NFL Futures: Best Bet for Most Passing Yards (2019)

In 2018, we saw a bounty of high totals in terms of both scoring and passing yards from quarterbacks in the NFL. Offenses have become more creative in their schemes to give quarterbacks a better shot at being productive. Below is a list of several quarterbacks who have the best shot at leading the league in total passing yards for the 2019 regular season. Some to you may seem very obvious choices, while one or two may not make too much sense at first glance. Don’t worry, all answers will be explained and backed up with valid evidence for every selected player on this list. Without further ado, let’s get this show on the road!

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Andrew Luck (+420 – Indianapolis)
Last year, the 2018 Comeback Player of the Year completed 430 out of 639 passes (67.3%) for 4,593 total yards and only sacked just 18 times. His total passing yards was fifth in the league just behind Ben Roethlisberger, Patrick Mahomes, Matt Ryan, and Jared Goff. The Colts have plenty of weapons for Luck to pass to like T.Y. Hilton, and Devin Funchess, as well as Marlon Mack and Nyheim Hines coming out of the backfield. Luck looks stronger than ever, and hopefully, his elite play from 2018 will carry over into 2019 for an even better year with Indianapolis.

Matt Ryan (+420 – Atlanta)
Ryan is one of the few quarterbacks in the NFL blessed to have arguably the best wide receiver in the game. In 2018, Julio Jones led the league in total receiving yards with 1,677 on 113 receptions. On top of that Ryan is also surrounded with other fine passing options such as Mohamed Sanu, Calvin Ridley, Austin Hooper, and Devonta Freeman. In addition, Ryan possessed the third-most passing attempts amongst active quarterbacks last year (608). Only Ben Roethlisberger and Andrew Luck had more attempts in 2018. Lastly, not since 2010 have the Atlanta Falcons sat outside the top-10 in total passing yards in a single season. Ryan has always been known for his big arm throughout his career so it’s no surprise he would appear on this list as a potential candidate to lead the league in total passing yards for this upcoming season.

Aaron Rodgers (+750 – Green Bay)
Even though he was injured for pretty much the entire season last year, Rodgers threw for 4,442 passing yards which turned out to be the sixth-most in the league. Much like Matt Ryan in Atlanta, Rodgers too is blessed with having an elite wide receiver on his side in Davante Adams who caught a career-high 111 passes for 1,386 yards in 2018. Moreover, the Packers do have some talented pass catchers who could very well be on the up-and-coming this year like Geronimo Allison, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Equanimeous St. Brown. Finally, now that old head coach Mike McCarthy is out of the picture, it’s possible that Rodgers may finally be free to conduct the offense a little more to his liking this year. As long as Rodgers can play at some capacity, he will usually appear in the conversation for most passing yards in a single season.

Baker Mayfield (+1600 – Cleveland)
Mayfield had an impressive rookie season as he completed 310 passes for 3,725 yards and 27 touchdowns in 14 games started for the Browns. The final three weeks of 2018 especially stand out to most people where he tallied up 848 passing yards for eight touchdowns during Week’s 15-17. The Browns are also loaded with talent on offense especially after some big signings in the offseason this year. Players like Odell Beckham Jr, Jarvis Landry, Antonio Callaway, David Njoku, Nick Chubb, Duke Johnson, and Kareem Hunt will all be involved in some capacity this season for Cleveland’s offense. That is so many weapons for Mayfield to choose from! He can absolutely have a field day with these guys if all goes well week in and week out for the 2019 regular season and beyond. In addition, Mayfield had the second-highest longest completed air distance in the NFL last year (63.8). Basically what this stat means is it measures the distance the ball has traveled from the point of release to the point of reception. It’s a more accurate metric to see just how far the quarterback can throw the ball downfield. Lastly, in 2018, Mayfield averaged around 9.5 yards per attempt which ranked as the ninth-best amongst active quarterbacks in the NFL. Mayfield absolutely has the talent and weaponry to set the league on fire in many quarterback categories in 2019.

Ben Roethlisberger (+1800 – Pittsburgh)
In 2018, Roethlisberger led the league in total passing yards with 5,129. While a good chunk of his passing yards went to Antonio Brown (1,279) who is now in Oakland, Roethlisberger still has a bevy of options to keep his passing yard totals up in 2019. Take for example Juju Smith-Schuster who led the Steelers with a grand total of 1,426 yards on 111 grabs. Smith-Schuster has proven he can be a dependable target for the veteran two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback in Pittsburgh. On top of that, the Steelers also have weapons like Donte Moncrief, Eli Rogers, James Washington, Ryan Switzer, and Vance McDonald, as well as James Conner coming out of the backfield. Despite losing some very elite talent like Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell this offseason, Big Ben could very well lead the NFL in passing yards once again this year. He’s done it twice before in the latter part of his career (2014 and 2018), so why not again?

Jameis Winston (+2300 – Tampa Bay)
Winston is my “dark horse” candidate to be the league-leader in terms of passing yards for this upcoming year. Despite only passing for 2,992 yards in 2018, it’s due to the fact that the Buccaneers kept switching back and forth between Winston and Fitzpatrick all season long, causing him to only start in nine regular-season games. During the nine games he started in, he averaged around 332.4 passing yards per game for Tampa Bay’s offense. Also, in his first three seasons in the NFL, Winston ranks within the top three in terms of air yards to the strike. This essentially means he likes to throw the ball beyond the first down marker, rather than rely on his receivers to gain yards after the catch to move the chains. Now with new head coach Bruce Arians present, he will look to unlock Winston’s full potential in which could be a do-or-die season with the Buccaneers. With guys like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, O.J. Howard, and Cameron Brate around, and Winston’s gunslinging ability, it is definitely within the realm of possibility that Winston could compete for a league-leading passing yard title in 2019. As long as Arians can help Winston cut down on the turnover rate to prevent him from getting benched this year, he’s got a real outside shot to sit atop the list by the end of December.

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Matthew Catalano is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @MatthewCatala16.