It sure is a good time to be a backup quarterback in the NFL, or even the backup’s backup.
The leaves are still green and already five teams have turned to their QB2 either because of injury ( Vikings, Packers, Steelers and Dolphins ) or inefficacy ( Panthers ).
So much is made about developing an elite starting quarterback who shoulders the franchise’s fortunes, but it’s the other guys in the room that it often comes down to.
Last year, 66 quarterbacks started a game in the NFL. The year before that, 68.
Miami is already on its third quarterback after QB1 Tua Tagovailoa (another concussion) and QB2 Skylar Thompson (rib) got hurt.
Two-time flameout Sam Darnold is reviving his career in Minnesota, which is off to a 3-0 start just like the Steelers, where Bears bust Justin Fields has been so solid in place of an injured Russell Wilson that a switchback seems unlikelier by the week.
The Packers (2-1) have won both games started by Malik Willis, whom they acquired from Tennessee less than a month ago. He was pressed into duty almost immediately when Jordan Love, fresh off signing a four-year, $220 million contract, injured his left knee in the season opener.
In Week 3, former starter Andy Dalton replaced last year’s top overall draft pick, Bryce Young, and led the Panthers to a stunnng win in Las Vegas.
Trevor Lawrence, the first overall draft pick in 2021, lost his eighth consecutive start Monday night when the Jaguars were routed by the Bills 47-10. Lawrence was yanked with 7:45 left and watched from the sideline as backup Mac Jones was sacked and lost a fumble three snaps into his first possession.
Things are also unraveling in Miami, where the Dolphins’ Super Bowl hopes seem to be teetering after Thompson got hurt Sunday, a little over a week after Tagovailoa suffered his third diagnosed concussion in two years during a loss to Buffalo.
Tagovailoa will miss at least three more games as he works through the NFL’s concussion protocol. And if Thompson misses time, the Dolphins will turn to Tim Boyle (five career starts) or Tyler Huntley (nine career starts) unless they decide to pursue a veteran such as Russell Wilson or Denver’s Zach Wilson.
The list of backups pressed into duty will assuredly grow and one of them could end up as the next version of Brock Purdy, who was a backup QB sensation in San Francisco in 2022 and then led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in as their starter last season.
Vanquishing Vikings
Sam Darnold may have been slated as Minnesota’s starter until rookie J.J. McCarthy was deemed ready, but the Vikings became Darnold’s team in August when McCarthy was sidelined with a torn miniscus in his right knee, requiring season-ending surgery.
Darnold, who signed a one-year, $10 million deal with Minnesota after serving as Purdy’s backup last season, has the Vikings off to an impressive 3-0 start, an unexpected balm for Kirk Cousins’ departure to Atlanta in the offseason.
Pugnacious Packers
Green Bay’s Super Bowl dreams seemingly took a huge hit when Jordan Love sprained his left knee in the Packers’ loss to the Eagles in Sao Paulo to kick off the NFL season, but Love is proving a fast healer and Malik Willis has led them to two wins, including one Sunday over his former team, the Tennessee Titans.
“What he’s been able to do, I’ve never seen something like this,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after Willis threw for a touchdown and ran for a score to beat his old team 30-14 just 27 days after the Titans traded him to Green Bay.
As NFL senior researcher Tony Holzman-Escareno noted, that was the quickest a quarterback had ever done that to his former team. Previously, Red Dunn of the Chicago Cardinals had a TD throw and a TD run against the Milwaukee Badgers way back in October 1925 after being traded by them 34 days earlier.
Penance postponed
Russell Wilson signed with Pittsburgh for the veteran’s minimum of $1.21 million, leaving the Broncos on the hook for the remaining $37.79 million of his 2024 salary. That’s in addition to the record $85 million in dead cap charges the Broncos incurred by releasing the former Seahawks star who flamed out in Denver.
Wilson’s nagging calf injury kept him out of the Steelers’ 13-6 win in the Mile High City in Week 2, although Wilson did receive a “ petty game ball,” which Fields explained went to the Steelers’ three former Broncos following their happy homecoming: Wilson, punter Corliss Waitman and receiver Brandon Johnson.
Dolphins derailed
The Seattle Seahawks clobbered Miami’s offensive line and sacked Thompson five times in their 24-3 win over the Dolphins. They shut down the Dolphins’ playmakers. And now the Dolphins could be turning to their third starting QB in four weeks.
Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, the NFL’s leading receiving duo from 2023, combined for just seven catches for 66 yards. The pair had seven catches for 65 yards against Buffalo in Week 2.
Panthers’ Problems
Young was 2-16 as an NFL starter before being benched last week by coach Dave Canales last week in a move that surprised some around the league and caused many to question Carolina’s commitment to the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, even though Canales said the Panthers have no plans to trade him.
In just his second start since 2023 but 168th of his career, Dalton, 36, showed Young how it’s done, fearlessly throwing into tight windows, hanging in the pocket to make plays and providing a confidence in the huddle the team sorely lacked with Young under center.
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