Bio
- Height
- 6' 3"
- Debut
- 1983
- Draft
- 1983Rd 1, Pk 14
- College
- Miami
Bio
- Height
- 6' 3"
- Debut
- 1983
- Draft
- 1983Rd 1, Pk 14
- College
- Miami
Stats
Totals
Career regular season
- GP
- 160
- CMP
- 2,874
- ATT
- 4,779
- CMP%
- 60.1
- YDS
- 35,467
- AVG
- 7.4
- TD
- 237
- INT
- 175
Ranked among NFL players who qualify (CMP, YDS, TD: 4+ games, 100+ ATT; CMP%, AVG: 4+ games, 200+ ATT) that season; only the top 50 are shown. How each stat qualifies: glossary.
| GP: Games the player appeared in, however briefly. | CMP: Passes that reached the intended receiver. | ATT: Attempts — passes thrown, kicks tried or returns taken. | CMP%: Share of passes completed. The modern league average is around 65%. | YDS: Yards gained — through the air for a quarterback, on the ground or after a catch for everyone else. | AVG: Yards per attempt: per pass, per carry, per catch or per punt, depending on the player. | TD: Touchdowns, worth six points before the extra point. | INT: Interceptions — thrown away by a quarterback, taken by a defender. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 |  BUF | 16 | 285 | 480 | 59.4 | 3,593 | 7.5 | 22 | 17 |
| 1987 | BUF | 12 | 250 | 419 | 59.7 | 2,798 | 6.7 | 19 | 11 |
| 1988 | BUF | 16 | 269 | 452 | 59.5 | 3,380 | 7.5 | 15 | 17 |
| 1989 | BUF | 13 | 228 | 391 | 58.3 | 3,130 | 8.0 | 25 | 18 |
| 1990 | BUF | 14 | 219 | 346 | 63.3 | 2,829 | 8.2 | 24 | 9 |
| 1991 | BUF | 15 | 304 | 474 | 64.1 | 3,844 | 8.1 | 33 | 17 |
| 1992 | BUF | 16 | 269 | 462 | 58.2 | 3,457 | 7.5 | 23 | 19 |
| 1993 | BUF | 16 | 288 | 470 | 61.3 | 3,382 | 7.2 | 18 | 18 |
| 1994 | BUF | 14 | 285 | 448 | 63.6 | 3,114 | 7.0 | 22 | 17 |
| 1995 | BUF | 15 | 255 | 458 | 55.7 | 3,130 | 6.8 | 22 | 13 |
| 1996 | BUF | 13 | 222 | 379 | 58.6 | 2,810 | 7.4 | 14 | 19 |
Career Postseason
- GP
- 17
- CMP
- 322
- ATT
- 545
- CMP%
- 59.1
- YDS
- 3,863
- AVG
- 7.1
- TD
- 21
- INT
- 28
Per game
Career regular season
- GP
- 160
- CMP
- 18.0
- ATT
- 29.9
- CMP%
- 60.1
- YDS
- 221.7
- AVG
- 7.4
- TD
- 1.5
- INT
- 1.1
Per game: season totals ÷ games played. Derived here — averages, completion rate and longest plays are the stored figures and are left as they are.
| GP: Games the player appeared in, however briefly. | CMP: Passes that reached the intended receiver. | ATT: Attempts — passes thrown, kicks tried or returns taken. | CMP%: Share of passes completed. The modern league average is around 65%. | YDS: Yards gained — through the air for a quarterback, on the ground or after a catch for everyone else. | AVG: Yards per attempt: per pass, per carry, per catch or per punt, depending on the player. | TD: Touchdowns, worth six points before the extra point. | INT: Interceptions — thrown away by a quarterback, taken by a defender. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | BUF | 16 | 17.8 | 30 | 59.4 | 224.6 | 7.5 | 1.4 | 1.1 |
| 1987 | BUF | 12 | 20.8 | 34.9 | 59.7 | 233.2 | 6.7 | 1.6 | 0.9 |
| 1988 | BUF | 16 | 16.8 | 28.3 | 59.5 | 211.3 | 7.5 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| 1989 | BUF | 13 | 17.5 | 30.1 | 58.3 | 240.8 | 8.0 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
| 1990 | BUF | 14 | 15.6 | 24.7 | 63.3 | 202.1 | 8.2 | 1.7 | 0.6 |
| 1991 | BUF | 15 | 20.3 | 31.6 | 64.1 | 256.3 | 8.1 | 2.2 | 1.1 |
| 1992 | BUF | 16 | 16.8 | 28.9 | 58.2 | 216.1 | 7.5 | 1.4 | 1.2 |
| 1993 | BUF | 16 | 18 | 29.4 | 61.3 | 211.4 | 7.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| 1994 | BUF | 14 | 20.4 | 32 | 63.6 | 222.4 | 7.0 | 1.6 | 1.2 |
| 1995 | BUF | 15 | 17 | 30.5 | 55.7 | 208.7 | 6.8 | 1.5 | 0.9 |
| 1996 | BUF | 13 | 17.1 | 29.2 | 58.6 | 216.2 | 7.4 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
What were Jim Kelly's career stats?
Jim Kelly played 11 seasons for the Bills. He completed 2,874 of 4,779 passes for 35,467 yards, 237 touchdowns and 175 interceptions. His best season was 1991: 3,844 passing yards, 33 passing touchdowns and 17 interceptions thrown.
League leaderboards and awards
11 seasons, 8 postseasons, 1986 to 1996
Jim Kelly finished top 10 in a stat 5 times.
All-time career rank
- 32nd in passing yards (35,467)
- 29th in passing touchdowns (237)
Among the 2,425 NFL players with a career line on file, regular season. A place deeper than 300th is not listed.
Season top 10 finishes
- Passing Yards: 1993 (5th)
- Passing Touchdowns: 1993 (6th), 1994 (6th), 1995 (10th)
- Passer Rating: 1994 (9th)
Among qualified NFL players each season, as the glossary defines each stat. All-time places are among players on file.
More on Jim Kelly
Similar players
Closest career per-game profiles to Jim Kelly among NFL players at the same position.
- Warren MoonAlike in Passing Touchdowns, Passing Yards, Yards per attempt76out of 100 on profile similarity
- Jim EverettAlike in Passing Yards, Pass attempts, Passing Touchdowns71out of 100 on profile similarity
- Boomer EsiasonAlike in Pass attempts, Yards per attempt, Passing Yards69out of 100 on profile similarity
- Brett FavreAlike in Passing Yards, Passing Touchdowns, Pass attempts69out of 100 on profile similarity
- John ElwayAlike in Passing Yards, Pass attempts, Yards per attempt67out of 100 on profile similarity
Compare Jim Kelly with Warren Moon, Jim Everett, Boomer Esiason