The college football landscape has seen its fair share of dominant downfield passers and illustrious passing attacks throughout history. These are the most successful passers in college football history, in terms of the all-time college football passing yard leaders.
Passing Yards Career Leaders
Bowl-game statistics are included for those quarterbacks.
| Rank | Player | Yards | From | To | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Case Keenum | 19217 | 2007 | 2011 | Houston |
| 2 | Timmy Chang | 17072 | 2000 | 2004 | Hawaii |
| 3 | Landry Jones | 16646 | 2009 | 2012 | Oklahoma |
| 4 | Graham Harrell | 15793 | 2005 | 2008 | Texas Tech |
| 5 | Sam Hartman | 15656 | 2018 | 2023 | Notre Dame |
| 6 | Dillon Gabriel | 15488 | 2019 | 2024 | Oregon |
| 7 | Bo Nix | 15351 | 2019 | 2023 | Oregon |
| 8 | Ty Detmer | 15031 | 1988 | 1991 | Brigham Young |
| 9 | Kellen Moore | 14667 | 2008 | 2011 | Boise State |
| 10 | Baker Mayfield | 14607 | 2013 | 2017 | Oklahoma |
| 11 | Luke Falk | 14486 | 2014 | 2017 | Washington State |
| 12 | Colt Brennan | 14193 | 2005 | 2007 | Hawaii |
| 13 | Rakeem Cato | 14079 | 2011 | 2014 | Marshall |
| 14 | Holton Ahlers | 13927 | 2018 | 2022 | East Carolina |
| 15 | Michael Penix Jr. | 13741 | 2018 | 2023 | Washington |
| 16 | Mason Rudolph | 13618 | 2014 | 2017 | Oklahoma State |
| 17 | Sean Mannion | 13600 | 2011 | 2014 | Oregon State |
| 18 | Brett Rypien | 13581 | 2015 | 2018 | Boise State |
| 19 | Philip Rivers | 13484 | 2000 | 2003 | NC State |
| 20 | Corey Robinson | 13477 | 2010 | 2013 | Troy |
| 21 | Colt McCoy | 13253 | 2006 | 2009 | Texas |
| 22 | Aaron Murray | 13166 | 2010 | 2013 | Georgia |
| 23 | Kevin Kolb | 12964 | 2003 | 2006 | Houston |
| 24 | Dan Lefevour | 12905 | 2006 | 2009 | Central Michigan |
| 25 | Cooper Rush | 12894 | 2013 | 2016 | Central Michigan |
| 26 | Brandon Doughty | 12855 | 2011 | 2015 | Western Kentucky |
| 27 | Derek Carr | 12843 | 2009 | 2013 | Fresno State |
| 28 | Will Rogers | 12826 | 2020 | 2024 | Washington |
| 29 | Jayden Daniels | 12749 | 2019 | 2023 | LSU |
| 30 | Tim Rattay | 12746 | 1997 | 1999 | Louisiana Tech |
| 31 | Ryan Lindley | 12690 | 2008 | 2011 | San Diego State |
| 32 | Luke McCown | 12666 | 2000 | 2003 | Louisiana Tech |
| 33 | Chris Redman | 12541 | 1996 | 1999 | Louisville |
| 34 | Chase Daniel | 12515 | 2005 | 2008 | Missouri |
| 35 | Mason Fine | 12505 | 2016 | 2019 | North Texas |
| 36 | Brent Stockstill | 12495 | 2014 | 2018 | Middle Tennessee |
| 37 | Trevor Vittatoe | 12439 | 2007 | 2010 | UTEP |
| 38 | Kliff Kingsbury | 12429 | 1999 | 2002 | Texas Tech |
| 39 | Matt Barkley | 12327 | 2009 | 2012 | USC |
| 40 | Kenny Pickett | 12303 | 2017 | 2021 | Pitt |
| 41 | Jake Browning | 12296 | 2015 | 2018 | Washington |
| 42 | Jared Goff | 12200 | 2013 | 2015 | California |
| 43 | Drew Lock | 12193 | 2015 | 2018 | Missouri |
| 44 | Chevan Cordeiro | 12191 | 2018 | 2023 | San Jose State |
| 45 | Brock Purdy | 12170 | 2018 | 2021 | Iowa State |
| 46 | Zach Terrell | 12088 | 2013 | 2016 | Western Michigan |
| 47 | Zac Dysert | 12013 | 2009 | 2012 | Miami (OH) |
| 48 | Clayton Tune | 11996 | 2018 | 2022 | Houston |
| 49 | Nick Mullens | 11994 | 2013 | 2016 | Southern Miss |
| 50 | Shane Carden | 11991 | 2012 | 2014 | East Carolina |
| 51 | Tajh Boyd | 11904 | 2010 | 2013 | Clemson |
| 52 | Byron Leftwich | 11903 | 1998 | 2002 | Marshall |
| 53 | Frank Harris | 11862 | 2019 | 2023 | UTSA |
| 54 | Chase Holbrook | 11846 | 2006 | 2008 | New Mexico State |
| 55 | Brady Quinn | 11762 | 2003 | 2006 | Notre Dame |
| 56 | Russell Wilson | 11720 | 2008 | 2011 | Wisconsin |
| 57 | Kedon Slovis | 11689 | 2019 | 2023 | Brigham Young |
| 58 | Dane Evans | 11680 | 2013 | 2016 | Tulsa |
| 59 | Geno Smith | 11662 | 2009 | 2012 | West Virginia |
| 60 | Shane Buechele | 11660 | 2016 | 2020 | SMU |
| 61 | David Greene | 11528 | 2001 | 2004 | Georgia |
| 62 | Gino Guidugli | 11453 | 2001 | 2004 | Cincinnati |
| 63 | Sam Ehlinger | 11436 | 2017 | 2020 | Texas |
| 64 | Todd Santos | 11425 | 1984 | 1987 | San Diego State |
| 65 | Keith Wenning | 11402 | 2010 | 2013 | Ball State |
| 66 | Carson Palmer | 11388 | 1998 | 2002 | USC |
| 67 | Max Hall | 11365 | 2007 | 2009 | Brigham Young |
| 68 | Taulia Tagovailoa | 11356 | 2019 | 2023 | Maryland |
| 69 | Tim Hiller | 11329 | 2005 | 2009 | Western Michigan |
| 70 | Connor Halliday | 11308 | 2011 | 2014 | Washington State |
| 71 | Tim Lester | 11299 | 1996 | 1999 | Western Michigan |
| 72 | Mike White | 11262 | 2013 | 2017 | Western Kentucky |
| 73 | Patrick Mahomes | 11252 | 2014 | 2016 | Texas Tech |
| 74 | Derek Anderson | 11249 | 2001 | 2004 | Oregon State |
| 75 | Seth Henigan | 11233 | 2021 | 2024 | Memphis |
| 76 | Chris Leak | 11213 | 2003 | 2006 | Florida |
| 77 | Peyton Manning | 11201 | 1994 | 1997 | Tennessee |
| 78 | Todd Reesing | 11194 | 2006 | 2009 | Kansas |
| 79 | Curtis Painter | 11163 | 2005 | 2008 | Purdue |
| 80 | Eric Zeier | 11153 | 1991 | 1994 | Georgia |
| 81 | Ryan Finley | 11147 | 2014 | 2018 | NC State |
| 82 | Jordan Palmer | 11084 | 2003 | 2006 | UTEP |
| 83 | Jarret Doege | 11069 | 2017 | 2022 | Troy |
| 84 | Charlie Frye | 11049 | 2001 | 2004 | Akron |
| 85 | John Beck | 11021 | 2003 | 2006 | Brigham Young |
| 86 | Ryan Schneider | 10976 | 2000 | 2003 | UCF |
| 87 | Brady White | 10949 | 2016 | 2020 | Memphis |
| 88 | Paul Smith | 10936 | 2003 | 2007 | Tulsa |
| 89 | Adam Weber | 10917 | 2007 | 2010 | Minnesota |
| 90 | Alex Brink | 10913 | 2004 | 2007 | Washington State |
| 90 | Alex Van Pelt | 10913 | 1989 | 1992 | Pitt |
| 92 | Drew Brees | 10909 | 1997 | 2000 | Purdue |
| 93 | David Neill | 10903 | 1998 | 2001 | Nevada |
| 94 | Austin Davis | 10892 | 2008 | 2011 | Southern Miss |
| 95 | Jake Bentley | 10885 | 2016 | 2021 | South Alabama |
| 96 | Danny Wuerffel | 10875 | 1993 | 1996 | Florida |
| 97 | Ben Roethlisberger | 10829 | 2001 | 2003 | Miami (OH) |
| 98 | Brennan Armstrong | 10819 | 2018 | 2023 | NC State |
| 99 | Spencer Rattler | 10807 | 2019 | 2023 | South Carolina |
| 100 | Marcus Mariota | 10796 | 2012 | 2014 | Oregon |
| 101 | Brian Brohm | 10775 | 2004 | 2007 | Louisville |
| 102 | Matt Linehan | 10772 | 2014 | 2017 | Idaho |
| 103 | Ryan Aplin | 10758 | 2009 | 2012 | Arkansas State |
| 104 | Clayton Thorson | 10731 | 2015 | 2018 | Northwestern |
| 105 | Trevone Boykin | 10728 | 2012 | 2015 | TCU |
| 106 | Dorian Thompson-Robinson | 10710 | 2018 | 2022 | UCLA |
| 107 | Dan Orlovsky | 10706 | 2001 | 2004 | Connecticut |
| 108 | Chad Pennington | 10698 | 1997 | 1999 | Marshall |
| 109 | Matt Leinart | 10693 | 2003 | 2005 | USC |
| 110 | Brandon Silvers | 10684 | 2014 | 2017 | Troy |
| 111 | P.J. Walker | 10669 | 2013 | 2016 | Temple |
| 112 | Layne Hatcher | 10662 | 2019 | 2023 | Ball State |
| 113 | Sean Clifford | 10661 | 2018 | 2022 | Penn State |
| 114 | Kevin Sweeney | 10623 | 1982 | 1986 | Fresno State |
| 115 | Andrew Walter | 10617 | 2001 | 2004 | Arizona State |
| 116 | Brett Basanez | 10580 | 2002 | 2005 | Northwestern |
| 117 | Doug Flutie | 10579 | 1981 | 1984 | Boston College |
| 118 | Justin Herbert | 10541 | 2016 | 2019 | Oregon |
| 119 | Steve Stenstrom | 10531 | 1991 | 1994 | Stanford |
| 120 | Logan Woodside | 10514 | 2013 | 2017 | Toledo |
| 121 | Rudy Carpenter | 10491 | 2005 | 2008 | Arizona State |
| 122 | Grayson McCall | 10427 | 2019 | 2024 | NC State |
| 123 | Tyler Rogers | 10372 | 2014 | 2017 | New Mexico State |
| 124 | Robert Griffin III | 10366 | 2008 | 2011 | Baylor |
| 125 | Jared Lorenzen | 10354 | 2000 | 2003 | Kentucky |
| 126 | Cody Kessler | 10339 | 2012 | 2015 | USC |
| 127 | Andy Dalton | 10314 | 2007 | 2010 | TCU |
| 128 | Sam Howell | 10283 | 2019 | 2021 | North Carolina |
| 129 | Brian McClure | 10280 | 1982 | 1985 | Bowling Green |
| 130 | Gunnar Watson | 10275 | 2018 | 2023 | Troy |
| 131 | Chris Reynolds | 10266 | 2018 | 2022 | Charlotte |
| 132 | Kolton Browning | 10263 | 2010 | 2013 | Louisiana-Monroe |
| 133 | Troy Kopp | 10258 | 1989 | 1992 | Pacific |
| 134 | Desmond Ridder | 10239 | 2018 | 2021 | Cincinnati |
| 135 | Charlie Brewer | 10236 | 2017 | 2022 | Liberty |
| 136 | Danny Wimprine | 10215 | 2001 | 2004 | Memphis |
| 137 | Bryant Moniz | 10169 | 2009 | 2011 | Hawaii |
| 138 | Deshaun Watson | 10163 | 2014 | 2016 | Clemson |
| 139 | Paul Pinegar | 10136 | 2002 | 2005 | Fresno State |
| 140 | Justice Hansen | 10133 | 2016 | 2018 | Arkansas State |
| 141 | Eli Manning | 10119 | 2000 | 2003 | Ole Miss |
| 142 | Tyler Sheehan | 10117 | 2006 | 2009 | Bowling Green |
| 143 | Rusty Smith | 10112 | 2006 | 2009 | Florida Atlantic |
| 144 | Colin Kaepernick | 10098 | 2007 | 2010 | Nevada |
| 144 | Trevor Lawrence | 10098 | 2018 | 2020 | Clemson |
| 146 | Nathan Enderle | 10084 | 2007 | 2010 | Idaho |
| 147 | Caleb Williams | 10082 | 2021 | 2023 | USC |
| 148 | Nick Foles | 10068 | 2007 | 2011 | Arizona |
| 149 | Thaddeus Lewis | 10065 | 2006 | 2009 | Duke |
| 150 | Glenn Foley | 10039 | 1990 | 1993 | Boston College |
| 151 | Cade McNown | 10008 | 1995 | 1998 | UCLA |
| 152 | Brad Kaaya | 9972 | 2014 | 2016 | Miami (FL) |
| 153 | Brett Hundley | 9966 | 2012 | 2014 | UCLA |
| 154 | Ryan Radcliff | 9922 | 2009 | 2012 | Central Michigan |
| 155 | Cody Pickett | 9916 | 1999 | 2003 | Washington |
| 156 | Trace McSorley | 9899 | 2015 | 2018 | Penn State |
| 157 | Darrell Hackney | 9886 | 2002 | 2005 | UAB |
| 158 | Tanner Mordecai | 9857 | 2018 | 2023 | Wisconsin |
| 159 | Davis Webb | 9852 | 2013 | 2016 | California |
| 160 | Chris Weinke | 9839 | 1997 | 2000 | Florida State |
| 161 | Spencer Sanders | 9831 | 2019 | 2023 | Ole Miss |
| 162 | Ryan Dinwiddie | 9819 | 2000 | 2003 | Boise State |
| 162 | Ben Hicks | 9819 | 2016 | 2019 | Arkansas |
| 164 | Teddy Bridgewater | 9817 | 2011 | 2013 | Louisville |
| 165 | Taylor Lamb | 9786 | 2014 | 2017 | Appalachian State |
| 166 | Chase Clement | 9785 | 2005 | 2008 | Rice |
| 167 | Sefo Liufau | 9763 | 2013 | 2016 | Colorado |
| 168 | Riley Skinner | 9762 | 2006 | 2009 | Wake Forest |
| 169 | Garrett Gilbert | 9761 | 2009 | 2013 | SMU |
| 170 | Adrian Martinez | 9752 | 2018 | 2022 | Kansas State |
| 171 | David Blough | 9734 | 2015 | 2018 | Purdue |
| 172 | Jack Plummer | 9728 | 2019 | 2023 | Louisville |
| 173 | Connor Bazelak | 9727 | 2019 | 2024 | Bowling Green |
| 174 | Chad Henne | 9715 | 2004 | 2007 | Michigan |
| 175 | Steven Montez | 9710 | 2016 | 2019 | Colorado |
| 176 | Casey Clausen | 9707 | 2000 | 2003 | Tennessee |
| 177 | Casey Bramlet | 9684 | 2000 | 2003 | Wyoming |
| 178 | Charlie Whitehurst | 9665 | 2002 | 2005 | Clemson |
| 179 | Malik Cunningham | 9664 | 2018 | 2022 | Louisville |
| 180 | Kellen Mond | 9661 | 2017 | 2020 | Texas A&M |
| 181 | Cody Fajardo | 9659 | 2011 | 2014 | Nevada |
| 182 | Max Duggan | 9618 | 2019 | 2022 | TCU |
| 183 | Ben Bennett | 9614 | 1980 | 1983 | Duke |
| 184 | Michael Pratt | 9602 | 2020 | 2023 | Tulane |
| 185 | Ken Dorsey | 9565 | 1999 | 2002 | Miami (FL) |
| 186 | Devin Leary | 9553 | 2019 | 2023 | Kentucky |
| 187 | Jim McMahon | 9536 | 1977 | 1981 | Brigham Young |
| 188 | Bo Wallace | 9534 | 2012 | 2014 | Ole Miss |
| 189 | J'mar Smith | 9523 | 2016 | 2019 | Louisiana Tech |
| 190 | Todd Ellis | 9519 | 1986 | 1989 | South Carolina |
| 191 | Caleb Evans | 9513 | 2016 | 2019 | Louisiana-Monroe |
| 192 | Bret Meyer | 9499 | 2004 | 2007 | Iowa State |
| 193 | Joe Licata | 9485 | 2012 | 2015 | Buffalo |
| 194 | Jalen Hurts | 9477 | 2016 | 2019 | Oklahoma |
| 195 | G.J. Kinne | 9472 | 2009 | 2011 | Tulsa |
| 196 | Sean Renfree | 9465 | 2009 | 2012 | Duke |
| 197 | Jamie Barnette | 9461 | 1996 | 1999 | NC State |
| 198 | Stoney Case | 9460 | 1991 | 1994 | New Mexico |
| 199 | McKenzie Milton | 9458 | 2016 | 2021 | Florida State |
| 200 | Tanner Morgan | 9454 | 2018 | 2022 | Minnesota |
| 201 | Chase Brice | 9451 | 2018 | 2022 | Appalachian State |
| 202 | J.T. Barrett | 9434 | 2014 | 2017 | Ohio State |
| 203 | Davis Brin | 9431 | 2018 | 2023 | Georgia Southern |
| 204 | David Klingler | 9430 | 1988 | 1991 | Houston |
| 204 | Andrew Luck | 9430 | 2009 | 2011 | Stanford |
| 206 | Erik Wilhelm | 9393 | 1985 | 1988 | Oregon State |
| 207 | JT Daniels | 9390 | 2018 | 2023 | Rice |
| 208 | Kevin Hogan | 9385 | 2012 | 2015 | Stanford |
| 209 | Mike Teel | 9383 | 2005 | 2008 | Rutgers |
| 210 | Jeremy Leach | 9382 | 1988 | 1991 | New Mexico |
| 211 | T.J. Yates | 9377 | 2007 | 2010 | North Carolina |
| 212 | Dak Prescott | 9376 | 2012 | 2015 | Mississippi State |
| 213 | Carson Strong | 9368 | 2018 | 2021 | Nevada |
| 214 | Alan Bowman | 9360 | 2018 | 2024 | Oklahoma State |
| 214 | Andre Woodson | 9360 | 2004 | 2007 | Kentucky |
| 216 | Mark Herrmann | 9354 | 1977 | 1980 | Purdue |
| 217 | John Elway | 9349 | 1979 | 1982 | Stanford |
| 218 | Daunte Culpepper | 9341 | 1996 | 1998 | UCF |
| 218 | Josh Rosen | 9341 | 2015 | 2017 | UCLA |
| 220 | Eric Dungey | 9340 | 2015 | 2018 | Syracuse |
| 221 | Hank Bachmeier | 9329 | 2019 | 2024 | Wake Forest |
| 222 | T.J. Rubley | 9324 | 1987 | 1991 | Tulsa |
| 223 | Matt Ryan | 9313 | 2004 | 2007 | Boston College |
| 224 | Shane Matthews | 9287 | 1990 | 1992 | Florida |
| 225 | Tim Tebow | 9285 | 2006 | 2009 | Florida |
| 226 | James Blackman | 9260 | 2017 | 2022 | Arkansas State |
| 226 | Brandon Weeden | 9260 | 2008 | 2011 | Oklahoma State |
| 228 | Gary Nova | 9258 | 2011 | 2014 | Rutgers |
| 229 | Nate Davis | 9233 | 2006 | 2008 | Ball State |
| 230 | Bruce Gradkowski | 9225 | 2002 | 2005 | Toledo |
| 231 | Aidan O'Connell | 9219 | 2019 | 2022 | Purdue |
| 232 | Jake Delhomme | 9216 | 1993 | 1996 | Louisiana |
| 233 | Willie Tuitama | 9211 | 2005 | 2008 | Arizona |
| 234 | Chuck Long | 9210 | 1981 | 1985 | Iowa |
| 235 | Patrick Ramsey | 9205 | 1998 | 2001 | Tulane |
| 236 | Levi Lewis | 9203 | 2017 | 2021 | Louisiana |
| 237 | Connor Cook | 9194 | 2012 | 2015 | Michigan State |
| 238 | Kenny Hill | 9192 | 2013 | 2017 | TCU |
| 239 | Garrett Grayson | 9190 | 2011 | 2014 | Colorado State |
| 239 | Ryan Nassib | 9190 | 2009 | 2012 | Syracuse |
| 241 | Jose Fuentes | 9168 | 1999 | 2002 | Utah State |
| 242 | Rex Grossman | 9164 | 2000 | 2002 | Florida |
| 243 | Walter Church | 9142 | 1996 | 2000 | Eastern Michigan |
| 244 | Kirk Cousins | 9131 | 2008 | 2011 | Michigan State |
| 245 | Tyler Tettleton | 9129 | 2009 | 2013 | Ohio |
| 246 | Jake Haener | 9120 | 2018 | 2022 | Fresno State |
| 247 | Tommy Hodson | 9115 | 1986 | 1989 | LSU |
| 248 | Jonathan Smith | 9106 | 1998 | 2001 | Oregon State |
| 249 | Alex McGough | 9091 | 2014 | 2017 | Florida International |
| 250 | Jason Martin | 9066 | 1993 | 1996 | Louisiana Tech |
Notable, of the top 10 quarterbacks in terms of historic passing yards, three of them have come from quarterbacks who used an extra year of eligibility from the COVID-shortened season of 2020.
Active Passing Yards Career Leaders
- Dillon Gabriel, Oregon: 15,488 yards
- Will Rogers, Washington: 12,826 yards
- Seth Henigan, Memphis: 11,233 yards
- Grayson McCall, NC State: 10,427 yards
- Connor Bazelak, Bowling Green: 9,727 yards
- Alan Bowman, Oklahoma State: 9,360 yards
- Hank Bachmeier, Wake Forest: 9,329 yards
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