Ranking NFL Backup Quarterback Situations From Best to Worst
By Jason Lisk
The musical chairs at backup quarterback appear to have slowed down. Players have been dropped and picked up. Trades have been made. People that sounded more like action heroes than quarterbacks (looking at you, Brogan Roback) are out.
We know that starting quarterbacks will go down or get benched–less than half of all opening day starters will play every game this year. So here are my ranking of the backup situations around the league, from best to worst.
#1 Cleveland Browns (Baker Mayfield, Drew Stanton)
Cleveland has the #1 overall pick on the bench. If he gets promoted, then they have the best backup option still in Tyrod Taylor. And Drew Stanton would be an average #2 on this list, and is the third option.
#2 New Orleans Saints (Teddy Bridgewater, Taysom Hill)
Teddy Bridgewater hasn’t completed a NFL regular season pass since 2015. But he answered some of the concerns about whether he could play in the preseason with the Jets, and got traded to New Orleans. Taysom Hill is also an intriguing option, and the Saints will be relatively well-positioned if Brees were to miss a game.
#3 Philadelphia Eagles (Nick Foles, Nate Sudfeld)
Nick Foles won a Super Bowl last year, so he’s got that going for him. He’ll have to start the year with Carson Wentz not fully back yet, so depth is thin until Wentz is healthy.
#4 Arizona Cardinals (Josh Rosen, Mike Glennon)
Josh Rosen was the 10th overall pick, and will get to sit behind Sam Bradford. Bradford has not been the most durable, so the team also has Mike Glennon. For his faults, Glennon is a legitimate NFL backup quarterback.
#5 Indianapolis Colts (Jacoby Brissett)
Jacoby Brissett did a solid job coming in after a trade from New England to play quarterback with Andrew Luck out. I’m not going to go crazy about his performance–the team still struggled to score points and he took lots of sacks–but he’s what you want out of a high-end backup: Go out and not turn it over and make a few plays.
#6 Chicago Bears (Chase Daniel)
Chase Daniel has made a fantastic living out of being an undersized but highly competent backup.
#7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Griffin)
This is a hard one to rank, because Ryan Fitzpatrick is the starter for a quarter of the season, at least, because of the Jameis Winston. Fitzpatrick still fills the role of a decent backup well, even if he is past the point where a team should still be relying on him as the starter.
#8 Baltimore Ravens (Robert Griffin III, Lamar Jackson)
Lamar Jackson isn’t quite ready to start, while Robert Griffin is trying to revitalize his career. Between the two of them, Baltimore at least has the ability to generate some offense on the ground and some excitement coming off the bench.
#9 Pittsburgh Steelers (Mason Rudolph, Joshua Dobbs)
Mason Rudolph looks like a guy that might get a chance to start in the NFL, and Joshua Dobbs was good enough to send away Landry Jones.
#10 Minnesota Vikings (Trevor Siemian)
Sure, Trevor Siemian isn’t a guy you want to hand over the reins and start for your franchise, but he’s going to have a long career as a quality NFL backup.
#11 New York Jets (Josh McCown)
Josh McCown showed he still has something left last year, but can’t hold up over a full season. He’s a perfect backup to Sam Darnold.
#12 New England Patriots (Brian Hoyer)
Brian Hoyer is another guy in the Trevor Siemian mold who can start occasionally, is still 33 years old, and probably has a few more years of making money as an above average backup.
#13 Washington Redskins (Colt McCoy)
Colt McCoy hasn’t started a NFL game since 2014, when he averaged over 8 yards per attempt.
#14 Buffalo Bills (Josh Allen)
Josh Allen isn’t ready to start yet, but very few backups can throw a ball through the goal posts from their knees at midfield.
#15 Denver Broncos (Chad Kelly, Kevin Hogan)
Chad Kelly showed some promise this preseason and that sent Paxton Lynch out.
#16 Los Angeles Chargers (Geno Smith)
Geno Smith failed out as the Jets starter by age 24, but his numbers weren’t disastrous (6.9 career YPA) and as he approaches age 28 is a better option than plenty of backups out there.
#17 Kansas City Chiefs (Chad Henne)
Chad Henne has continued to stay employed as a backup, entering his 11th year in the league. He hasn’t started a game since 2014, and has a career 6.6 YPA and 58 TDs to 63 INTs. And yes, those numbers qualify as average for a backup.
#18 Green Bay Packers (DeShone Kizer)
DeShone Kizer was supposed to be a project, but was pressed into starting for the Browns at age 21. He’ll now get a chance to sit behind Aaron Rodgers and go into a completely different opportunity.
#19 Oakland Raiders (A.J. McCarron)
A.J. McCarron just played in the best game of his life (one in which he threw a pick six and completed less than 40% of his passes in a preseason game) and was immediately traded to Oakland for a 5th round pick.
#20 Houston Texans (Brandon Weeden, Joe Webb)
It seems like just yesterday that Brandon Weeden was a 29-year-old rookie, but it’s been six years. All jokes aside, Weeden has not played in a game since 2015, but has averaged over 7 yards per attempt and thrown twice as many touchdowns as interceptions since leaving Cleveland, making him surprisingly competent by backup standards. Maybe. He’s old now.
#21 Jacksonville Jaguars (Cody Kessler)
Congratulations if you are playing former Browns QB bingo with this list! Cody Kessler put up decent-ish numbers as a rookie two years ago for Cleveland, but the Browns went 0-8 in his starts. That sounds bad, but they were 1-23 in his non-starts over the last two years.
#22 Tennessee Titans (Blaine Gabbert)
Remember when Blaine Gabbert was going to turn his career around in Arizona and was briefly talked about as a potential reclamation project? He’s averaged 6.0 yards per attempt for his career and still, we assume, has glorious hair.
#23 San Francisco 49ers (C.J. Beathard)
C.J. Beathard was pressed into action as a rookie, and played like a mid-round rookie. He could still be a serviceable backup in year two.
#24 Seattle Seahawks (Brett Hundley)
Okay, we are getting deep into “no thanks” territory here. I’ll never not laugh about Mike McCarthy’s impassioned “the quarterback room is exactly where it needs to be” speech before Hundley averaged 5.8 yards per attempt and led the Packers to multiple shutouts.
#25 Atlanta Falcons (Matt Schaub)
Schaub, once a very good starter, is now 37 years old, and last started 5 years ago. Since the start of the 2013, has averaged 6.5 YPA and thrown 13 TD to 20 INTs. The Falcons will not want to find out if he still has it if something happens to Matt Ryan.
#26 Los Angeles Rams (Sean Mannion)
Sean Mannion has thrown 50 NFL passes for 235 yards. The Rams might be better off going with Todd Gurley in the Wildcat.
#27 New York Giants (Alex Tanney, Kyle Lauletta)
Here’s one that will surprise you, because you may not know that he is real. Alex Tanney, who is likely to serve as the game day backup ahead of rookie Kyle Lauletta, is 30 years old and has been in the league since 2012, playing for 9 different franchises on either the active roster or practice squad. He’s thrown 14 career regular season passes, all with the Titans in 2015.
#28 Detroit (Matt Cassel)
This marks the 10th anniversary of Tom Brady snapping his ACL, Matt Cassel coming off the bench, almost getting benched, but leading the previous year’s 16-0 team to a 11-5 record and no playoffs, and getting rewarded with a big contract in KC. He’s 36 now, and has had six straight years where he’s started less than 9 games (but at least one game in each) and will be on his 6th team in that time.
#29 Dallas Cowboys (Cooper Rush, Mike White)
Cooper Rush has completed one pass for two yards in the NFL. If that number goes up at all in 2018, the Cowboys are in trouble.
#30 Miami Dolphins (Brock Osweiler)
It’s amazing that Brock Osweiler played as well as he did in 2015 because the rest of his career he has looked like crap. Still holds the distinction of being traded away with a draft pick just to get rid of his salary. (And then not even being good enough to crack the list of starting quarterbacks for the new Cleveland Browns).
#31 Cincinnati Bengals (Jeff Driskel)
Jeff Driskel once played quarterback at Florida. Raise your hand if you thought he would be in the NFL after that.
#32 Carolina Panthers (Taylor Heinicke)
Taylor Heinicke is an undersized, athletic quarterback from Old Dominion who has bounced around on several practice squads over the last few years, and now is going to serve as Cam Newton’s backup.