Eleven months ago, the list of Alabama alumni with the most passing yards seemed headed for change when, after four seasons as a backup with the Cincinnati Bengals, AJ McCarron signed with the Buffalo Bills in free agency.

A solid season as an NFL starter would lift McCarron from ninth to sixth on the Crimson Tide's rankings by NFL passing yards -- a list that's barely changed in the past quarter-century.

Instead, McCarron remains ninth after the completion of the 2018 season.

The Bills decided to go with Nathan Peterman as their starting quarterback -- a decision that blew up for Buffalo. Peterman was pulled at halftime of the season-opening game in favor of rookie Josh Allen.

By that time, the Bills had traded McCarron to the Oakland Raiders, where he served as Derek Carr's backup and threw three passes in 2018.

That left Alabama's top 10 passers in the NFL unchanged. The first three quarterbacks on the list are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. None of the top seven has taken an NFL snap in 26 seasons.

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The top 10 NFL passers among Alabama alumni (as measured by passing yards):

1. Ken Stabler: 27,938 passing yards

Oakland Raiders 1970-79, Houston Oilers 1980-81, New Orleans Saints 1982-1984: The former Foley standout completed 2,270-of-3,793 passes with 194 touchdowns and 222 interceptions for a 75.3 passer rating. The Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the 1976 season, Stabler was the 1974 NFL MVP and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

Stabler has held the top spot on the Alabama passing list since he completed a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Eugene Goodlow on Sept. 16, 1984, for the Saints in an NFC West game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The Saints’ starting quarterback in the game was Richard Todd, the No. 4 passer on Alabama’s list. But Todd threw three interceptions in his first seven passes, and with New Orleans trailing 17-0 in the second quarter, Stabler took the field.

On his first pass of the second half, Stabler passed Joe Namath for Alabama's NFL record. Stabler played in only two more NFL games.

2. Joe Namath: 27,663 passing yards

New York Jets 1965-1976, Los Angeles Rams 1977: Namath completed 1,886-of-3,762 passes with 173 touchdowns and 220 interceptions for a 65.5 passer rating. Namath was the AFL Player of the Year in 1968 and 1969 and the MVP of the Jets' Super Bowl III victory. He joined the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

3. Bart Starr: 24,718 passing yards

Green Bay Packers 1956-1971: The former Sidney Lanier standout completed 1,808-of-3,149 passes with 152 touchdowns and 138 interceptions for an 80.5 passer rating. Starr played quarterback for five NFL championships teams, including the winners of the first two Super Bowls, and he won the MVP honor in both those games. The NFL MVP for the 1966 season, Starr entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

4. Richard Todd: 20,610 passing yards

New York Jets 1976-1983, New Orleans Saints 1984-1985: The former Davidson standout completed 1,610-of-2,967 passes with 124 touchdowns and 161 interceptions for a 67.6 passer rating. In addition to being Stabler’s teammate in the Snake’s final NFL season, Todd was a teammate of Namath’s in Broadway Joe’s final season with the Jets, and he followed Namath’s run as New York’s starting QB with eight seasons of his own under center.

5. Scott Hunter: 4,756 passing yards

Green Bay Packers 1971-1973, Buffalo Bills 1974, Atlanta Falcons 1976-77, Detroit Lions 1979: The former Vigor standout completed 335-of-748 passes with 23 touchdowns and 38 interceptions for a 55.0 passer rating. Hunter’s rookie NFL season in Green Bay was Starr’s final one as quarterback with the Packers.

6. Harry Gilmer: 3,786 passing yards

Washington Redskins 1948-1954, Detroit Lions 1955-56: The former Woodlawn standout completed 263-of-579 passes with 23 touchdowns and 45 interceptions for a 48.0 passer rating. Gilmer was the first player picked in the 1948 NFL Draft.

7. Jeff Rutledge: 3,628 passing yards

Los Angeles Rams 1979-1981, New York Giants 1983-1989, Washington Redskins 1990-1992: The former Banks standout completed 274-of-526 passes with 16 touchdowns and 29 interceptions for a 61.4 passer rating. Rutledge spent 14 seasons as the backup QB on some of the NFL's best teams. He mopped up in two Super Bowl victories -- with the Giants to cap the 1986 season and with the Redskins in the final game of the 1991 season.

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8. Brodie Croyle: 1,669 passing yards

Kansas City Chiefs 2006-2010: The former Westlake Christian standout completed 181-of-319 passes with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions for a 67.8 passer rating. Croyle played in 18 NFL games, with 10 starts. The Chiefs lost each of his starts.

9. AJ McCarron: 928 passing yards

Cincinnati Bengals 2014-2017, Oakland Raiders 2018: The former St. Paul’s Episcopal standout has completed 87-of-136 passes with six touchdowns and two interceptions for a 92.4 passer rating. All but 74 of McCarron’s passing yards came in the final four games of the 2015 season after Bengals starter Andy Dalton suffered a broken thumb.

10. Tony Holm: 406 passing yards

Providence Steam Roller 1930, Portsmouth Spartans 1931, Chicago Cardinals 1932, Pittsburgh Pirates 1933: The former Fairfield standout completed 17-of-52 passes with two touchdowns and 13 interceptions for a 35.1 passer rating. Holm wasn’t a quarterback; he was a fullback. He did all his throwing in his final NFL season, when he finished seventh in the league in passing yards.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.