Between the 1980 and 1989 seasons, Todd Santos had the most passing yards, with 11,425 yards.

Interpreted as:

most passing yards by a player 1980s

	NAME	YDS	GP	CMP	ATT	PCT	AVG	YDS/G	TD	INT	RTG	TD%	INT%
1	Todd Santos T. Santos	11,425	47	910	1,484	61.3	7.7	243.1	70	57	133.9	4.7	3.8
2	Kevin Sweeney K. Sweeney	10,623	56	731	1,336	54.7	8.0	189.7	66	48	130.6	4.9	3.6
3	Doug Flutie D. Flutie	10,579	44	677	1,271	53.3	8.3	240.4	67	54	132.1	5.3	4.2
4	Brian McClure B. McClure	10,280	44	900	1,427	63.1	7.2	233.6	63	58	130.0	4.4	4.1
5	Ben Bennett B. Bennett	9,614	42	820	1,375	59.6	7.0	228.9	55	57	123.3	4.0	4.1
6	Todd Ellis T. Ellis	9,519	41	704	1,266	55.6	7.5	232.2	49	66	121.1	3.9	5.2
7	Erik Wilhelm E. Wilhelm	9,393	44	870	1,480	58.8	6.3	213.5	52	61	115.4	3.5	4.1
8	Chuck Long C. Long	9,210	56	692	1,072	64.6	8.6	164.5	64	46	147.8	6.0	4.3
9	Tommy Hodson T. Hodson	9,115	44	674	1,163	58.0	7.8	207.2	69	41	136.3	5.9	3.5
10	Scott Mitchell S. Mitchell	8,981	35	669	1,165	57.4	7.7	256.6	69	38	135.2	5.9	3.3
11	John Elway J. Elway	8,805	33	724	1,150	63.0	7.7	266.8	71	36	141.4	6.2	3.1
12	Robbie Bosco R. Bosco	8,400	36	638	997	64.0	8.4	233.3	66	36	149.4	6.6	3.6
13	Andre Ware A. Ware	8,202	27	660	1,074	61.5	7.6	303.8	75	28	143.4	7.0	2.6
14	Jack Trudeau J. Trudeau	8,146	44	736	1,151	63.9	7.1	185.1	51	38	131.4	4.4	3.3
15	Troy Taylor T. Taylor	8,126	44	683	1,162	58.8	7.0	184.7	51	46	124.1	4.4	4.0
16	Jim McMahon J. McMahon	8,126	24	556	868	64.1	9.4	338.6	77	25	166.2	8.9	2.9
17	Jeff Graham J. Graham	8,080	36	664	1,175	56.5	6.9	224.4	42	42	118.9	3.6	3.6
18	Randall Cunningham R. Cunningham	8,020	34	596	1,029	57.9	7.8	235.9	59	29	136.7	5.7	2.8
19	Steve Slayden S. Slayden	8,004	41	699	1,204	58.1	6.6	195.2	48	53	118.3	4.0	4.4
20	Mike Gundy M. Gundy	7,997	42	604	1,035	58.4	7.7	190.4	54	37	133.3	5.2	3.6
21	Steve Young S. Young	7,733	34	592	908	65.2	8.5	227.4	56	33	149.8	6.2	3.6
22	Terrence Jones T. Jones	7,684	44	570	1,042	54.7	7.4	174.6	46	41	123.3	4.4	3.9
23	John Paye J. Paye	7,669	39	715	1,198	59.7	6.4	196.6	38	44	116.6	3.2	3.7
24	Rodney Peete R. Peete	7,640	44	571	972	58.7	7.9	173.6	52	32	135.8	5.3	3.3
25	Scott Campbell S. Campbell	7,636	44	609	1,060	57.5	7.2	173.5	45	41	124.2	4.2	3.9