QBI Reveals QB Truth Beyond Stats | NFL News

0:00It's September 7th. You're listening to NFL News today, AI-powered NFL coverage. We've got a new stat dropping called, Quarterback Index, or QBI. The whole idea is to isolate what a quarterback actually does on the field, stripping away all the noise from his 10 teammates. It looks at passes, runs, sacks, turnovers, and even factors in things like pressure, offensive line quality, receiver drops, and yards after the catch. It's designed to give a clearer picture than just looking at touchdowns or yards. This QBI metric uses play-by-play data and adjusts for the context of each situation, even considering the opponent. It's built on a scale where 100 is considered average quarterback play. So a QBI of 101 means you're looking at a solid starter, while 124 is pro-bow level and 133 is all pro-territory. We've even gone back 20 years of data to set this standard. When you look at the numbers from 2025, some rankings might raise eyebrows.

1:03For instance, Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears landed 23rd. The QBI model wasn't too impressed with his success rate on dropbacks, and it also noted he wasn't as efficient as expected, especially considering. His offensive line was rated the best in the league for pass protection. Beyond just grading pass performance, the QBI is also built to be predictive. It uses historical context and aims to project how quarterbacks will perform in the future. Interestingly, when testing its predictive power, they found it was better to slightly downplay a quarterbacks rookie season, acknowledging that. First year performance isn't always a true indicator of what a player will become. You'll start seeing these QBI rankings pop up weekly in NFL reports. Early on, the numbers might seem a bit wild because the sample size is small, but as the season progresses and more data comes in, the rankings are. Expect it to become more stable and accurate. The hope is that QBI could eventually become the go-to standard for evaluating quarterback play across the league.