passing yards in seven seasons, more than any other quarterback in NFL history. Brees has also passed for over 5,000 yards in a season five times, whereas no other player has done so more than twice. Patrick Mahomes led the league in passing yards in 2022 and became the first player in the Super Bowl era to do so and win a league championship in the same season.
NFL annual passing yards leaders
Johnny Unitas, who led the league in passing four times, passed for 3,099 yards in 1960. This marked the first time that a player passed for over 3,000 in a season.Joe Namath was the first player to pass for over 4,000 yards in a season, doing so in the 1967 AFL season.Dan Fouts led the league in four consecutive seasons (1979–1982).In 1984, Dan Marino passed for 5,084 yards, setting the single-season passing yards record. He was the first player to pass for over 5,000 yards in a season and led the league in passing five times.Drew Brees led the league in passing yards in 2006, the first of his record seven times.
Key
Symbol
Meaning
Leader
The player who recorded the most passing yards in the NFL
Yds
The total number of passing yards the player had
GP
The number of games played by a player during the season
