[OC] Ranking all NFL Teams' Backup QBs
Sept 11, 2018 19:47:50 GMT -6
Reignman, Funkytown, and 1 more like this
Post by Danchat on Sept 11, 2018 19:47:50 GMT -6
After the 2017 concluded with crazy play by backup QBs like Nick Foles and Case Keenum, I thought a full-length article ranking all NFL teams' backup QBs was a good idea. I hope you enjoy this way too long analysis at backup QBs who might not end up playing a snap!
I'll post the spreadsheet of all the QBs in order with their key stats next to them. Use it for referencing their stats when you reach their entry. Go ahead and skip over the chart if you'd like to be surprised and read them in order of their ranking.
(The column to the right is every team's backup situation ranked 1st to 32nd.)
FYI: "Rating" is the arbitrary ranking I've given to the QBs. I guess it's similar to a Madden rating.
80+ = Starter
77-79 = Good Backup
75-76 = Solid Backup
73-74 = Shaky Backup
72- = Not backup quality
#1 - PHI Nick Foles
Rating: 83
Ugh, I don't want to talk about this one. Foles usurped Michael Vick's job as Philly's QB and passed for 27 TDs compared to 2 picks... but then he came crashing down to earth after being traded to the Rams. We all know what happened after that - after Wentz's ACL went kaput, Foles looked rough as the Eagles' starter, but against the best defenses in the NFL in the playoffs (Vikings & Patriots) he suddenly morphed back into his 2013 self and demolished these defenses. He needs the right coaching and playcalls, but he's absolutely an NFL caliber starter when he gets that. Few QBs can make the throws he can. He's smart to stay in Philly and back up a potentially gimpy Wentz because he knows what a bad coach can do to you (Jeff Fisher)... so why play for Cleveland (with incompetent HC Hue Jackson) when you can try to win another ring while making nice money on the bench?
Update: Foles stunk like a dirty diaper in the preseason, taking 6 sacks, throwing 2 picks, taking a safety, at least one lost fumble, and only 171 yards with no TDs to show for it. I'm starting to think a doppelganger replaced him in the NFC Championship game and the Super Bowl, but he's still the best backup QB in the game if that doppelganger returns.
#2 - NYJ Josh McCown
Rating: 79
I simply don't understand how a 39 year old Josh McCown is still in the NFL as a QB making $10M on a one year deal. Not only was McCown a bad QB throughout his prime, he retired and worked as a high school football coach... until the Bears called him out of retirement, and proceeded to see the Bucs, Browns, and Jets named him their Opening Day starter since. McCown has inexplicably turned into a much better QB who nearly single handedly made the Jets somewhat relevant last season. Unfortunately, at this point in his career, he's made out of glass, so he's missed lots of time without starting, but that won't be a concern as a backup. He was a legitimate starting QB last season, making him one of the best backups in the league. If this is his last year, it'll be quite the bizarre career that somehow turned into a good story, and that's why I love the NFL.
#3 - CLE Baker Mayfield
Rating: 79
As a rookie, it's hard to project how good Mayfield will be. He's played three full seasons as the Sooners QB in Oklahoma and he destroyed defenses with an unbelievable 14607/131/23 line (started 8 games at Texas Tech too). His accuracy is second to none, but he's a system QB who needs the right schemes to work. His stature is diminutive, but several QBs have bucked that trend. He should be given time to learn the playbook and make sure an offensive coordinator builds the offense around him. He should be able to provide a spark if anything happens to Tyrod, but this is Cleveland, so anything [bad] can happen. A competent team should be able to turn him into something resembling Russell Wilson.
#4 - TB Ryan Fitzpatrick
Rating - 79
Fitzpatrick is 3 years removed from a 3905/31/15 season with the Jets that he had no business having. Now at age 36, even though you might remember him as an incompetent QB, he's actually one of the best backups out there. When the right weapons are placed around him, he can get the ball to his best players. He'll toss a lot of interceptions, but he's got an aggressive edge compared to most other backups. He isn't going to play it safe, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your team.
Week 1 Update: Methinks my rating has aged very well. He certainly looked like one of the best backups in the league, creaming a good Saints defense on the road. Give it up for the Harvard grad!
#5 - ARZ - Josh Rosen - Preseason 2018: 148/1/0 55.2%
Rating: 79
Rosen, the fourth QB taken in the first round of the draft, could be considered one of the safest prospects in the draft. He's got a strong arm, quality accuracy, good at holding onto the ball, and no off-the-field flaws (no, being a millenial is not a flaw). One of his biggest issues is durability, and he just so happened to miss a couple preseason games with a hand injury. I really like Rosen's game and I think he can at least be a top 20 NFL QB, and he's also pro-ready with plenty of college experience under his belt. He's going to be starting sooner or later with Bradford as the starter.
#6 - NO Teddy Bridgewater
Rating: 77
The Saints have acquired Bridgewater and a 6th round pick while shipping a 3rd rounder out, so clearly the Saints are trusting in Teddy to be Brees' backup. As a Viking, Bridgewater had franchise QB potential, but following a disappointing 2015 season, Teddy's knee exploded and he missed a season and a half. He's seemingly fully recovered from the injury and he looks like his old self. He's a capable game manager who can certainly not lose a game for you, but whether he could fully use New Orleans' gauntlet of weapons to their true potential is up for debate. In my opinion he's one of the league's better backups and a perfectly fine placeholder if Brees misses a few games.
#7 - IND Jacoby Brissett
Rating: 77
Brissett was the Patriots' 3rd string QB when they shipped him off to Indy last year. With Luck's shoulder surgery taking far longer to heal than anyone could have conceived, Brissett was given 16 starts and he didn't look terrible. With only TY Hilton at WR and Gore as the team's best HB, I'm surprised he played as well as he did. 13 passing TDs in 18 starts is pretty bad, but he added 5 rushing scores. He didn't turn the ball over a bunch either. He should develop into one of the NFL's better backup QBs and I could see him as a low-end starter at some point.
#8 - NE Brian Hoyer
Rating: 77
The Patriots originally discovered Hoyer as a UDFA and he left down to become a journeyman and a backup for several teams. He's been 'the guy' for Cleveland, Houston, and San Francisco, but after bombing out with the 49ers, he's landed back home. With all this experience, he's definitely one of the best backups in the NFL, and his stats back it up. He posted a 1445/6/0 line up for the Bears two years ago, but since his stint in Houston, his record is 1-10. He'd be able to keep the Patriots afloat if anything ever happened to Tom Brady.
(#9 - BAL Lamar Jackson)
Rating - 77
Jackson won the Heisman Trophy in 2016 and followed up with a pretty good 2017 season at Louisville. Most will compare him to Michael Vick, and for good reason - he looks like a receiver making explosive cuts or like a running back in space when he scrambles. Ill-equipped defenses will melt in front of his scrambling abilities, but he'll need a good arm to last in the NFL. He has a cannon for an arm, and with a simple flick of his wrist, the football will fly 60 yards. The only downside is that Jackson can miss routine passes and his accuracy is lackluster. The NFL doesn't need QBs who can fire 60 yard passes effortlessly - they need QBs who can hit intermediate passes consistently. Jackson needs a bunch of refinement to be a starter, and he'll also need durability if he's going to last as an NFL QB - there's a many reasons why the scrambling QB has gone the way of the dodo bird. Lamar has the ability to reverse the trend, but he has a ways to go.
Well that paragraph was for nothing, because RG3 was named the backup QB (though he was inactive Week 1, but that was due to having packages for Jackson). That's not a great sign for Jackson, being demoted to 3rd QB, but he's got time to learn and I wouldn't be worried about him yet.
#9 - OAK AJ McCarron
Rating: 76
The Raiders have mostly screwed things up since hiring Jon Gruden to a ludicrously insane $100M deal, but getting McCarron was one of the bright spots... because EJ Manuel is awful and Connor Cook has shown no signs of being NFL-caliber. McCarron had a weird preseason (I can't locate the stats at the moment), "breaking" his collarbone and then returning for the 4th game and having bad accuracy but led a comeback. I considered him as one of the best backups with the Bengals, as he showed solid accuracy and pocket presence there, but nobody wanted him went he hit as a free agent and he fell behind Allen and Peterman in Buffalo. If healthy, he should be a solid backup to Derek Carr.
(Good thing the Browns didn't trade for him mid-2017! That woulda been a disaster.)
#10 - CHI Chase Daniel
Rating: 76
Daniel is one of those guys who make you say "why?" because he has no game experience yet he's going to be 32 years old. He backed up Drew Brees for his first three seasons, Alex Smith in KC for another 3, signed a 3 year $24M deal (!!!) with the Eagles and backed up Wentz for a year, got cut, backed up Brees for another year, and is now the Bears backup. He is clearly loved by the Reid branch family (Reid/Pederson/Nagy) and Sean Payton. His preseason stats (2043/13/8 - 67.8% since 2012) indicate he'd be a solid QB if ever forced into action. I wonder how long he'll go as a career backup.
Update: Vanilla play calls be darned, Daniel passed for 516/5/3 with 67.6% completion. He had some seriously impressive throws. He's a solid backup QB and I honestly don't think it matters how much real experience he's had - he's a strong system fit with Nagy.
#11 - WAS Colt McCoy
Rating: 76
McCoy was a 3rd round pick by the Browns who was quickly forced into the starting role... because of course Cleveland would do that. He was pretty bad as a starter over 21 games and quickly shipped off as a backup. The Redskins scooped him up and now have a pretty good backup. When Cousins was benched in 2014 (and later RG3), McCoy stepped in and looked like an NFL backup. I'd say he's one of the NFL better reserve QBs.
#12 MIN - Trevor Siemian
Rating: 75
After Peyton Manning retired, the Broncos drafted Paxton Lynch, but somehow a 7th rounder broke through and impressed Denver's staff enough to win the starting job and hold it for a second season. He managed the team well in 2016 with a 8-6 record, but the wheels fell off after a hot start in 2017 when he was benched for Brock Osweiler. However, Siemian was Denver's best QB in 2017 and his trade to the Vikings solidifies his future as a backup. He's got an OK arm but in 2016 he was able to get both Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas 1000 yard seasons. However, he averages exactly one INT a start and has 9 career fumbles. He's got the rare combination of experience and youth, and he should improve as a backup. I could see him possibly resurfacing as a bridge QB later in his career (a la Josh McCown).
Update: Siemian looked lost in the headlights this preseason. Mostly throwing checkdowns and taking sacks, he looked more like an overwhelmed rookie than a guy who's started 24 games. He should still be a passable backup but he doesn't seem to be as good as originally advertised. I'll give him a minor downgrade.
#13 - JAX Cody Kessler
Rating: 75
Kessler has zero wins to his name and with zero yards and few yards and TDs, but Kessler was caught up in the Browns' 1-31 run of total incompetence. Kessler was a 7th round prospect who was drafted in the 3rd round for some reason, but his play actually looked better than I expected. He has an accurate but limited arm, and if the Jags needed him to play, I think he'd look alright. He's yet another QB Cleveland gave up on incredibly quickly - maybe they should try be patient with a guy? They'll never learn.
#14 - LAC Geno Smith
Rating: 75
Smith's dreadful rookie season with NYJ (3046/12/21) ruins his stat line, as I think he's a competent backup. He lost his starting job due to a teammate breaking a bone in his face due to a punch, and Ryan Fitzpatrick never looked back. He backed up Eli Manning last season and looked like a bland backup in one start. He's not a sexy backup for Rivers, but you don't need one for him - he's never missed a start. Smith will only be as good as the team around him is, but he can provide a little running ability and use his arm for a few deep shots.
(#15 - BUF - Josh Allen)
Rating: 74
The Bills moved on from AJ McCarron and plan to start Nathan Peterman... but that wisely places Allen as the backup. Allen got all sorts of hype coming out of Wyoming even though the competition mostly overwhelmed him... but hey, he has a cannon for an arm, has a big body, and is sneakily fast. Unfortunately his accuracy is all over the place and he needs time to work on his awareness. I doubt he becomes a franchise QB, but he didn't look like a total bust during the preseason. You could do a lot worse for a backup.
Week 1 Update - Great, Peterman was so awful that Allen is already the starting QB. You're causing more work for me, dang it!
#15 - KC Chad Henne
Rating: 74
Henne's been on some terrible Dolphins and Jets teams, and it shows on the stat line. He's a veteran QB who's more name than game. I do think he'd put up better stats with a stronger offense, but it's hard to claim that Henne's a good backup. I think the Chiefs would be able to coax out some decent play from him with the weapons that they have, if it ever came to that.
#16 - PIT Joshua Dobbs - 2018 Preseason: 434/4/2 67.4%, 10.1 Y/A
Rating: 74
Joshua Dobbs was a 4th rounder in 2017, but his job was on the line as the Steelers invested a 3rd rounder in Mason Rudolph and Landry Jones had been Ben's backup for quite a while. Everything broke right for Dobbs as he came out on top. He proved himself as the backup with a very good preseason (see above), but he's an unknown at this point. He was a mediocre prospect who has been praised for being intelligent and making good decisions, but his accuracy and arm strength are middling. He probably won't be anything more than a backup, but right now he's on the right track.
#17 - BAL Robert Griffin III
Rating: 74
You probably know the story on RG3. He vanished out of the NFL last season after losing his burst due to an ACL tear in his rookie season... plus a stint with the Browns will usually kill your career. Robert resurfaced with the Ravens and he surprisingly beat Lamar for the backup job. He didn't do much in the preseason, but without his dynamic scrambling ability, he's just a passable backup. He always had a good arm, but he hasn't done much with it since his rookie season.
#18 - SF C. J. Beathard
Rating: 73
Beathard was somehow drafted in the 3rd round after I (and many others) saw him as a 7th round prospect. Beathard's stats look pretty bad, but he did add 26 carries for 136 rushing yards and 3 TDs. He looks like he'll develop into a fine backup and nothing more - but they should have waited until the 5th round or later on him.
Update: Beathard had a disappointing preseason and many 49ers fans were asking for former UDFA Nick Mullens. I might be overrating him a little bit. He's been bumped down.
#19 - ATL - Matt Schaub
Rating - 73
Once upon a time Schaub was a solid starting QB for the Texans. However, after an awful final season in Houston in 2013, he's bounced around as a backup and now he's in line to be the backup QB for Atlanta for the third straight season. He's already 36 years old and his last decent season was in 2012... he's not a good backup. Atlanta should consider developing a young backup to replace him in 2019.
#20 - HOU Brandon Weeden
Rating - 73
Only the Browns would find it a good idea to draft a 29 year old QB in the first round. Weeden's arm talent and body of work was already middling out of Oklahoma State, but of course the Browns found another flavor of the month and got over it by the end of his second season. Weeden was bad in his rookie year in Cleveland, but reached abominable levels in his second year (at age 30!!). Dallas later found it a good idea to make him their backup, going 0-4 in two seasons, but he was statistically better. In his one start in Houston, he had a good game and won, and he topped that off with solid 2018 preseason. I guess he's not total rubbish, but at age 35 in a month... he's not who I'd want to back up the potentially injury prone DeShaun Watson.
#21 - GB DeShone Kizer
Rating: 73
Shield your eyes from that statline, and you also might need to pinch your nose. Kizer was beyond awful for the Browns last season, piling mental mistake upon mistake. He has the arm to be an NFL QB and, rewatching some film, he wasn't trully awful until late in games and in the redzone. With a totally dysfunctional organization and Hue Jackson having no clue how to run the offense with Kizer, I have to imagine he fares better with the Packers. I'm not sure he was worth trading nickel CB/FS Damarious Randall for (Alex Smith netted nickel CB Kendall Fuller...), but Kizer has the potential to be an upgrade from Hundley. But he also has the downside of being a dumpster fire on a stick.
#22 - SEA Brett Hundley
Rating: 73
The Seahawks have acquired Brett Hundley for a 6th round pick... hooray, I guess. Like many Packer backup QBs, 5th rounder Brett Hundley was hyped up, and when Rodgers' collarbone broke, it was up to him to carry the mantle. Needless to say he failed and that's why he's in Seattle. Hundley wasn't totally terrible in 2017 and had some fine moments against the Steelers and Bears, but his season was marred by the inability to passes longer than 5 yards, resulting in a putrid 5.7 Y/A (and an uncanny ability to play good football on the road and look putrid at Lambeau field). He's a great scrambler, but the Packers didn't utilize him enough in the run game. He's only 25 and still has potential, but Seattle would be in a huge amount of trouble if Wilson missed an extended period of time.
#23 - NYG Kyle Lauletta
Rating: 73
Fourth round rookie from Virginia, Kyle Lauletta was able to unseat Davis Webb for the backup job to Eli Manning. Many had him as a 2nd-3rd round QB, but QBs are always overrated due to the tiny chance they have at being a franchise QB. (I remember several calling Davis Webb a 1st round talent. One year later he's on the Jets practice squad...) Lauletta had a bad preseason (194/1/2 48.6%) and should probably be hanging around as a 3rd string QB. Perhaps Gettleman should have drafted Sam Darnold, because I suspect soon they'll be wishing they had more than just Lauletta behind Manning.
#24 - DEN Chad Kelly - Preseason 2018: 466/3/2, 66.7% 7.8 Y/A
Rating: 73
With Paxton Lynch waived after a pitiful two seasons with the team, Kelly becomes one of the most intriguing backup QBs, but not for the best reasons. Kelly was a 4th-5th round prospect who fell to the final pick of the 2016 draft due to a torn ACL and a diva personality. He had some big off-the-field problems in college and was not considered a leader. What he was at Ole Miss was a risk-loving gunslinger who had the guts to make big-time throws with his strong arm, but he was liable to making horrible mistakes. After just a single good but not great preseason (he missed the whole 2017 rehabbing from said ACL injury), the Broncos anointed him as the #2, but they did bring in Kevin Hogan as the #3 just in case. Kelly is a big question mark, but there's no question he has the ability to be a great backup. I'd rather give him the Sloter treatment and groom him as the 3rd QB.
#25 - BUF Nathan Peterman
Rating: 72
It's hard to know what Peterman really is. He looked great over the preseason (431/3/1 10.5 Y/A 80.5% (!!)), but he's crashed harder than the Hindenburg in his 2 NFL starts. I feel like he has the ability to be a backup in him, but boy, it's hard to say that after watching him look like a high schooler play against grown men. I do think the Bills' terrible offense is making him look a worse than he really is, but he's still bad. (whoops, apparently he started another game in 2017 where he left when an injury but was credited with a win, but Joe Webb really got that one. It was that Snow Bowl game in Indy last season.)
#26 - CIN Jeff Driskel - 2018 Preseason 448/2/1 65.5%, 7.7 Y/A
Rating: 72
Driskel was a 49er 6th rounder who failed to make the team, but the Bengals claimed him and kept him around as a project player. Now in year 3, Driskel fended off some bad competition in Matt Barkley and Logan Woodside. Driskel had a solid preseason, but he's a marginal prospect with little accuracy or arm strength. From what little I've watched of him, he has sneaky-fast speed and he can scramble all over unsuspecting defenses. However, if Dalton were to go down, the Bengals would be in big trouble.
#27 - DAL Cooper Rush - 2018 Preseason: 358/1/4 62.2%, 4.8 Y/A
Rating: 72
The Cowboys opted to keep both Rush and 5th round rookie Mike White on the roster, but Rush is the current backup. Rush lit up the 2017 preseason and massively outplayed the inept Kellen Moore, but it was different this year. Rush had an awful preseason, but White wasn't much better. Nobody planned on drafting Rush in 2017 and it's likely he'd be overmatched if he ever reached the field. It's surprising the Cowboys didn't find a better backup, but their offensive side of the roster is so thin, I can see why they didn't. They're not going to be winning many games anyways.
#28 - PHI Nate Sudfeld - 2018 Preseason: 524/5/3 58.1%, 7.1 Y/A
Rating: 72
With Wentz likely to miss at least two weeks, I'll give Sudfeld a rating. A 6th rounder from Indiana, Sudfeld couldn't stay on Washington's roster, but the Eagles needed a body with Wentz hurt last year. If any injury would have happened to Foles, it'd be Sudsy out there. He's a big QB, but he was a barely draftable prospect and I haven't seen anything from him to suggest he's a good backup. His preseason tape was fine, but nothing special. He'll suffice for now, but likely be cut once Wentz is healthy.
#29 - MIA Brock Osweiler
Rating: 72
Osweiler is one of the few QBs I've ever seen to continually get worse as he plays and hits his prime. Things started out promising in Denver (though he never should have been a 2nd round pick), but everything collapsed in Houston, as I'm sure you heard. Then Denver picked him back up and he was still awful. Then he packed in a mediocre as heck preseason (321/2/1 with 4.9 Y/A!), but his competition was Bryce Petty (unbearably bad) and David Fales (still on the team). Osweiler's accuracy is bad and when he does complete passes, they're checkdowns. He should be a free agent right now. I'd rather see the dopey Culter be the backup than Osweiler the incompetent.
#30 - TB Ryan Griffin - Career Preseason Stats - 1660/7/7 58.1% Y/A: 6.39
Rating - 72
Griffin will be backing up Fitzpatrick due to Winston's suspension. He's a UDFA that Tampa has hung on to after plucking him away from New Orleans, but he's never played in a regular season game before. His preseason stats are not good and I don't like his chances. He doesn't appear to be a NFL-caliber backup.
#31 - CAR Taylor Heinicke
Rating: 71
Most NFL fans would go "who?", but us Vikings fans know Heinicke somewhat well. After a nice 2015 preseason and hanging around as the 3rd string QB, Taylor would have had a nice chance to be a backup if he hadn't kicked a door down and ripped a tendon in his foot. He was then vastly outplayed by Case Keenum in the 2016 preseason and he was sent packing, and you'd think that'd be it for the marginal Old Dominion prospect. He did resurface as the Texans' 4th string QB in 2017, but he's somehow won the backup job behind Cam Newton.
He put up a 323/2/1 66.7% line in the preseason, but he has no experience and he doesn't have any outstanding abilities... with Carolina's travesty of an O-line, they should really find a better backup.
#32 - TEN Blaine Gabbert
Rating: 71
The maddenly incompetent Blaine "Yo-Gabba-Gabba" Gabbert refuses to die. With awful pocket awareness, terrible accuracy, and basically no upside, all Gabbert has is experience... if you count failure as experience (bonus points if you know who said that quote there). Gabbert keeps finding himself in starting situations, as he got 5 starts in Arizona before they regained sanity and benched him for Drew Stanton (who isn't even a backup now). He somehow lasted for 13 starts in San Fran after Kaepernick bombed out. Now he's the backup to the brittle and overrated Marcus Mariota, and (update) he might be starting Week 2. What a pitiful excuse for a backup QB.
#33 - LAR Sean Mannion
Rating - 71
Mannion, a former 3rd round pick, put up a 1115/7/2 line in preseason games. Many considered Mannion to be a wasted draft pick, but the Rams seem committed to him. The Rams would be in big trouble if Goff missed an extended period of time, but I think he could develop in an average backup.
Update: Mannion had an abysmal preseason that even Trevor Siemian would scoff at. His 168/1/2 comes on 46 attempts (!!), averaging an unbelievably low 3.7 Y/A. He shouldn't be on an NFL roster. Perhaps LA should pair Goff with Davis Webb, his former teammate at Cal?
#34 - DET Matt Cassel
Rating: 70
Really, Detroit? I know you're trying to emulate the Patriots with Patricia as your head coach, but why did you need to bring back the corpse of Matt Cassel? Jake Rudock was a poor backup but put up a 425/3/0 68.2% statline in the preseason... Cassel looked bad at 247/1/2 55.1% but he's got 'experience'... but that experience came when he was a semi-competent QB in his prime. Now he's a washed up backup who's looked horrendous with the Cowboys (1276/5/7 58.3%) and worse with the Titans (446/3/4 4.8 Y/A !!!). How anyone can consider him a backup QB is ludicrous, but thank goodness Stafford has been durable since a bad start to his career.
Whew... alright. Now, time to answer one question I've seen many ask before:
Is the QB position terrible and are better backups needed?
My answer is this: I think the NFL has a solid number of good starting QBs. For backups... I like about half of them, maybe up to 60% of them. Is that a problem? In my humble opinion, no, it's not. Plenty of other positions have the exact same problem with many teams going with backups who have zero experience. If you think the QB position is bad, check out the status of the TE position. There are probably less than 20 TEs who are good enough to start in this league. The backups are even worse. Offensive lines are incredibly shallow too. While I do think there are some guys who are backups that need to be kicked out of the game (Cassel, Gabbert, Mannion, etc.), there are a decent handful of good backups out there.
If anyone's interested in seeing 3rd string QBs in this list or some of the better FAs added (Kaepernick, anyone?), I'm up for it. I hope you enjoyed this article and go ahead andstart a flame war over how you hated my backup QB ratings ahem, I'd like to hear your thoughts.
I'll post the spreadsheet of all the QBs in order with their key stats next to them. Use it for referencing their stats when you reach their entry. Go ahead and skip over the chart if you'd like to be surprised and read them in order of their ranking.
(The column to the right is every team's backup situation ranked 1st to 32nd.)
FYI: "Rating" is the arbitrary ranking I've given to the QBs. I guess it's similar to a Madden rating.
80+ = Starter
77-79 = Good Backup
75-76 = Solid Backup
73-74 = Shaky Backup
72- = Not backup quality
#1 - PHI Nick Foles
Rating: 83
Ugh, I don't want to talk about this one. Foles usurped Michael Vick's job as Philly's QB and passed for 27 TDs compared to 2 picks... but then he came crashing down to earth after being traded to the Rams. We all know what happened after that - after Wentz's ACL went kaput, Foles looked rough as the Eagles' starter, but against the best defenses in the NFL in the playoffs (Vikings & Patriots) he suddenly morphed back into his 2013 self and demolished these defenses. He needs the right coaching and playcalls, but he's absolutely an NFL caliber starter when he gets that. Few QBs can make the throws he can. He's smart to stay in Philly and back up a potentially gimpy Wentz because he knows what a bad coach can do to you (Jeff Fisher)... so why play for Cleveland (with incompetent HC Hue Jackson) when you can try to win another ring while making nice money on the bench?
Update: Foles stunk like a dirty diaper in the preseason, taking 6 sacks, throwing 2 picks, taking a safety, at least one lost fumble, and only 171 yards with no TDs to show for it. I'm starting to think a doppelganger replaced him in the NFC Championship game and the Super Bowl, but he's still the best backup QB in the game if that doppelganger returns.
#2 - NYJ Josh McCown
Rating: 79
I simply don't understand how a 39 year old Josh McCown is still in the NFL as a QB making $10M on a one year deal. Not only was McCown a bad QB throughout his prime, he retired and worked as a high school football coach... until the Bears called him out of retirement, and proceeded to see the Bucs, Browns, and Jets named him their Opening Day starter since. McCown has inexplicably turned into a much better QB who nearly single handedly made the Jets somewhat relevant last season. Unfortunately, at this point in his career, he's made out of glass, so he's missed lots of time without starting, but that won't be a concern as a backup. He was a legitimate starting QB last season, making him one of the best backups in the league. If this is his last year, it'll be quite the bizarre career that somehow turned into a good story, and that's why I love the NFL.
#3 - CLE Baker Mayfield
Rating: 79
As a rookie, it's hard to project how good Mayfield will be. He's played three full seasons as the Sooners QB in Oklahoma and he destroyed defenses with an unbelievable 14607/131/23 line (started 8 games at Texas Tech too). His accuracy is second to none, but he's a system QB who needs the right schemes to work. His stature is diminutive, but several QBs have bucked that trend. He should be given time to learn the playbook and make sure an offensive coordinator builds the offense around him. He should be able to provide a spark if anything happens to Tyrod, but this is Cleveland, so anything [bad] can happen. A competent team should be able to turn him into something resembling Russell Wilson.
#4 - TB Ryan Fitzpatrick
Rating - 79
Fitzpatrick is 3 years removed from a 3905/31/15 season with the Jets that he had no business having. Now at age 36, even though you might remember him as an incompetent QB, he's actually one of the best backups out there. When the right weapons are placed around him, he can get the ball to his best players. He'll toss a lot of interceptions, but he's got an aggressive edge compared to most other backups. He isn't going to play it safe, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your team.
Week 1 Update: Methinks my rating has aged very well. He certainly looked like one of the best backups in the league, creaming a good Saints defense on the road. Give it up for the Harvard grad!
#5 - ARZ - Josh Rosen - Preseason 2018: 148/1/0 55.2%
Rating: 79
Rosen, the fourth QB taken in the first round of the draft, could be considered one of the safest prospects in the draft. He's got a strong arm, quality accuracy, good at holding onto the ball, and no off-the-field flaws (no, being a millenial is not a flaw). One of his biggest issues is durability, and he just so happened to miss a couple preseason games with a hand injury. I really like Rosen's game and I think he can at least be a top 20 NFL QB, and he's also pro-ready with plenty of college experience under his belt. He's going to be starting sooner or later with Bradford as the starter.
#6 - NO Teddy Bridgewater
Rating: 77
The Saints have acquired Bridgewater and a 6th round pick while shipping a 3rd rounder out, so clearly the Saints are trusting in Teddy to be Brees' backup. As a Viking, Bridgewater had franchise QB potential, but following a disappointing 2015 season, Teddy's knee exploded and he missed a season and a half. He's seemingly fully recovered from the injury and he looks like his old self. He's a capable game manager who can certainly not lose a game for you, but whether he could fully use New Orleans' gauntlet of weapons to their true potential is up for debate. In my opinion he's one of the league's better backups and a perfectly fine placeholder if Brees misses a few games.
#7 - IND Jacoby Brissett
Rating: 77
Brissett was the Patriots' 3rd string QB when they shipped him off to Indy last year. With Luck's shoulder surgery taking far longer to heal than anyone could have conceived, Brissett was given 16 starts and he didn't look terrible. With only TY Hilton at WR and Gore as the team's best HB, I'm surprised he played as well as he did. 13 passing TDs in 18 starts is pretty bad, but he added 5 rushing scores. He didn't turn the ball over a bunch either. He should develop into one of the NFL's better backup QBs and I could see him as a low-end starter at some point.
#8 - NE Brian Hoyer
Rating: 77
The Patriots originally discovered Hoyer as a UDFA and he left down to become a journeyman and a backup for several teams. He's been 'the guy' for Cleveland, Houston, and San Francisco, but after bombing out with the 49ers, he's landed back home. With all this experience, he's definitely one of the best backups in the NFL, and his stats back it up. He posted a 1445/6/0 line up for the Bears two years ago, but since his stint in Houston, his record is 1-10. He'd be able to keep the Patriots afloat if anything ever happened to Tom Brady.
(#9 - BAL Lamar Jackson)
Rating - 77
Jackson won the Heisman Trophy in 2016 and followed up with a pretty good 2017 season at Louisville. Most will compare him to Michael Vick, and for good reason - he looks like a receiver making explosive cuts or like a running back in space when he scrambles. Ill-equipped defenses will melt in front of his scrambling abilities, but he'll need a good arm to last in the NFL. He has a cannon for an arm, and with a simple flick of his wrist, the football will fly 60 yards. The only downside is that Jackson can miss routine passes and his accuracy is lackluster. The NFL doesn't need QBs who can fire 60 yard passes effortlessly - they need QBs who can hit intermediate passes consistently. Jackson needs a bunch of refinement to be a starter, and he'll also need durability if he's going to last as an NFL QB - there's a many reasons why the scrambling QB has gone the way of the dodo bird. Lamar has the ability to reverse the trend, but he has a ways to go.
Well that paragraph was for nothing, because RG3 was named the backup QB (though he was inactive Week 1, but that was due to having packages for Jackson). That's not a great sign for Jackson, being demoted to 3rd QB, but he's got time to learn and I wouldn't be worried about him yet.
#9 - OAK AJ McCarron
Rating: 76
The Raiders have mostly screwed things up since hiring Jon Gruden to a ludicrously insane $100M deal, but getting McCarron was one of the bright spots... because EJ Manuel is awful and Connor Cook has shown no signs of being NFL-caliber. McCarron had a weird preseason (I can't locate the stats at the moment), "breaking" his collarbone and then returning for the 4th game and having bad accuracy but led a comeback. I considered him as one of the best backups with the Bengals, as he showed solid accuracy and pocket presence there, but nobody wanted him went he hit as a free agent and he fell behind Allen and Peterman in Buffalo. If healthy, he should be a solid backup to Derek Carr.
(Good thing the Browns didn't trade for him mid-2017! That woulda been a disaster.)
#10 - CHI Chase Daniel
Rating: 76
Daniel is one of those guys who make you say "why?" because he has no game experience yet he's going to be 32 years old. He backed up Drew Brees for his first three seasons, Alex Smith in KC for another 3, signed a 3 year $24M deal (!!!) with the Eagles and backed up Wentz for a year, got cut, backed up Brees for another year, and is now the Bears backup. He is clearly loved by the Reid branch family (Reid/Pederson/Nagy) and Sean Payton. His preseason stats (2043/13/8 - 67.8% since 2012) indicate he'd be a solid QB if ever forced into action. I wonder how long he'll go as a career backup.
Update: Vanilla play calls be darned, Daniel passed for 516/5/3 with 67.6% completion. He had some seriously impressive throws. He's a solid backup QB and I honestly don't think it matters how much real experience he's had - he's a strong system fit with Nagy.
#11 - WAS Colt McCoy
Rating: 76
McCoy was a 3rd round pick by the Browns who was quickly forced into the starting role... because of course Cleveland would do that. He was pretty bad as a starter over 21 games and quickly shipped off as a backup. The Redskins scooped him up and now have a pretty good backup. When Cousins was benched in 2014 (and later RG3), McCoy stepped in and looked like an NFL backup. I'd say he's one of the NFL better reserve QBs.
#12 MIN - Trevor Siemian
Rating: 75
After Peyton Manning retired, the Broncos drafted Paxton Lynch, but somehow a 7th rounder broke through and impressed Denver's staff enough to win the starting job and hold it for a second season. He managed the team well in 2016 with a 8-6 record, but the wheels fell off after a hot start in 2017 when he was benched for Brock Osweiler. However, Siemian was Denver's best QB in 2017 and his trade to the Vikings solidifies his future as a backup. He's got an OK arm but in 2016 he was able to get both Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas 1000 yard seasons. However, he averages exactly one INT a start and has 9 career fumbles. He's got the rare combination of experience and youth, and he should improve as a backup. I could see him possibly resurfacing as a bridge QB later in his career (a la Josh McCown).
Update: Siemian looked lost in the headlights this preseason. Mostly throwing checkdowns and taking sacks, he looked more like an overwhelmed rookie than a guy who's started 24 games. He should still be a passable backup but he doesn't seem to be as good as originally advertised. I'll give him a minor downgrade.
#13 - JAX Cody Kessler
Rating: 75
Kessler has zero wins to his name and with zero yards and few yards and TDs, but Kessler was caught up in the Browns' 1-31 run of total incompetence. Kessler was a 7th round prospect who was drafted in the 3rd round for some reason, but his play actually looked better than I expected. He has an accurate but limited arm, and if the Jags needed him to play, I think he'd look alright. He's yet another QB Cleveland gave up on incredibly quickly - maybe they should try be patient with a guy? They'll never learn.
#14 - LAC Geno Smith
Rating: 75
Smith's dreadful rookie season with NYJ (3046/12/21) ruins his stat line, as I think he's a competent backup. He lost his starting job due to a teammate breaking a bone in his face due to a punch, and Ryan Fitzpatrick never looked back. He backed up Eli Manning last season and looked like a bland backup in one start. He's not a sexy backup for Rivers, but you don't need one for him - he's never missed a start. Smith will only be as good as the team around him is, but he can provide a little running ability and use his arm for a few deep shots.
(#15 - BUF - Josh Allen)
Rating: 74
The Bills moved on from AJ McCarron and plan to start Nathan Peterman... but that wisely places Allen as the backup. Allen got all sorts of hype coming out of Wyoming even though the competition mostly overwhelmed him... but hey, he has a cannon for an arm, has a big body, and is sneakily fast. Unfortunately his accuracy is all over the place and he needs time to work on his awareness. I doubt he becomes a franchise QB, but he didn't look like a total bust during the preseason. You could do a lot worse for a backup.
Week 1 Update - Great, Peterman was so awful that Allen is already the starting QB. You're causing more work for me, dang it!
#15 - KC Chad Henne
Rating: 74
Henne's been on some terrible Dolphins and Jets teams, and it shows on the stat line. He's a veteran QB who's more name than game. I do think he'd put up better stats with a stronger offense, but it's hard to claim that Henne's a good backup. I think the Chiefs would be able to coax out some decent play from him with the weapons that they have, if it ever came to that.
#16 - PIT Joshua Dobbs - 2018 Preseason: 434/4/2 67.4%, 10.1 Y/A
Rating: 74
Joshua Dobbs was a 4th rounder in 2017, but his job was on the line as the Steelers invested a 3rd rounder in Mason Rudolph and Landry Jones had been Ben's backup for quite a while. Everything broke right for Dobbs as he came out on top. He proved himself as the backup with a very good preseason (see above), but he's an unknown at this point. He was a mediocre prospect who has been praised for being intelligent and making good decisions, but his accuracy and arm strength are middling. He probably won't be anything more than a backup, but right now he's on the right track.
#17 - BAL Robert Griffin III
Rating: 74
You probably know the story on RG3. He vanished out of the NFL last season after losing his burst due to an ACL tear in his rookie season... plus a stint with the Browns will usually kill your career. Robert resurfaced with the Ravens and he surprisingly beat Lamar for the backup job. He didn't do much in the preseason, but without his dynamic scrambling ability, he's just a passable backup. He always had a good arm, but he hasn't done much with it since his rookie season.
#18 - SF C. J. Beathard
Rating: 73
Beathard was somehow drafted in the 3rd round after I (and many others) saw him as a 7th round prospect. Beathard's stats look pretty bad, but he did add 26 carries for 136 rushing yards and 3 TDs. He looks like he'll develop into a fine backup and nothing more - but they should have waited until the 5th round or later on him.
Update: Beathard had a disappointing preseason and many 49ers fans were asking for former UDFA Nick Mullens. I might be overrating him a little bit. He's been bumped down.
#19 - ATL - Matt Schaub
Rating - 73
Once upon a time Schaub was a solid starting QB for the Texans. However, after an awful final season in Houston in 2013, he's bounced around as a backup and now he's in line to be the backup QB for Atlanta for the third straight season. He's already 36 years old and his last decent season was in 2012... he's not a good backup. Atlanta should consider developing a young backup to replace him in 2019.
#20 - HOU Brandon Weeden
Rating - 73
Only the Browns would find it a good idea to draft a 29 year old QB in the first round. Weeden's arm talent and body of work was already middling out of Oklahoma State, but of course the Browns found another flavor of the month and got over it by the end of his second season. Weeden was bad in his rookie year in Cleveland, but reached abominable levels in his second year (at age 30!!). Dallas later found it a good idea to make him their backup, going 0-4 in two seasons, but he was statistically better. In his one start in Houston, he had a good game and won, and he topped that off with solid 2018 preseason. I guess he's not total rubbish, but at age 35 in a month... he's not who I'd want to back up the potentially injury prone DeShaun Watson.
#21 - GB DeShone Kizer
Rating: 73
Shield your eyes from that statline, and you also might need to pinch your nose. Kizer was beyond awful for the Browns last season, piling mental mistake upon mistake. He has the arm to be an NFL QB and, rewatching some film, he wasn't trully awful until late in games and in the redzone. With a totally dysfunctional organization and Hue Jackson having no clue how to run the offense with Kizer, I have to imagine he fares better with the Packers. I'm not sure he was worth trading nickel CB/FS Damarious Randall for (Alex Smith netted nickel CB Kendall Fuller...), but Kizer has the potential to be an upgrade from Hundley. But he also has the downside of being a dumpster fire on a stick.
#22 - SEA Brett Hundley
Rating: 73
The Seahawks have acquired Brett Hundley for a 6th round pick... hooray, I guess. Like many Packer backup QBs, 5th rounder Brett Hundley was hyped up, and when Rodgers' collarbone broke, it was up to him to carry the mantle. Needless to say he failed and that's why he's in Seattle. Hundley wasn't totally terrible in 2017 and had some fine moments against the Steelers and Bears, but his season was marred by the inability to passes longer than 5 yards, resulting in a putrid 5.7 Y/A (and an uncanny ability to play good football on the road and look putrid at Lambeau field). He's a great scrambler, but the Packers didn't utilize him enough in the run game. He's only 25 and still has potential, but Seattle would be in a huge amount of trouble if Wilson missed an extended period of time.
#23 - NYG Kyle Lauletta
Rating: 73
Fourth round rookie from Virginia, Kyle Lauletta was able to unseat Davis Webb for the backup job to Eli Manning. Many had him as a 2nd-3rd round QB, but QBs are always overrated due to the tiny chance they have at being a franchise QB. (I remember several calling Davis Webb a 1st round talent. One year later he's on the Jets practice squad...) Lauletta had a bad preseason (194/1/2 48.6%) and should probably be hanging around as a 3rd string QB. Perhaps Gettleman should have drafted Sam Darnold, because I suspect soon they'll be wishing they had more than just Lauletta behind Manning.
#24 - DEN Chad Kelly - Preseason 2018: 466/3/2, 66.7% 7.8 Y/A
Rating: 73
With Paxton Lynch waived after a pitiful two seasons with the team, Kelly becomes one of the most intriguing backup QBs, but not for the best reasons. Kelly was a 4th-5th round prospect who fell to the final pick of the 2016 draft due to a torn ACL and a diva personality. He had some big off-the-field problems in college and was not considered a leader. What he was at Ole Miss was a risk-loving gunslinger who had the guts to make big-time throws with his strong arm, but he was liable to making horrible mistakes. After just a single good but not great preseason (he missed the whole 2017 rehabbing from said ACL injury), the Broncos anointed him as the #2, but they did bring in Kevin Hogan as the #3 just in case. Kelly is a big question mark, but there's no question he has the ability to be a great backup. I'd rather give him the Sloter treatment and groom him as the 3rd QB.
#25 - BUF Nathan Peterman
Rating: 72
It's hard to know what Peterman really is. He looked great over the preseason (431/3/1 10.5 Y/A 80.5% (!!)), but he's crashed harder than the Hindenburg in his 2 NFL starts. I feel like he has the ability to be a backup in him, but boy, it's hard to say that after watching him look like a high schooler play against grown men. I do think the Bills' terrible offense is making him look a worse than he really is, but he's still bad. (whoops, apparently he started another game in 2017 where he left when an injury but was credited with a win, but Joe Webb really got that one. It was that Snow Bowl game in Indy last season.)
#26 - CIN Jeff Driskel - 2018 Preseason 448/2/1 65.5%, 7.7 Y/A
Rating: 72
Driskel was a 49er 6th rounder who failed to make the team, but the Bengals claimed him and kept him around as a project player. Now in year 3, Driskel fended off some bad competition in Matt Barkley and Logan Woodside. Driskel had a solid preseason, but he's a marginal prospect with little accuracy or arm strength. From what little I've watched of him, he has sneaky-fast speed and he can scramble all over unsuspecting defenses. However, if Dalton were to go down, the Bengals would be in big trouble.
#27 - DAL Cooper Rush - 2018 Preseason: 358/1/4 62.2%, 4.8 Y/A
Rating: 72
The Cowboys opted to keep both Rush and 5th round rookie Mike White on the roster, but Rush is the current backup. Rush lit up the 2017 preseason and massively outplayed the inept Kellen Moore, but it was different this year. Rush had an awful preseason, but White wasn't much better. Nobody planned on drafting Rush in 2017 and it's likely he'd be overmatched if he ever reached the field. It's surprising the Cowboys didn't find a better backup, but their offensive side of the roster is so thin, I can see why they didn't. They're not going to be winning many games anyways.
#28 - PHI Nate Sudfeld - 2018 Preseason: 524/5/3 58.1%, 7.1 Y/A
Rating: 72
With Wentz likely to miss at least two weeks, I'll give Sudfeld a rating. A 6th rounder from Indiana, Sudfeld couldn't stay on Washington's roster, but the Eagles needed a body with Wentz hurt last year. If any injury would have happened to Foles, it'd be Sudsy out there. He's a big QB, but he was a barely draftable prospect and I haven't seen anything from him to suggest he's a good backup. His preseason tape was fine, but nothing special. He'll suffice for now, but likely be cut once Wentz is healthy.
#29 - MIA Brock Osweiler
Rating: 72
Osweiler is one of the few QBs I've ever seen to continually get worse as he plays and hits his prime. Things started out promising in Denver (though he never should have been a 2nd round pick), but everything collapsed in Houston, as I'm sure you heard. Then Denver picked him back up and he was still awful. Then he packed in a mediocre as heck preseason (321/2/1 with 4.9 Y/A!), but his competition was Bryce Petty (unbearably bad) and David Fales (still on the team). Osweiler's accuracy is bad and when he does complete passes, they're checkdowns. He should be a free agent right now. I'd rather see the dopey Culter be the backup than Osweiler the incompetent.
#30 - TB Ryan Griffin - Career Preseason Stats - 1660/7/7 58.1% Y/A: 6.39
Rating - 72
Griffin will be backing up Fitzpatrick due to Winston's suspension. He's a UDFA that Tampa has hung on to after plucking him away from New Orleans, but he's never played in a regular season game before. His preseason stats are not good and I don't like his chances. He doesn't appear to be a NFL-caliber backup.
#31 - CAR Taylor Heinicke
Rating: 71
Most NFL fans would go "who?", but us Vikings fans know Heinicke somewhat well. After a nice 2015 preseason and hanging around as the 3rd string QB, Taylor would have had a nice chance to be a backup if he hadn't kicked a door down and ripped a tendon in his foot. He was then vastly outplayed by Case Keenum in the 2016 preseason and he was sent packing, and you'd think that'd be it for the marginal Old Dominion prospect. He did resurface as the Texans' 4th string QB in 2017, but he's somehow won the backup job behind Cam Newton.
He put up a 323/2/1 66.7% line in the preseason, but he has no experience and he doesn't have any outstanding abilities... with Carolina's travesty of an O-line, they should really find a better backup.
#32 - TEN Blaine Gabbert
Rating: 71
The maddenly incompetent Blaine "Yo-Gabba-Gabba" Gabbert refuses to die. With awful pocket awareness, terrible accuracy, and basically no upside, all Gabbert has is experience... if you count failure as experience (bonus points if you know who said that quote there). Gabbert keeps finding himself in starting situations, as he got 5 starts in Arizona before they regained sanity and benched him for Drew Stanton (who isn't even a backup now). He somehow lasted for 13 starts in San Fran after Kaepernick bombed out. Now he's the backup to the brittle and overrated Marcus Mariota, and (update) he might be starting Week 2. What a pitiful excuse for a backup QB.
#33 - LAR Sean Mannion
Rating - 71
Mannion, a former 3rd round pick, put up a 1115/7/2 line in preseason games. Many considered Mannion to be a wasted draft pick, but the Rams seem committed to him. The Rams would be in big trouble if Goff missed an extended period of time, but I think he could develop in an average backup.
Update: Mannion had an abysmal preseason that even Trevor Siemian would scoff at. His 168/1/2 comes on 46 attempts (!!), averaging an unbelievably low 3.7 Y/A. He shouldn't be on an NFL roster. Perhaps LA should pair Goff with Davis Webb, his former teammate at Cal?
#34 - DET Matt Cassel
Rating: 70
Really, Detroit? I know you're trying to emulate the Patriots with Patricia as your head coach, but why did you need to bring back the corpse of Matt Cassel? Jake Rudock was a poor backup but put up a 425/3/0 68.2% statline in the preseason... Cassel looked bad at 247/1/2 55.1% but he's got 'experience'... but that experience came when he was a semi-competent QB in his prime. Now he's a washed up backup who's looked horrendous with the Cowboys (1276/5/7 58.3%) and worse with the Titans (446/3/4 4.8 Y/A !!!). How anyone can consider him a backup QB is ludicrous, but thank goodness Stafford has been durable since a bad start to his career.
Whew... alright. Now, time to answer one question I've seen many ask before:
Is the QB position terrible and are better backups needed?
My answer is this: I think the NFL has a solid number of good starting QBs. For backups... I like about half of them, maybe up to 60% of them. Is that a problem? In my humble opinion, no, it's not. Plenty of other positions have the exact same problem with many teams going with backups who have zero experience. If you think the QB position is bad, check out the status of the TE position. There are probably less than 20 TEs who are good enough to start in this league. The backups are even worse. Offensive lines are incredibly shallow too. While I do think there are some guys who are backups that need to be kicked out of the game (Cassel, Gabbert, Mannion, etc.), there are a decent handful of good backups out there.
If anyone's interested in seeing 3rd string QBs in this list or some of the better FAs added (Kaepernick, anyone?), I'm up for it. I hope you enjoyed this article and go ahead and
Still some of this is news to me.
But yeah, hard to say who I'd pick if my choices were between Cassel and Siemian.
... and neither is this Chris guy.