NFL Career Passing Yards Leaders Through 1978
These are the NFL career record holders through the 1978 season. See current passing yards leaders or select another stat or year:
Leaders through 1978
| Rank | Current | Player (age) | Yds | Tm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | Fran Tarkenton | 47003 | 2TM |
| 2 | 25 | Johnny Unitas | 40239 | 2TM |
| 3 | 43 | John Hadl | 33503 | 4TM |
| 4 | 46 | Y.A. Tittle | 33070 | 3TM |
| 5 | 51 | Sonny Jurgensen | 32224 | 2TM |
| 6 | 53 | John Brodie | 31548 | sfo |
| 7 | 55 | Norm Snead | 30797 | 5TM |
| 8 | 60 | Roman Gabriel | 29444 | 2TM |
| 9 | 64 | Len Dawson | 28711 | 3TM |
| 10 | 72 | Joe Namath | 27663 | 2TM |
| 11 | 40 | Jim Hart | 26990 | crd |
| 12 | 74 | George Blanda | 26920 | 4TM |
| 13 | 76 | Bobby Layne | 26768 | 4TM |
| 14 | 87 | Bart Starr | 24718 | gnb |
| 15 | 88 | Charley Johnson | 24410 | 3TM |
| 16 | 96 | Norm Van Brocklin | 23611 | 2TM |
| 17 | 97 | Otto Graham | 23584 | cle |
| 18 | 103 | Babe Parilli | 22681 | 5TM |
| 19 | 83 | Bob Griese | 22142 | mia |
| 20 | 108 | Sammy Baugh | 21886 | was |
| 21 | 113 | Jack Kemp | 21218 | 3TM |
| 22 | 117 | Earl Morrall | 20809 | 6TM |
| 23 | 120 | Billy Kilmer | 20495 | 3TM |
| 24 | 71 | Craig Morton | 19744 | 3TM |
| 25 | 125 | Charlie Conerly | 19488 | nyg |
| 26 | 129 | Daryle Lamonica | 19154 | 2TM |
| 27 | 102 | Roger Staubach | 19114 | dal |
| 28 | 130 | Tobin Rote | 18850 | 4TM |
| 29 | 131 | Billy Wade | 18530 | 2TM |
| 30 | 48 | Ken Anderson | 17690 | cin |
| 31 | 146 | Milt Plum | 17536 | 4TM |
| 32 | 150 | Don Meredith | 17199 | dal |
| 33 | 69 | Terry Bradshaw | 16194 | pit |
| 34 | 159 | Frank Ryan | 16042 | 3TM |
| 35 | 163 | Ed Brown | 15600 | 3TM |
| 36 | 70 | Ken Stabler | 15463 | rai |
| 37 | 132 | Dan Pastorini | 14774 | oti |
| 38 | 173 | Sid Luckman | 14686 | chi |
| 39 | 178 | Bill Nelsen | 14165 | 2TM |
| 40 | 181 | Eddie LeBaron | 13399 | 2TM |
| 92 | Archie Manning | 13399 | nor | |
| 41 | 78 | Jim Plunkett | 13217 | 2TM |
| 42 | 185 | Bill Munson | 12865 | 5TM |
| 43 | 158 | Greg Landry | 12451 | det |
| 44 | 191 | Tom Flores | 11959 | 3TM |
| 45 | 192 | Bob Waterfield | 11849 | ram |
| 46 | 194 | Cotton Davidson | 11760 | 3TM |
| 47 | 58 | Joe Ferguson | 10978 | buf |
| 48 | 198 | Mike Livingston | 10826 | kan |
| 49 | 205 | Frankie Albert | 10795 | sfo |
| 50 | 134 | Bert Jones | 10792 | clt |
| 51 | 21 | Dan Fouts | 10657 | sdg |
| 52 | 210 | George Ratterman | 10473 | 3TM |
| 53 | 212 | Tommy Thompson | 10385 | 2TM |
| 54 | 213 | Zeke Bratkowski | 10345 | 3TM |
| 55 | 214 | Frank Tripucka | 10282 | 4TM |
| 56 | 221 | Bobby Thomason | 9480 | 3TM |
| 57 | 222 | Lamar McHan | 9449 | 4TM |
| 58 | 227 | Bob Berry | 9197 | 2TM |
| 59 | 75 | Steve Grogan | 8865 | nwe |
| 60 | 232 | Jim Finks | 8622 | pit |
| 61 | 234 | Rudy Bukich | 8433 | 4TM |
| 62 | 235 | Randy Johnson | 8329 | 4TM |
| 63 | 238 | Pete Beathard | 8176 | 4TM |
| 64 | 209 | Mike Phipps | 8170 | 2TM |
| 65 | 239 | James Harris | 8098 | 3TM |
| 66 | 241 | Arnie Herber | 8041 | 2TM |
| 67 | 246 | Al Dorow | 7708 | 4TM |
| 68 | 114 | Jim Zorn | 7541 | sea |
| 69 | Gary Cuozzo | 7402 | 4TM | |
| 70 | Paul Christman | 7294 | 2TM | |
| 71 | 93 | Brian Sipe | 7282 | cle |
| 72 | Dick Wood | 7153 | 5TM | |
| 73 | Jim Ninowski | 7133 | 4TM | |
| 74 | Adrian Burk | 7001 | 2TM | |
| 75 | Steve Spurrier | 6878 | 2TM | |
| 76 | Bobby Douglass | 6493 | 4TM | |
| 77 | Steve Ramsey | 6437 | 2TM | |
| 78 | Dennis Shaw | 6347 | 2TM | |
| 79 | Johnny Lujack | 6295 | chi |

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