Football
Yards per Attempt Calculator
Calculate a quarterback's yards per attempt (Y/A) — passing yards earned per pass attempt, including incompletions.
Informational only — not a substitute for official league statistics or professional judgment.
How it's calculated
Assumptions
- Uses plain passing yards and attempts — sack yardage is excluded, unlike the more advanced Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt (ANY/A).
Source: Pro-Football-Reference — Statistics Glossary
Last reviewed: July 2026
Frequently asked questions
What's considered a good yards per attempt?
In the NFL, a season Y/A above 7.5 is considered very good, and above 8.5 is elite. League-average yards per attempt typically sits around 6.8–7.2, and anything under 6.0 over a full season is usually a red flag for a starting quarterback.
How is yards per attempt different from yards per completion?
Yards per attempt divides by every pass attempt, including incompletions, so it penalizes inaccurate quarterbacks even if their completed passes go for big chunks. Yards per completion only counts completed passes in the denominator, which can make a low-volume, low-accuracy passer look more efficient than they actually were.
Does yards per attempt include sack yardage?
No — sacks aren't pass attempts under NFL scoring rules, and sack yardage lost is excluded from this formula entirely. A separate, more advanced stat called Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt (ANY/A) factors in sacks along with touchdowns and interceptions; plain Y/A does not.
Is yards per attempt the same as one of the passer rating components?
It's closely related but not identical. The NFL's official passer rating formula uses a component derived from (Yards ÷ Attempts − 3) × 0.25, clamped to a fixed range — so passer rating incorporates yards per attempt but transforms and caps it rather than reporting the raw figure this calculator shows.
Related tools
Calculate the NFL's official quarterback passer rating from completions, yards, touchdowns, and interceptions.
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