2023 NFL statistical leaders across the board: Big-name players dominate, plus

Who led the NFL in the major statistical categories? Not enough players from my fantasy team. The full list might surprise you. Stats per Pro Football Reference unless otherwise noted.

For the past 15 years, I’ve religiously followed the statistics of almost every offensive player in football. There are good stats, bad stats and fun stats. Typically, the fun stats involve players like DK Metcalf (6-foot-4, 235 pounds), who recorded the NFL’s fastest ball-carrier speed during this 73-yard touchdown run, per Next Gen Stats, when the wide receiver hit 22.23 miles per hour (in pads). To put that in perspective, Usain Bolt’s average speed was 23.35 miles per hour while setting the 100-meter world record at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Without pads.

With the 2023 regular season — the 104th of the NFL — behind us, we can sit back and reflect on the leaders of every major statistical category. This review surfaces plenty of questions. Three examples:

1. How are quarterbacks like Sam Howell and Bryce Young still standing? Each of these young signal callers was sacked more than 60 times this season, marking the first time more than one quarterback “accomplished” this feat in a season in the past 20 years (per Pro Football Reference). Howell led the NFL in sacks taken (65) with Young close behind (62).
2. How can Christian McCaffrey not win Offensive Player of the Year? The current favorite among sportsbooks, McCaffrey did more than win fantasy leagues. The San Francisco 49ers running back led the NFL in rushing yards (1,459), tied for the lead in rushing/receiving touchdowns (21) and was the only player in the NFL with more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage (2,023).
3. With Lamar Jackson expected to win the MVP award, did he lead the league in any major categories? Yes — he led all quarterbacks in total rushing yards (821) and rushing yards per attempt (5.6). That’s about it. But stats tell only part of the story for Jackson, a player Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young proclaimed could be the “greatest player in the history of the game.” Most agree that Jackson deserves the award after leading the Ravens to an NFL-best 13-4 record and a first-round bye.

Below is a list of league leaders in every key statistical category.

Passing

Passing yards: Tua Tagovailoa (4,624) edged Jared Goff (4,575) and Dak Prescott (4,516) for the league lead.

Passing touchdowns: Prescott (36 touchdowns) bested Jordan Love (32) and Brock Purdy (31).

Passing yards per game: C.J. Stroud led all qualifying players (quarterbacks who played at least nine games) with 273.9 passing yards per game, becoming the first rookie in at least 20 years to lead the league in this stat. Sorry, Panthers fans.

Passer rating: Brock Purdy (113.0) bested Prescott (105.9) and Kirk Cousins (103.8) in passer rating, a stat created in 1971 when NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle asked a league committee to develop a better method of ranking the league’s best quarterbacks. This…