Highest-graded quarterbacks by route type: Josh Allen the highest-graded passer on slant routes, Justin Herbert No. 1 on hitches

• Josh Allen on slant routes: Allen completed 33 of his 50 attempts for 391 yards and three touchdowns, grading positively on 44.2% of those throws.

• Joe Burrow mastering the in route: The Bengals QB ranked top-five at the position in adjusted completion percentage (85.4%) and passer rating (118.1) on throws to in routes, and just one of his in-route attempts earned a negative grade.

• Justin Herbert led the way on hitches: Herbert completed 89-of-107 attempts to hitch routes for a league-high 904 yards. He earned a positive grade on 39.4% of his attempts to hitch routes, the best rate among full-time starters last year.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

In the modern NFL, the passing game and the role receivers play have become paramount to the success of the offense.

In the past, quarterbacks have slid in the draft because of a team’s concern that they can’t throw certain routes. Today, we’re going to look at the quarterbacks who graded highest on each route type in 2022.

We will be sticking to the basic route tree, so combo routes such as sluggos or post-corners won't be included today. We start with Jalen Hurts, the highest-graded quarterback on flat/speed outs last year.

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Flat/Speed Out: Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (75.6)

The highest PFF grade on flat/speed outs was “just” 75.6, but that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, considering the average depth of target on these routes is just 1.2 yards downfield, which obviously puts a cap on how high a quarterback's grade can be.

Jalen Hurts led the way, completing all 22 attempts for 178 yards and one touchdown. The Eagles quarterback averaged 8.1 yards per attempt on these routes last year, the best mark in the league.

Slant: Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (91.6)

Allen earned a 90.0-plus PFF grade on five different route types and led the league in passing grade on slant routes. He completed 33 of his 50 attempts for 391 yards and three touchdowns, grading positively on 44.2% of those throws.

Out: Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (91.4)

The out route was the second-most attempted pass in the league in 2022, with quarterbacks combining to target the route 1,871 times over the season.

Trevor Lawrence led the position in PFF grade on these throws, going 62-of-79 for 632 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Forty of Lawrence's out-route completions resulted in either a first down or touchdown, second to only Joe Burrow over the season.

In: Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (95.2)

Burrow completed 35-of-45 in routes for 490 yards and two touchdowns. He ranked top-five at the position in adjusted completion percentage (85.4%) and passer rating (118.1), and just one of his in-route attempts earned a negative grade over the season.

Comeback: Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (86.5)

The comeback route was one of the least successful routes in 2022. Quarterbacks attempted just 84 passes to comeback routes over the year — these passes were completed just 46.4% of the time, and not a single completion resulted in a score.

Only two quarterbacks earned passing grades of at least 80.0 on comeback routes — Jared Goff and Zach Wilson. Goff attempted only three comebacks, completing two for 32 yards, but all three attempts earned a positive PFF grade.

Hitch: Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (90.4)

The hitch route was far and away the most attempted pass in the NFL last season. NFL quarterbacks attempted 2,521 passes to hitch routes, completing 1,953 for 18,534 yards.

Justin Herbert led the way on hitches, completing 89 of 107 of them for a league-high 904 yards. He earned a positive grade on 39.4% of his attempts to hitch routes, the best rate among full-time starters last year.

Corner: Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (94.4)

The Chargers quarterback completed nine of his 14 corner routes for 306 yards, two scores and no interceptions, recording a 27.2-yard average depth of target on those throws. He racked up six big-time throws and no turnover-worthy plays, leading the league in yards per attempt (21.9) and finishing second in both passer rating (147.3) and adjusted completion percentage (64.3%).

Post: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (95.0)

Despite putting up yet another dominant season, Mahomes led the position in PFF grade on only hitch routes. The Chiefs star attempted just four post routes, but he completed three for 100 yards and a 156.3 passer rating.

Go: Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (97.9)

NFL quarterbacks completed only 30.3% of attempted go routes but combined for a whopping 214 big-time throws on go routes alone last season, 116 more than the next-closest route (corner routes).

Burrow completed 16 of his 38 (42.1%) go routes last season for 516 yards, six touchdowns, and 17 big-time throws. He led the position in adjusted completion percentage (52.6%) and finished fourth in passer rating (128.8).

Seam: Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers (98.5)

The seam route isn’t part of the standard route tree, but it’s essentially a go route to a receiver out of the slot, so its inclusion felt necessary.

Andy Dalton was far and away the best quarterback when it came to throwing down the seams in what was a quietly very strong year for him. He completed 8-of-15 attempts for 197 yards and three touchdowns. He recorded five big-time throws and zero turnover-worthy plays and posted a 66.7% adjusted completion rate.

Crossing Route: Carson Wentz, Free Agent (95.4)

Probably the most shocking discovery here was that the much-maligned Carson Wentz was far and away the best in the league at throwing a crossing route last season. No route resulted in more interceptions (66) or turnover-worthy plays (89) than crossing routes, yet Wentz seemed immune to these mistakes when attempting such throws, as he had no interceptions or turnover-worthy plays while registering three big-time throws on 21 attempts.