Next man up: Ranking the NFL's backup quarterbacks for 6 teams that have had QB1 chaos

· Yahoo Sports

Five plays into the 2026 NFL season, we saw the first starting quarterback go down.

The Seattle Seahawks' Sam Darnold suffered an unusual hip injury against the New England Patriots, and just like that, Drew Lock was leading the defending Super Bowl champs to a comeback victory on Opening Night.

Visit bettingx.club for more information.

It wouldn't take much longer for more starting quarterbacks to fall.

Less than 10 minutes into his Vikings debut Week 1, Kyler Murray was knocked out with a concussion. Week 2 saw three recent first-round quarterbacks succumb to injury: Chicago's Caleb Williams and Washington's Jayden Daniels, the first two picks of the 2024 NFL Draft, followed by the Giants' Jaxson Dart — and each injury seemingly worse than the next.

Seattle's Sam Darnold going down on Opening Night was an omen for the early portion of the 2026 NFL season. Jane Gershovich via Getty Images

Along with the Atlanta Falcons, who were forced to start Cooper Rush the first two games ahead of either Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr., it's fair to say that the starting-quarterback injury epidemic is already raging after two weeks. Nearly 20 percent of the league has been forced to play backup QBs, with almost 90 percent of the regular season still remaining.

Backups clearly matter. Brock Purdy missed almost half the 2025 regular season, but Mac Jones helped keep the 49ers afloat. When C.J. Stroud missed three games last season, Texans backup Davis Mills went 3-0 in his place, keeping them in the playoff race. But when Patrick Mahomes got hurt, the drop-off to Gardner Minshew — and later Chris Oladokun — was too steep for the Chiefs to survive. 

Some teams, we're finding out, have protected their most important assets better than others. Here's how we'd rank the six teams that have needed to dip into their QB reserves:

Who's the starter? Who's the backup? It's often not a pretty situation when those two questions aren't followed by easy answers.

The Falcons have the toughest situation of the lot right now, even with the most theoretical options. Tagovailoa was nominally the starter until he got hurt; Penix, the logical replacement, couldn't go the first two weeks.

That left the reins to Rush, who struggled in Baltimore last season and who did little in his two starts this season in leading the Falcons to an 0-2 start. Strand, the Division-II prospect who had an encouraging preseason, replaced Rush in Week 2 and threw a pick 6 on his first NFL pass attempt.

Clearly the hope is that the often-injured Penix can step in now, having been named Atlanta's Week 3 starter, and run with the job. The Falcons have little other hope, short of (the also often-injured) Tagovailoa returning to action.

Until proven otherwise, Kevin Stefanski has the same issue in Atlanta that he had in Cleveland: quarterback uncertainty.

With Jaxson Dart now ruled out for the season, the Giants are in a really tough spot, with no young quarterback to prepare in the wings. Winston has a wealth of experience, with 89 career starts, but as Monday's replacement performance showed, his play can be a wild experience. 

Winston struggled against the Rams and has been a turnover machine in his career, with 141 of them (114 INTs, 27 lost fumbles) in 109 career outings. He's had a five-pick game and a three-fumble game. Winston also has five career 400-yard games and two five-TD, no-INT performances. You really never know what you're going to get any given week.

Head coach John Harbaugh has to find another option in case he gets too much bad Winston, with only Jake Haener currently on the practice squad. Some have floated a J.J. McCarthy trade to the Giants, but would that throw only more gas on the fire?

This pairing could arguably be higher on the list, but Bagent's concussion (which might have come on the final play Sunday) could keep him out of Monday night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles, which would give Keenum his first start — and his first regular-season action — since 2023.

Bagent has barely seen the field since Caleb Williams was drafted, but he started four games in 2023 and replaced Williams for the final two drives Sunday. His body of work is incomplete, but Bagent possesses intriguing skills and it wouldn't be shocking if he led a team at starter level for a stretch.

It's unclear how long Williams will be out, but for the first time since he came to Chicago, the Bears will have to lean on his replacements. 

Lock came in cold in Week 1 and did just enough to help the Seahawks win, settling down after a few shaky patches. Then he came out guns blazing in Week 2, throwing for three TDs. Would you believe that Lock leads the NFL in passer rating through two games? He entered the season completing fewer than 60 percent of his career passes but is sitting at 72.7 percent in 2026.

If Lock, who turns 30 in November, can continue to fill in ably for the injured Darnold, it's not a stretch to think he could follow the Geno Smith post-30 path of earning his way back into a starting lineup, perhaps as a bridge option for a team that drafts a higher-round QB next spring. It appears that Lock has worked out some of the recklessness in his game and is becoming more dependable.

Milroe remains a curiosity with strong physical skills, but he's still virtually unknown. His best shot might be to continue working behind the scenes and vie for Lock's QB2 spot next season.

Wentz might be known in some circles as a bust, or as the guy whose team went on to win a Super Bowl after he got hurt. Even still, he's carved out a career for himself as an able QB2, willing and ready to jump into the fire. He did so early against the Packers when Kyler Murray got hurt, leading the Vikings to a 12-point comeback in the game's final 20 minutes. Then Wentz turned in a solid, turnover-free effort in his Week 2 start against the Bears, leading Minnesota to a shocking 9-3 win and a 2-0 start to the season.

Not bad for a guy who wasn't even part of the Vikings' starting derby in camp. His outing vs. the Bears marked 11 straight seasons with at least one start for Wentz. He'll take a seat again with Murray expected to start in Week 3, but Wentz's contributions can't be forgotten.

McCarthy, who lost the starting battle to Murray, remains an enigma. He's under contract through 2027 with a 2028 option, but the path back to being relevant for this team appears longer and more windy now.

Mariota is in some ways the gold standard of backup quarterbacks, along with the 49ers' Jones. With 82 career starts, Mariota has more experience than many current starters. He stepped in ably for Jayden Daniels in Sunday's loss to the Cowboys, looking sharp, and was competitive during Daniels' two missed stints last season. 

With Daniels expected to miss 4-6 weeks with his latest left elbow injury, Mariota will be thrust back onto the saddle as he approaches his 33rd birthday. The biggest benefit is that he can run the same offense Daniels did, with little tweaking necessary. 

The rookie Kaliakmanis had a strong preseason, receiving extra reps when Mariota's knee injury flared up and impressing the team with his arm talent and moxie.

Read full story at source