No one wants their starting quarterback to get injured. But in the worst case scenario, these are the teams in the best shape.
One of the most important pieces on an NFL roster could be the player no one wants to see. One brutal snap can be the difference between an established veteran slinging passes at quarterback and an unproven young player trying to make their way in the league.
Since all 32 teams approach their backup QB slot differently, whether you want the old guy or the young one can vary wildly across depth charts. Some teams opt for seasoned, wily locker room leaders who can step in and provide a steady floor of play behind a rising passer. Others buttress longtime starters with developmental players who could someday turn into something more. But no matter who the QB2 is, each head coach is left hoping their snaps end once the preseason does.
Some teams are better set in case of emergency than others. Let's break down each team's backup quarterbacks into rough tiers. The Atlanta Falcons? They're probably in good shape with their $40 million backup. The New Orleans Saints? Less so.
Players in each tier are listed alphabetically by franchise name.
Tier 1: Kirk Cousins
- Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
This is a bit of projection. Cousins clearly wasn't himself last season and was eventually replaced by then-rookie Michael Penix Jr. But there's hope another year of recovery from the torn Achilles that ended his 2023 season can bring back the modest mobility that keeps his playbook wide open.
His play action rate dropped from 31.2 percent while putting together an MVP-candidate pace for the Vikings in 2023 to just 14.1 percent last fall because he physically couldn't get to where he needed to be on time to make plays. He compensated by trying to brute force throws into tough situations; his tight window throw rate rose from 13.8 to a career-high 19.6.
Will extra rest bring him back to his 2023 self? If so, Cousins wouldn't just be the best backup in the game but an above average starter. It's more likely he'd be a diminished version of that in his age 37 season. Which would... still make him the league's best backup option.
Tier 1.99: Young guys who miiiiight still have the capacity to grow into something more in the right system
- Malik Willis, Green Bay Packers
- Anthony Richardson? Daniel Jones?, Indianapolis Colts
- Aidan O'Connell, Los Angeles Rams
A lingering sense of potential led me to bump these guys ever so gently above a crop of journeyman veterans who can still win games. Moving into Matt LaFleur's offense helped maximize Willis' dual-threat capabilities. He averaged better than 11 yards per scramble, went 2-0 as a starter in place of Jordan Love and his 0.18 expected points added (EPA) per dropback would have been a top-five mark in 2024 — albeit in a very small sample size.
Jones probably hit the top of his bounce in 2022 while throwing short passes en route to the Giants' only playoff win since 2011. Richardson has more physical talent (namely, the ability to throw a football over them mountains), but leans too hard into risk, often gets hurt and is generally inefficient. Turning that into consistent production is a Herculean task, but it's not an impossible lift.
O'Connell is already 27 years old and hasn't been the answer for the Raiders so far. He showed signs of improvement in Las Vegas' lost 2024, taking fewer sacks while cutting his interception rate (1.6 percent, a top 10 mark). Could he be a useful starter with a better supporting cast? He's completed only 46 percent of his throws to travel at least 10 yards downfield, which puts a ceiling on that. Still, I'm inclined to be optimistic about his ability to be a less-mobile version of Tyrod Taylor.
Tier 2: Experienced starters you (mostly) trust not to let things get pear-shaped
- Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals
- Mitchell Trubisky, Buffalo Bills
- Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers
- Jake Browning, Cincinnati Bengals
- Gardner Minshew, Kansas City Chiefs
- Jimmy Garoppolo, Los Angeles Chargers
- Joshua Dobbs, New England Patriots
- Jameis Winston, New York Giants
- Tyrod Taylor, New York Jets
- Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders
This array of former starters has the juice to hold things together if your QB1 is out for a few weeks. Turning to them for a full season, however, is not advisable.
Browning went 4-3 as Joe Burrow's replacement in 2023 and led the league with a 70.4 percent completion percentage, but also had one of the lowest average throw distances among starters (6.4 yards downfield). Dobbs was a brief sensation for the Vikings and Cardinals in 2023 before regressing back to the mean, but his scrambling is an asset. The Bears were 25-13 in Trubisky starts from 2018 to 2020 despite his general waywardness, and his ability to at least not doom his team on a regular basis earned him inclusion here, though his time with the Steelers nearly dropped him down a rung.
The toughest additions were the aging veterans who may be phasing out of their "efficient, but who cares?" stage. Dalton is 37 years old. Taylor is 36. Garoppolo turns 34 in November. That puts them in danger of roving from "wily vet" to "old guy" in NFL circles.
Tier 3: Capable of surprises. In either direction
- Kenny Pickett, I guess?, Cleveland Browns
- Taylor Heinicke, Las Vegas Raiders
- Tanner McKee, Philadelphia Eagles
- Mason Rudolph, Pittsburgh Steelers
- Kyle Trask/Teddy Bridgewater, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rudolph can be occasionally solid — see his 3-0 record as a starter for the Steelers in 2023. Bridgewater and Trask have thrown two combined passes the last two seasons, leaving that duo to linger here.
Trask has cooked early in the preseason. If he can keep this up, there's room to jump a tier (or 1.01 tiers). McKee was a garbage time hero as a rookie (four touchdowns, zero interceptions in about 1.3 games). He's got Philly fans acting irrationally about his preseason performance. He averaged better than 10 yards per attempt in the Eagles' preseason debut, throwing two touchdowns and getting tush pushed into the end zone for a third.
Is he actually good? Is this the wrong tier, and in what direction? The Eagles are hoping they don't have to find out.
Tier 4: The luster wears off quickly
- Cooper Rush, Baltimore Ravens
- Joe Milton, Dallas Cowboys
- Jarrett Stidham, Denver Broncos
- Davis Mills, Houston Texans
- Nick Mullens, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Zach Wilson, Miami Dolphins
- Mac Jones, San Francisco 49ers
- Drew Lock, Seattle Seahawks
Maybe Milton can be more. But the Patriots cut bait on him for the equivalent of a sixth-round draft pick. His breakthrough game came against the Bills' backups in Week 18. He can throw a football approximately 1,000 miles per hour and is a powerful runner, but he's got plenty to prove.
(That's two JP Acosta embeds here. Go follow him, he does detailed and strong analysis at SB Nation.)
Mills and Lock are former Day 2-draft lottery tickets who haven't paid out; they're a combined 11-36-1 as starting quarterbacks since 2020. Jones and Wilson were supposed to be AFC East franchise quarterbacks but ultimately fell to pieces. Mullens had a small sample size glow-up in 2018 as an undrafted rookie, though he's never reached the same heights in the years since.
Tier 5: Let's hope everyone stays healthy
- Tyson Bagent, Chicago Bears
- Hendon Hooker, Detroit Lions
- Sam Howell, Minnesota Vikings
- Spencer Rattler or Jake Haener, New Orleans Saints
- Brandon Allen, Tennessee Titans
Bagent is a fun story — a Division II star and son of an accomplished arm wrestler. He made four starts as a rookie and his -0.088 expected points added (EPA) per play ranked 37th among NFL quarterbacks that fall. That was just behind Howell, who was given the keys to the Commanders' offense in 2023 and led the league in passes thrown, interceptions and sacks.
Hooker entered the league rehabbing a torn ACL and has thrown nine regular season passes in two seasons. There's room to move up here, even if the Lions opted to pull Bridgewater away from his high school coaching job to back up Jared Goff as the 2024 playoffs approached.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: NFL 2025 backup quarterback tiers, from Kirk Cousins to the, uh, Saints
Category: Football
