If All Else Fails

“If 18 goes down, we’re fucked, and we don’t practice fucked.”

This quote came from Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore back in the peak of Peyton Manning’s run with the team. It’s an amusing anecdote, especially for a team dealing with a quarterback as legendarily durable as Manning. But it’s also a good summary of how things work in the NFL. Just about any team will fall to pieces if they lose their starting quarterback, and it often isn’t worth investing too much in a fallback plan.

That said, every team in the league does have a backup quarterback, and this past weekend we got to see quite a few of them. At various points during the games, all of Tua Tagovailoa, Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr, Tyrod Taylor, Carson Wentz, and Andy Dalton had to be helped off the field. This came after Ryan Fitzpatrick was lost in week one and Taylor Heinicke was forced to start for Washington on Thursday night.

Backup quarterbacks are having a bit of a moment right now, so I figured I’d run through and rank the backups in the league. There are a couple ways I could do this. One option would be to rank teams by just how fucked they would be, which would be heavily dependent on the dropoff between their starter and their backup. Chad Henne is a better quarterback than Mason Rudolph, but losing Patrick Mahomes would be a lot more damaging to the Chiefs than losing Ben Roethlisberger would be to the Steelers.

But I decided against that approach. This ranking is based entirely on the merits of the backup quarterbacks themselves, independent of the starters. It’s also done as if injuries have not happened, so still treating Fitzpatrick as the starter in Washington and pretending Marcus Mariota is healthy in Las Vegas.

And now, starting from the bottom:

Tier 1: Can Any of Our Wide Receivers Throw?

We’ve seen these guys play before. Let’s hope we never have to see it again.

32) Minnesota Vikings - Sean Mannion
The Vikings coaches rave about Mannion’s intelligence and his value in constructing the gameplan during the week. So he’s basically a super highly paid quarterbacks coach who might someday be forced into action. It has happened before, as he has two career starts and 74 career pass attempts. He’s still searching for his first career touchdown though.

31) Cincinnati Bengals - Brandon Allen

Allen was better last year in Cincinnati than he was two years ago in Denver, but that isn’t saying much. He struggles to consistently hit open receivers, and he panics anytime pressure gets remotely near him. Cincinnati’s season died when Burrow went down in 2020. The same thing will happen if they lose him for any stretch in 2021.

30) Jacksonville Jaguars - CJ Beathard

Kyle Shanahan seems to make every quarterback look good, and Beathard still looked pretty awful when he was in San Francisco. I can’t imagine things will go any better in Jacksonville, and I’m still puzzled why the Jaguars decided to trade away a perfectly good backup option in Gardner Minshew right before the season. Really this team would be perfect for someone like Mannion, a long-time veteran who is more a coach than a real quarterback. Maybe Beathard is that guy behind the scenes, but based solely on what he’s done on the field I’m not sure what he brings to a roster.

 29) Atlanta Falcons - Josh Rosen
It’s tough here because Rosen is still so young and showed so much potential in college, and he got put into some pretty awful situations to start his career. But he was also historically terrible when he was on the field, and the way he’s bounced around rosters suggests that none of his coaches see any sign of him growing as a player.

 

Tier 2: Unknown

None of these guys have done anything at the NFL level. In fact, it’s hard to rank them in this tier because we really haven’t seen anything good or bad from them. So I mostly just relied on college production to judge them. Most likely they are all terrible, but maybe there’s a hidden gem in here.

28) Detroit Lions - Tim Boyle

Tim Boyle may be the most baffling NFL player I’ve ever seen. In three years at UConn he threw 13 interceptions and only one touchdown. He then transferred to Eastern Kentucky, where his performance leapt up to 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in one year. In three years with Green Bay he attempted only four passes, and that was somehow enough to get him signed to be the backup in Detroit. That resume has earned him over $4 million by the age of 26. Good for him.

27) New York Jets - Mike White

I’ll give the Jets some credit. They made sure there will be no pressure if Zach Wilson struggles, because no one has any idea who their backup quarterback is. White has the most anonymous name on this list, and likely the most anonymous background as well (a fifth round selection out of Western Kentucky with no regular season NFL pass attempts). But his numbers in college are pretty good, which at least puts him ahead of some of the others on this list.

26) Dallas Cowboys - Cooper Rush

I was a bit surprised that the Cowboys decided to keep Rush as their backup as opposed to Ben DiNucci, who at least got some experience on the field last year. DiNucci is still on their practice squad, and in a desperate situation they may very well turn to him. But Rush is the second guy among players on their active roster, even though all three of his career regular season passes came in 2017. His numbers at Central Michigan don’t really blow me away either, but maybe he’s grown since then.

25) Tennessee Titans - Logan Woodside

Picking between some of the names in this section is a pretty meaningless exercise. Woodside is above Rush because he put up better numbers in the MAC back in 2016, but neither has done anything in the NFL to make me feel one way or another about them. I guess I kind of like the name “Logan Woodside” more than I like the name “Cooper Rush”, though once again that’s pretty marginal.

24) Baltimore Ravens - Tyler Huntley

The one thing Huntley brings that the names above him do not is mobility. He’s an excellent athlete who was productive on the ground in college. Naturally this means he isn’t much of a passer, but as a backup option mobility can often be a unique challenge for opposing defenses. Given enough time these defenses will adjust to containing someone like Huntley, but if it’s just for a game or two he has the potential to cause some headaches.

23) Indianapolis Colts - Jacob Eason

Eason may end up getting his first start this weekend, though there are reports that the Colts may instead be looking to give some playing time to Brett Hundley who they just signed fresh off the street, which is hardly an endorsement of last year’s fourth round selection. Eason has a massive arm but is a statue in the pocket, which could be an issue if he’s forced onto the field behind a battered Colts offensive line.

22) Carolina Panthers - PJ Walker

Walker actually looked decent in the very limited action he saw last year. Not good, and not even really average, but enough that I can’t completely write him off as a lost cause like I did the four in the section above. And since that’s the case, his performance pushes him towards the top of the group of “unknowns”. He’s probably bad, but I suppose there’s a chance he isn’t.

21) Houston Texans - Davis Mills

This is obviously a messy situation. In truth Tyrod Taylor is the backup, and if I was counting him in this role the Texans would likely be the very best in the league. But instead I’m going to follow the lead of both the Texans organization and the NFL office, and pretend that Deshaun Watson doesn’t exist. In that case their backup is the rookie Mills, who I bumped up a couple spots after his debut performance on Thursday night was merely lifeless rather than the disaster I expected.

20) Green Bay Packers - Jordan Love

Love is the only first round selection on this list and likely the only one expected to one day become a starter. I actually did like him as a prospect, and reviews of him in practice with Green Bay have been mixed but trending up. In a couple years this ranking could look pretty stupid, but I couldn’t bring myself to rank him above players who have actually looked occasionally competent in NFL games.

 

Tier 3: At Least They Have Experience

Sometimes simply not being a disaster is the most you can hope for from a backup. These quarterbacks aren’t good, but they at least won’t be completely out of their depths if they’re thrown onto an NFL field. They’ll just be an ordinary kind of bad, rather than something truly special.

19) New England Patriots - Brian Hoyer

Hoyer isn’t good, but he has a good relationship with the coaching staff in New England, and that will keep things running smooth if he has to step onto the field. The Patriots haven’t been asking much of Mac Jones early on, and I imagine their offense would transition rather smoothly if they needed Hoyer to do the handing off and checking down instead. At least until he goes out and throws another of the baffling interceptions that have haunted him his entire career.

18) New York Giants - Mike Glennon

Glennon has gotten plenty of opportunities to start, including five games for the Jaguars a year ago. It wasn’t pretty, but when is it ever in Jacksonville? The Giants are now his sixth team, and he’s been on the field before with mostly-awful supporting casts. He isn’t going to panic if he’s dropped into yet another ugly situation.

17) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Blaine Gabbert

Gabbert has hung around admirably well after flaming out as a top ten selection in 2011. He hasn’t started a game since 2018, and it didn’t go particularly well the last time he was on the field. But he’s in a good situation in Tampa Bay, and if he can keep himself calm in the pocket, he has the ability to distribute the ball on time and within structure. He’ll always be a mess when things break down, but there are plenty of starters in the league you can say that about as well.

16) Los Angeles Chargers - Chase Daniel

Daniel is one of the NFL’s greatest finesse kings. He has been in the league since 2009, and in that time he has earned $38.9 million. He has very rarely found his way onto the field, only starting five games and only throwing 261 regular season pass attempts (that works out to around $150k per pass attempt). When he has been forced to play, he’s been fine enough to avoid killing his team. And that’s enough to keep him drawing seven figure checks each year.

15) Pittsburgh Steelers - Mason Rudolph

Rudolph was a mess when he started eight games in 2019, but he looked almost competent in his one start in 2020, when he almost led Pittsburgh’s reserve unit to an upset victory over the Browns. It’s enough to make me believe he wouldn’t completely sink the Steelers if he was forced into the starting lineup this year, though I’m a little concerned the Steelers still view him as a possible heir apparent when Ben Roethlisberger finally realizes he’s cooked.

14) Denver Broncos - Drew Lock

There may still be a little juice in the Lock as a future starter concept. Not much, but some. After a rough first two years that were riddled with inconsistent play and poorly timed injuries, he had a chance to earn the starting role again this year but lost out to Teddy Bridgewater, who right now is playing the best football of his career. But Lock still has talent, and he’s flashed moments of competent quarterback play. If he finds his way back onto the field, it isn’t out of the question he can cobble something together.

 

Tier 4: You Might Not Be Totally Screwed

If these guys take over for the rest of the season, you can pretty much write their teams off. If they take over for a week or two however, things could end up working out okay.

13) Los Angeles Rams - John Wolford

Wolford impressed enough in limited action a year ago to jump him up to this tier. He performed well leading the Rams to a victory over the Cardinals in the penultimate week of 2020, and he had a chance to show off even more when he got the playoff start against Seattle. Unfortunately that performance ended with a first quarter neck injury, and he’s now comfortably second on the depth chart behind Matthew Stafford. He’s still only 25 years old though, so hopefully he’ll find some way back onto the field down the road.

12) Arizona Cardinals - Colt McCoy

McCoy is very comfortable in his backup role. He’s gotten a couple chances to start through his career, and he’s avoided doing anything super embarrassing. He just doesn’t have the physical tools needed to be successful as an NFL starting quarterback, and that’s perfectly fine for a backup. The offense will be somewhat limited with him in charge, but a limited offense can work for a little while.

11) New Orleans Saints - Taysom Hill

Who knows what to make of Hill? He’s obviously not good at playing quarterback, but he brings enough athleticism to give headaches to opposing defenses. For a game or two he’s an interesting option, and he has won games as a starter in the past. And if they need anyone for a longer duration, the Saints may choose instead to give Trevor Siemian the bulk of the snaps, not a terrible option either.

10) Seattle Seahawks - Geno Smith

I may be the last person left on Geno Smith Island. He won't ever be a regular starter again, and nor should he be, but his brief time leading the Jets showed me enough to believe that he can perform well enough in a small sample to keep a team afloat. His previous struggles have left him as a bit of a punch line, but a track record of not being totally overwhelmed on the field is about the best you can ask for from a backup quarterback.

9) Buffalo Bills - Mitchell Trubisky

Similar to Smith, Trubisky goes from a joke as a starter to an impressive backup. Less than a year ago he was starting for a playoff team, and the physical ability he brings to the table is enough to make up for some of his other failings. He’ll miss some throws, he’ll make some mistakes, and you can’t count on him to be consistent enough to build an offense around. But let him loose to run around and use his athleticism to make plays, and good stuff might happen.

8) Cleveland Browns - Case Keenum

Keenum is at his best when no one is expecting anything of him. Multiple times through his career he has found his way onto the field, flashed energy and potential, then wilted as soon as he is given more responsibility. At this point in his career I doubt he’ll ever be looked to as a regular starter again, which is probably the best case for him. He should have a few more chances to jump onto the field and flash his playmaking abilities for a game or two, before going back to the bench to wait for the next opportunity to help his team.

 

Tier 5: “Starters”

Yeah, I’m kind of tired of playing this game. These two teams have highly drafted rookie quarterbacks, and both of them will be starting well before the end of the year. The veterans they have as placeholders are pretty good options as backups, and pretty poor options as starters. So let’s just treat them as backups for the purpose of this list.

7) San Francisco 49ers - Jimmy Garoppolo

Garoppolo should remain the nominal starter for a few more weeks, but as soon as the 49ers drop a couple games they will make the switch to Trey Lance and force Garoppolo back into his more natural backup role. He led the 49ers to the Super Bowl two years ago, but that was always a bit of a mirage. He’s capable of being functional in an offensive scheme that elevates every quarterback put into it, but he doesn’t have the playmaking skills to do what his teams needs late in games or when they fall behind. Maybe he’ll get a chance to start again, but I think it’s more likely he’ll go back to the comfortable backup life he had in New England.

6) Chicago Bears - Andy Dalton

Dalton is the platonic ideal of a backup quarterback, and if it wasn’t for the messy starting situation I’d probably bump him up a few spots on this list. He has tons of experience, he’s a very smart player, and he’s bland enough that no fans will be hounding for him to take over as the full-time starter. He’s a great player to have around Justin Fields, who will lock down that starting spot soon enough.

 

Tier 6: Hey Nick Foles Won a Super Bowl, Didn’t He?

These players are better than some of the actual starters in the league. They aren’t long-term answers at quarterback, but in the short-term they can hold down the fort and win a couple games. They have starting experience, they understand how to run offenses, and if absolutely everything breaks right you might even be able to go on a bit of a run with them.

5) Philadelphia Eagles - Joe Flacco

Flacco may be the hardest player on this list to rank. On the one hand, he’s hit a higher level of play than any other backup quarterback in the NFL. On the other hand, he seems to be worse each time he stepped on a football field over the past few years. The base level of historic production is enough to get him into the top tier, but his recent performance makes it hard to rank him anywhere other than last among that group.

4) Washington Football Team - Taylor Heinicke

Heinicke is a little weird too. On the one hand he has some impressive results, with a win over the Giants last week and nearly a shocking upset of Tampa Bay in last year’s playoffs. On the other hand, it’s very clear watching him that things are going to go sideways sooner or later. He plays a very aggressive style and has gotten away with a lot of mistakes. It’s very reminiscent of Keenum with the Vikings during their NFC Championship run a couple years ago, before he came crashing back to reality.

3) Kansas City Chiefs - Chad Henne

Henne’s ranking on this list is carried heavily on the shoulders of his performance in the playoffs a year ago, when he came off the bench and held things reasonably steady enough to sneak the Chiefs past Cleveland. It was a huge stage, and he did what was asked of him, which is about the best thing you can say about a backup quarterback.

2) Miami Dolphins - Jacoby Brissett

No one has ever really been interested in giving Brissett a real chance at a starting role. He didn’t play his way out of the job in Indianapolis, but he didn’t do anything to step up and claim it either. If you surround him with a lot of talent, he can probably be a starter for a playoff team. Otherwise he’s a solid journeyman veteran who can work as a bridge starter for a team waiting to invest in someone younger or as a backup who can jump in and lead the team for a short while if needed.

1) Las Vegas Raiders - Marcus Mariota

I’m still a bit puzzled when thinking about Mariota’s tenure in Tennessee. There were moments where he looked like he was ready to take the next step, and he simply never did. It doesn’t look great for him that Ryan Tannehill performed so much better when he took over as the Titans starter, but I’m not 100% ready to write Mariota off yet. I think he’ll get another chance someday, and I think he still has the potential to turn into a league average starting quarterback.