ASHBURN, VA − In some circles, he’s the most popular guy in town. In others, he’s a clipboard-carrying – oops, tablet-carrying – freeloader. Some coaches consider him the second-most important guy on the roster, yet others dread the thought of ever seeing him on the field.
We speak of the NFL backup quarterback – and quite a few of them have already taken center stage during the 2026 season, while other will be in the spotlight during Week 3.
The injury bug cut a vicious swath through Week 2, claiming budding Bears star Caleb Williams, Washington’s Jayden Daniels (the second overall pick of the 2024 draft, directly after Williams) and ascending Giants leader Jaxson Dart, who’s now expected to miss the rest of the season after wrecking his knee
Monday night against the Rams. Williams (hamstring) and Daniels (dislocated non-throwing elbow) have already been ruled out of their teams' upcoming games.
Yet the jeopardy quarterbacks face, well protected as they are by league rules designed to better safeguard them, has been evident since the start of the season. Super Bowl champion Sam Darnold went down with a gluteal injury on the fifth snap of opening night for the Seattle Seahawks. The Falcons were forced to flounder under third-stringer Cooper Rush before QB1 Michael Penix Jr. finally rode to the rescue in Thursday night's walkover win at Green Bay. The Vikings are just now getting Kyler Murray back after he missed most of the first two games with a concussion.
The message, as every backup knows all too well? Stay ready ... as challenging as that can be.
"It’s very quiet until it isn’t. Oftentimes, you’re getting no reps, you’re not playing quarterback – you’re just trying to help, you’re doing dirty jobs as we call it. Just trying to make yourself useful − you don’t want to be a bump on the log,” Commanders quarterback Sam Hartman, who will move up the pecking order for however long Daniels is down, told USA TODAY Sports this week when asked about the challenges of his craft.
Hartman said giving the starter a fresh perspective on the gameplan and the opposition are also key aspects of a backup’s duties.
“You're not gonna be able to see everything. You're not gonna watch all the tape and see all the different looks,” Marcus Mariota, who will start for Washington on Sunday, told USA TODAY Sports when asked what he’s leaning on Hartman and rookie Athan Kaliakmanis for in terms of assistance.
“Like, ‘Hey, what did you see on tape? Is there something that we're not seeing?’ Communicating from that standpoint and then like, specifically, in games and in practice. Like coming off the field, it's like, ‘Oh, did you see this or did you see that?’ So, the more that … we can continue to talk and communicate, I think the better it is for the starter.”
Chase Daniel, a backup quarterback in the NFL almost exclusively throughout his 14-year career and now an analyst for ESPN felt his responsibilities were distilled fairly easily.
"The two things that make a really good backup is number one – you have to play well when your number is called,” Daniel said on “The Schrager Hour” podcast this week.
“You (also) have to be the number one hype man for the starter. ... You're a filter of sorts.”
By that Daniels meant he often vetted suggestions and questions from the coaching staff up to the star he backed up over the years, a list that included superstars like Drew Brees, Alex Smith, Matthew Stafford and Justin Herbert.
Mariota, the second overall pick of the 2015 draft – behind Jameis Winston, who’s been pressed into the QB1 role for the Giants in place of Dart – has been a highly respected member of Washington’s locker room since signing on to mentor and back up Daniels in 2024. His teammates already insisted Mariota be granted team captain status for Sunday’s home opener against the Seahawks.
And while Mariota played well while taking over in the second half last Sunday, passing for 111 yards and a TD, having the gameplan tailored to his abilities and preferences should help, even as he prepares to face the imposing Seattle defense. One thing Mariota will try to avoid is pressing, something he admittedly did too often last year while starting eight time as Daniels missed time with various injuries.
“I was coming in trying to just make a play, and I was kind of putting on this Superman cape. And, like, sometimes when you overstress yourself, you make a mistake,” Mariota said while reflecting on his 2025 season, when Washington lost six of his eight starts.
“(J)ust like, ‘Hey, just go and play within the system.’ That was a big step for me because I think as a backup, you're like, ‘I gotta go make a play. I gotta try to help these teams win.’ But at the same token, like the more that you can play within the system, it just kinda happens naturally.
“So regardless of whether you're the face of the franchise or a backup, like I think that mentality of a starter has to be profound. And the more that you can prepare that way, the more likely you are when you step in to have success.”
And as it pertains to achieving success in the face of the inevitable adversity that arises when a starting quarterback goes down? USA TODAY Sports thought this was the right moment to rank every team’s backup quarterback situation from best to worst:
1. Cincinnati Bengals
Little surprise they’re rolling deep and dangerous under center given Joe Burrow’s tendency to get hurt during his career − including 16 missed starts since the start of the 2023 season. Former Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco’s Pro Bowl nod last season, when he was a mid-year trade acquisition from Cleveland, probably speaks to why the All-Star event has been permanently spiked – though it was also probably an overdue honor for the 19-year veteran, whose arm is still as lively as almost anyone’s in the league and who has the cool demeanor to settle a team in turmoil. Sean Clifford and nomadic Josh Johnson provide further “break glass in case of emergency” options on the practice squad.
2. Las Vegas Raiders
You’ve got to be in decent shape when the No. 1 pick of the previous draft is in shrink wrap. Right? Or, if Fernando Mendoza gets into the lineup this season, then four-time Pro Bowler Kirk Cousins – off to a hot start and tied for the league lead with six TD passes through two weeks – is about as good a Plan B QB as any team could hope for. Yet even beyond that, fourth-year man Aidan O'Connell, who’s won seven of 17 starts for a franchise that hasn’t exactly been competitive in recent years, is a high-quality reserve – and one who might prove valuable on the trade market at some point. (But he still shouldn’t be allowed to wear Hall of Famer Kenny “Snake” Stabler’s No. 12.)
3. Minnesota Vikings
They’ve already gotten a major lift from one-time, would-be league MVP Carson Wentz, who stepped in for Murray on opening day and led the Vikes to a 2-0 start. The peripatetic Wentz has now won exactly half of his 100 NFL starts. Minnesota only scored nine points in Week 2, though, so there was little hesitation to restore Murray to the starting role for this weekend’s game in Tampa. J.J. McCarthy was the 10th overall pick of the draft two years ago and has many of the traits that would justify such a selection. But a torn meniscus scuttled his rookie year, and inconsistency and injuries in 2025 led the Vikings to import Murray to compete for the job. McCarthy’s inability to beat out Murray – or Wentz for the QB2 role – is obviously a red flag. On the practice squad, Kevin O’Connell remains high on Max Brosmer, undrafted a year ago, but pressed into service for two starts.
4. Seattle Seahawks
Drew Lock stepped in for Darnold in the league opener and, after settling in, helped engineer a 13-10 victory over New England in a Super Bowl 60 rematch. He then passed for 235 yards and three TDs in a Week 2 walkover at Arizona. “We’ve all been saying Drew has been the best two (backup quarterback) in the NFL for years,” Seattle safety Julian Love said after the defeat of the Patriots. “He’s such a leader. He makes plays all the time in practice. ... We have so much belief.” QB3 Jalen Milroe, now in his second season, could be one of the league's more dangerous open-field runners, but he only got three snaps as a rookie.
5. San Francisco 49ers
Mac Jones was a godsend last season, going 5-3 in place of injured Brock Purdy, including a memorable prime-time victory over the Rams on the road. He’s likely to be in high demand next March, when he will presumably become an unrestricted free agent and could get an opportunity to start again. Kurtis Rourke, Mendoza’s very capable predecessor at Indiana, is the third-stringer but has yet to appear in the regular season.
6. Arizona Cardinals
While Jacoby Brissett is keeping the starter’s seat warm for now this season before he likely moves into a role as one of the league’s better QB2s next year, the options currently behind him are solid. Now in his eighth season, Gardner Minshew II was a Pro Bowler as the Colts’ starter in 2023 and has shown the ability to put up yards and TDs in bunches – he’s accounted for 73 touchdowns in 63 career appearances. Third-string rookie Carson Beck performed well in his only preseason appearance before being sidelined by a rib injury but seems likely to get a chance to start at some point this season if the Cards fall out of contention and begin the process of evaluating their options for 2027.
7. Washington Commanders
Mariota will be making his 85th NFL start Wednesday and, even at 32, remains a dangerous player from the pocket or on the move. Kaliakmanis, a seventh-rounder earlier this year, stuck on the 53-man roster, while Hartman has been a mainstay on the practice squad since 2024.
8. Chicago Bears
They thought enough of QB2 Tyson Bagent, a record-setting passer at Division II Shepherd University in West Virginia and undrafted free agent in 2023, to preemptively extend his contract a year ago – before he even became a restricted free agent. A big guy (6-3, 212) with a big arm, he passed for more than 17,000 yards in college and posted an NCAA record 159 TD passes. QB3 Case Keenum, who could start Monday night with Bagent still trying to clear the league's concussion protocol, has started 96 NFL games and nearly drove the Vikings to the Super Bowl in 2017. He's got 81 TD passes in 82 career appearances.
9. Houston Texans
Davis Mills has quietly been one of the greater success stories of what’s turned out to largely be a disappointing crop of QBs from the 2021 draft. The Texans likely wouldn’t have reached the postseason in 2025 had Mills not been able to the steady ship while winning three consecutive starts in November, when starter C.J. Stroud was in the concussion protocol. With second-year man Graham Mertz on IR, the Texans clearly have sufficient faith in Mills that they essentially don’t have a safety net beyond him.
10. Baltimore Ravens
There’s obviously no Lamar Jackson clone to plug into this offense whenever the two-time league MVP isn’t available. But while QB2 Tyler Huntley’s Pro Bowl nod in 2022 might have been a bit dubious, he’s done a more than admirable job as the primary fill-in over the years, winning five of his 11 starts in Jackson’s stead. Undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano made the team this summer after leading the league with 509 yards during preseason and displaying the accuracy and trustworthy decision-making that were his hallmarks at UConn.
11. Atlanta Falcons
They were thrilled to get Penix back – not only so the new regime can assess him anew, but because the understudies (Rush and rookie Jack Strand) did not distinguish themselves during his absence to start the season. Former Pro Bowler Tua Tagovailoa, apparently healed from the oblique injury that prevented him from starting the first two weeks, is also in reserve – though it’s worth wondering if he remains here for the duration of the season, whether another team tries to trade for him, or if Strand gets a longer look if Penix goes down again and the team has fallen off the playoff pace, for example.
12. Philadelphia Eagles
The rare team with four quarterbacks on its 53-man roster, Jalen Hurts’ backups run the gamut. Andy Dalton, a three-time Pro Bowler in his early days with the Bengals, is listed as the second-stringer. The 38-yard-old has started 36 times for four different franchises since he left Cincinnati following the 2019 campaign. Behind him are fourth-year man Tanner McKee and rookie Cole Payton. McKee has played well enough in the preseason and regular-season spot duty to periodically generate a fair amount of trade buzz, though he is scheduled to be a free agent next year. Payton, a North Dakota State product taken in the fifth round this year, needs some polish – but does have some traits that draw comparisons to a southpaw Taysom Hill or Tim Tebow. The 6-3, 232-pounder posted a 4.56 40 at the combine and can run like a bull in the open field but only had one year starting experience at the FCS level.
13. Cleveland Browns
Weird, strange dynamic to try and assess here given the perception this depth chart could be turned on its head at any moment – including that it probably wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to turn current QB1 and former Pro Bowler Deshaun Watson into the primary backup if he winds up being demoted at some point. The remaining trio of youngsters includes Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel (currently on injured reserve) and rookie Taylen Green. All have flashed potential – Green a sixth-rounder with a dazzling physical skill set he showcased at this year’s scouting combine – though it remains to be seen whether any of them get sufficient time to polish their dissimilar games into a de facto tryout here given this franchise could again be in prime position to take another potential franchise QB in next year’s already ballyhooed draft.
14. Los Angeles Rams
Very much a projection here given backup Stetson Bennett IV, now in his third season, got his first regular-season snaps during garbage time of the blowout loss to San Francisco in Australia. QB3 Ty Simpson was something of a controversial first-round pick this year – both because the Rams chose him and because some draft observers didn’t think he merited the 13th overall selection. But Bennett and Simpson both played well in the preseason … which the Rams continue to hope is the only extensive action either sees this year. Rook Matthew Caldwell is stashed on injured reserve.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers
Again, while it’s suboptimal to carry four quarterbacks on a 53-man roster, the Steelers are somewhat obligated to diversify their options as four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers’ career winds down. QB2 Mason Rudolph has been a fantastic backup in the Steel City, going 8-5-1 for the Steelers in the regular season over the years and even earning a playoff start in 2023. Behind him, Will Howard and Drew Allar were the mixed bag in preseason one would expect of two NFL greenhorns. Given how poorly the Steelers are playing to start the season, it’s worth wondering if one or both of them will get opportunities to play later this season for a franchise that continues to search for the long-term successor to Ben Roethlisberger, who retired after the 2021 season.
16. Tennessee Titans
Titans backup Mitchell Trubisky will forever be known as the guy the Bears drafted with Patrick Mahomes on the board in 2017. But he was a Pro Bowler (once) and has started 59 NFL games, including two decent playoff performances. He's only started five since his Chicago era ended in 2021, though, with Trubisky rooted to the bench behind Josh Allen in Buffalo for most of that time. Former Vols hero Hendon Hooker is on the practice squad but hasn’t shown much development – nor had much to opportunity to play – since being taken by the Lions in the third round of the 2023 draft. Hooker’s rookie year was wiped out as he rehabbed the ACL injury he suffered in his final start for the University of Tennessee.
17. Carolina Panthers
Well-traveled Kenny Pickett, who sports a gaudy 16-11 record as a starter, is the new fallback behind Bryce Young. However Pickett hasn’t played a whole lot recently, starting just three times since he left Pittsburgh after his second season. Undrafted rookie Haynes King, a much bigger player (6-3, 215) than Young, put on a show in August’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, which is probably why he stuck on the 53-man roster.
18. Dallas Cowboys
Sam Howell, who signed a one-year deal to back up Dak Prescott in March, is not afraid to sling it – throwing an NFL-high 612 passes as the Commanders’ starter in 2023. He also served up a league-worst 21 picks that year. Howell has bounced around since then, spending time with four different clubs – but he keeps getting jobs, and his 18 starts and decent athleticism are certainly selling points. Joe Milton III, acquired from the Patriots a year ago, may have the strongest arm in the league but needs a lot of work in other areas of his development. He played pretty well in preseason, though it’s worth noting the Cowboys eventually waived him before stocking him on the practice squad.
19. New England Patriots
“Tommy Cutlets” DeVito is the new backup for Drake Maye, the runner-up for MVP in 2025, though he’s not playing anywhere near that level right now. DeVito is no threat to Maye’s job, of course, but he was the best quarterback the Giants had as an undrafted rookie in 2023 and has shown more than enough to suggest he could have a lengthy future in the league as a backstop. Also now on hand is seventh-round rookie Behren Morton, who played through a hairline fracture in his lower leg last season while leading Texas Tech to its first Big 12 title.
20. Kansas City Chiefs
After getting little production from their understudies after Patrick Mahomes went down with a season-ending knee injury last December, Kansas City opted for a new-look depth chart below the three-time Super Bowl MVP. Justin Fields was once projected as the Bears’ face of the future, but his career – and his arc – has flattened since Williams necessitated his exit from the Windy City in 2024. It would be fascinating to see what Andy Reid could extract from Fields in the event Mahomes is sidelined again. Seventh-round rookie Garrett Nussmeier, whose senior season at LSU – and draft stock – was ruined by spinal cyst that was disclosed prior to the 2026 draft, might wind up being a gem.
21. New Orleans Saints
Backup Spencer Rattler won one of 14 starts during his first two NFL seasons but did play better in 2025 before giving way to current QB1 Tyler Shough. Still, Rattler’s experience in Kellen Moore’s offense is a plus. Third-stringer Zach Wilson, the second overall pick of the 2021 draft, can whip it around and run it but is now on his third team since his failed tenure as the Jets’ starter.
22. Green Bay Packers
Given how things are going for the Pack, how long will it be before Love suffers one of his annual nagging injuries? Malik Willis excelled as the backup the previous two seasons but has been replaced by 16-year vet Tyrod Taylor, who has 62 career starts on his résumé, though he has a tendency to get hurt himself. Further down, practice squad QB3 Kedon Slovis has two NFL passes to his credit.
23. New York Jets
They opted for a rookie with upside, Cade Klubnik, to back up veteran Geno Smith on the heels of a solid training camp and preseason. But the Jets also diversified their options this week by signing talented but erratic Will Levis – the 2023 second-rounder of the Titans who missed all of last season with an injury to his throwing shoulder – to the practice squad. And all signs point to another big-time arm joining the group at some point (very) early in next year’s draft.
24. Denver Broncos
Jarrett Stidham has drawn strong praise from coaches throughout his seven-year career. It turned out he wasn’t the guy to succeed Tom Brady in New England, but he did replace Derek Carr in Las Vegas and Russell Wilson in Denver when those decorated veterans fell out of favor. Stidham couldn’t deliver a Super Bowl berth to the Broncos in last season’s AFC championship game after getting thrown into the breach when Bo Nix’s ankle fractured in the divisional round. It also seems telling that members of Sean Payton’s staff reportedly reached out to 47-year-old Brees after Nix went down. Sam Ehlinger, who had three forgettable starts for the Colts in 2022, is the third-stringer.
25. Jacksonville Jaguars
They took a swing in the preseason, acquiring Quinn Ewers – a player with potential but one who slipped to the seventh round of the draft last year – from the Dolphins. Ewers, who played decently in three starts for Miami as a rookie, is currently the only other QB on the Jags’ active roster aside from starter Trevor Lawrence. However both rookie Joey Aguilar and longtime backup Nick Mullens reside on the practice squad, the latter a journeyman with 20 NFL starts to his name – and gunslinger proclivities that often to lead to spectacular performances … or eye-averting disasters.
26. Detroit Lions
Joshua Dobbs – the “Passtronaut,” given his degree in aerospace engineering – had a moment in 2023, when his 12 starts as a fill-in were split between Arizona and Minnesota because the Vikings traded for him after Cousins’ season-ending Achilles tear. Dobbs can certainly ingest a playbook with the best of them, and his mobility brings an extra dimension to any offense, which explains why the Lions acquired him from the Patriots when Teddy Bridgewater retired during the preseason. Still, Dobbs’ 3-12 career record makes it worth wondering how long he can keep a team afloat. Undrafted rookie Luke Altmyer is on the practice squad.
27. Indianapolis Colts
A team that’s been throwing darts at the position for years – basically ever since Andrew Luck’s stunning retirement during the 2019 preseason – currently has a high ceiling-low floor guy in Anthony Richardson, the fourth pick of the 2023 draft. Richardson will probably be an ex-Colt a year from now, giving a high floor-low ceiling guy in Riley Leonard, a sixth-rounder last year, a change to move up. Philip Rivers is presumably still on speed dial … once the high school team he coaches in Alabama completes its season.
28. Buffalo Bills
We know they’d pretty much be cooked without Josh Allen, perhaps the most indispensable player in the league. The Bills seem to know it, too, entrusting the QB2 job to Kyle Allen, who’s started two (ugly) games since the start of the 2021 campaign. In deep storage on the practice squad is Shane Buechele, who’s played in one regular-season game since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2021.
29. Los Angeles Chargers
Trey Lance, the widely derided third overall pick of the 2021 draft (by the 49ers), remains physically gifted but has never provided much evidence to justify his lofty draft status. Now on his third team, he still only has six NFL starts and didn’t show much in spot duty for the Bolts last season. Practice squader DJ Uiagalelei, a five-star recruit who mostly failed to live up to that billing during three Power Five stops in college, remains a project.
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jalon Daniels is essentially an unknown commodity from a pro perspective. But the undrafted rookie out of Kansas did enough during training camp and the preseason to unseat veteran Jake Browning, who’s had a fair amount of success in the emergency role, as the Bucs’ QB2. Easton Stick has kicked around the league since 2019 and lost all four of his starts while stepping in for the Chargers in 2023. He currently resides on the practice squad.
31. Miami Dolphins
Quarterback rooms don’t get much more inexperienced than this overhauled one. Willis has eight career starts (two of them this season) and Jets castoff Brady Cook has four highly forgettable ones as a rookie in 2025. Kyle McCord, a sixth-round pick of the Eagles a year ago, has yet to take his first regular-season snap.
32. New York Giants
Their ranking would look drastically different if Winston was still slotted behind presumed super soph Dart. But Monday’s knee injury shelved Dart – at least until the playoffs, when Winston surely wouldn't surrender the starting gig if he leads the team that far – leaving unproven Jake Haener, who’s perhaps best known for a performance-based drug violation in New Orleans – as the only other option on the extended roster at this time. But good bet he eventually reverts to his practice squad position, and the Giants bring in someone else behind (or even ahead of) Winston.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ranking every NFL backup quarterback after wave of injuries
