Rating backup NFL quarterbacks for the 2025 season

When Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow went down due to a turf toe harm in the course of the Cincinnati’s 31-27 win over the Jaguars on Sunday, it damage the Bengals’ probabilities in that recreation and going ahead. However it might have been rather a lot worse — they may have a QB2 a lot worse than Jake Browning.
On this planet of backup quarterbacks, the Bengals are in fairly fine condition. Having a succesful No. 2 possibility is the kind of factor that does not matter a lot till it issues a lot. And NFL groups do not know when that second will strike. We have already seen one second-stringer referred to as into obligation this season; the 49ers began Mac Jones in Week 2 with Brock Purdy injured (left shoulder and toe).
Now, beginning quarterbacks resembling Burrow, J.J. McCarthy (Vikings), Jayden Daniels (Commanders) and Justin Fields (Jets) are all both out or questionable to play in Week 3. So we determined to rank the 12 finest backups within the NFL. It is a tough train, as a result of many of those gamers have restricted (or no) NFL observe report. However let’s take a look at the listing.
Nobody would have blinked had Cousins been traded this previous offseason and change into a Week 1 starter someplace. Possibly having Cousins as QB1 would not have a crew feeling nice about its beginning quarterback scenario, however he is top-of-the-line 32 signal-callers within the league. Having him as a backup is a luxurious.
Cousins is coming off a disappointing 2024 season during which he was benched late within the yr for present starter Michael Penix Jr. Cousins recorded a 47.0 QBR earlier than his benching, which ranked twenty third within the league. He had points with turnovers in 2024, throwing a league-high 16 interceptions and committing an NFL-high 13 fumbles. However there have been positives — Cousins ranked No. 7 in completion share over expectation (plus-2%), per NFL Subsequent Gen Stats. And he is solely two years faraway from having the seventh-best QBR within the NFL earlier than being sidelined by a season-ending Achilles harm.
At age 37, Cousins gives arguably the very best ground of any backup QB. And since he is one other yr separated from the Achilles harm and contemplating the fluky nature of turnovers, there’s an opportunity he might nonetheless be a strong NFL quarterback.
I am not placing Browning right here as a result of he led the Bengals to victory Sunday after being thrust into the sport for the injured Burrow, who is anticipated to be sidelined at the least three months. I had Browning third on this train a yr in the past because of his glorious play rather than Burrow in 2023. The pattern was restricted, however Browning had 283 dropbacks in seven begins and would have ranked thirteenth in QBR (60.8) and fifth in completion share over expectation (plus-3%) had he seen sufficient snaps to qualify.
After all, Browning isn’t with out purple flags. His efficiency in 2023 got here with a low 6.1 air yards per try that might have ranked final amongst qualifying quarterbacks. He additionally took sacks at a excessive 9% charge.
However like Burrow, Browning has the posh of attending to throw to star receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. He additionally has the identical disadvantage — a leaky offensive line. However here is one thing to control: Although the Bengals’ offensive line has been constantly poor in cross block win charge throughout Burrow’s tenure, it has fared significantly better blocking for Browning (60% vs. 49% with Burrow from 2023 to 2025). Is Browning (or Burrow) contributing to that discrepancy ultimately? I do not know, but it surely’s at the least attainable.
The unvarnished upside of younger, extremely drafted rookies means somebody like Dart deserves to be on a listing like this. He may possess a decrease ground than many different backups, however he additionally critically has a better upside.
Right now a yr in the past, I put Drake Maye at No. 1 and Penix at No. 5. I really feel fairly good about these rankings; if something, I most likely wasn’t excessive sufficient on Penix.
Mariota, who we’d see Sunday due to Daniels’ knee harm, is barely 31 years outdated regardless of being within the NFL for a decade. Although he hasn’t performed rather a lot lately (three video games performed and nil begins in every of the previous two seasons), we’ve an honest pattern measurement from him. And he has been very strong when having to function a fill-in.
Mariota has a 66.2 QBR since 2020, the primary full season after he was benched for Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee. In 2022 with the Falcons — the one season in that span when he was largely a starter — his QBR was 58.0. And ESPN’s Soccer Energy Index, which has predictive rankings for all beginning and backup quarterbacks, considers Mariota the third-best backup behind Cousins and Browning.
0:43
Schefter: Jayden Daniels’ knee sprain might sideline him
Adam Schefter studies on Jayden Daniels’ sprained knee that leaves his standing for Week 3 questionable.
McKee is an fascinating case. In contrast to many QBs on this listing, he would not have a strong observe report of regular-season play. He was additionally a sixth-round decide in 2023. However indicators from coaching camp and the preseason over the previous couple of years have appeared awfully optimistic, and the Eagles fortunately dealing Kenny Pickett within the offseason (effectively forward of coaching camp) was a vote of confidence. Plus, McKee has been sturdy when he has performed. He has a 65.5 profession QBR on 47 dropbacks over two video games, together with one begin — a 20-13 win towards the Giants in Week 18 final season.
I am going to confess that this rating is predicated extra on vibes than a lot of the others. However vibes may also function a viable information level.
Brissett performed effectively because the Browns’ starter in the course of the first 11 weeks of the 2022 season whereas Deshaun Watson was serving a suspension. He completed the season eighth in QBR (62.0), and his efficiency seemed even higher when Watson struggled to run the Cleveland offense.
Due to that, Brissett turned a comparatively sizzling commodity within the bridge/backup quarterback market the next offseason and signed a one-year, $8 million free agent deal with the Commanders. A yr later, he went to the Patriots on the same deal, serving as New England’s beginning quarterback earlier than giving method to Maye. The outcomes weren’t nice — a 41.5 QBR and a minus-1% CPOE, however he wasn’t given a lot to work with there. The Patriots completed thirty first in cross block win charge en path to a 4-13 season that resulted in the firing of coach Jerod Mayo after one yr.
The 32-year-old Brissett is a couple of seasons faraway from the success he had in Cleveland, however that does not imply it is irrelevant.
In 2024, the Raiders signed Minshew to a two-year, $25 million deal with $15 million assured to be a bridge beginning quarterback. The partnership lasted just one season, and this offseason Minshew signed with the Chiefs on a non-guaranteed one-year, $1.2 million deal — exhibiting that quarterback analysis is hardly an ideal science. Minshew struggled in Las Vegas, attaining the uncommon quadruple of throwing picks at a excessive charge, taking sacks at a excessive charge, fumbling at a excessive charge and throwing very quick (78% of makes an attempt underneath 10 yards, most amongst qualifying QBs).
However he’s fairly correct (even accounting for depth of goal) and had fairly a little bit of success in 2023 with the Colts (60.5 QBR, thirteenth) after Anthony Richardson Sr. was injured. He performed effectively in a run-heavy offense; he noticed a variety of play-action and confronted heavier packing containers.
I am giving Shough the identical advantage of the doubt that Dart earned. However it’s lighter for 2 causes: He was drafted slightly later than Dart (No. 40 vs. No. 25) and he could not beat out Spencer Rattler in the preseason.
Richardson most likely has the bottom ground of any quarterback on this listing, given his excessive accuracy points highlighted by a wildly low profession minus-10% completion share over expectation. However Richardson’s NFL pattern is a small 15 video games, and he nonetheless gives a stage of upside that different backup quarterbacks don’t possess. He’s fourth in EPA per designed rush amongst quarterbacks with at the least 300 dropbacks since 2023.
Plus, variance is usually a backup quarterback’s pal, and Richardson has loads of that. Since 2023, no QB has thrown a better share of their passes 20-plus yards downfield (18%) and the one participant with a better interception charge is Jameis Winston.
Right now final season, Dalton was the beginning bridge quarterback to a benched Bryce Younger. And had Dalton not suffered a sprained thumb in a automobile crash, he might need retained the job and now be serving a bridge function forward of a youthful quarterback not named Younger. Dalton recorded a 1-4 report in 5 begins final season but in addition had a 52.0 QBR. In his post-Bengals profession (from 2020 on), Dalton has recorded a 48.0 QBR.
We’ll most likely see Wentz beginning this week, as McCarthy is anticipated to be out for 2-4 weeks due to an ankle harm. In line with ESPN’s Invoice Barnwell, this might make Wentz the one quarterback in NFL historical past to start out a recreation in six consecutive seasons with six completely different groups.
That is a part of Wentz’s odd profession. The 2016 No. 2 decide has gone from being a franchise quarterback in Philadelphia — the place he was a major MVP contender in 2017 earlier than being injured and having to look at the Eagles win a Tremendous Bowl with out him — to a cast-off who was unable to change into a long-term starter in Indianapolis or Washington. He has began one recreation apiece the previous two seasons as a backup with the Rams and Chiefs, respectively.
Wentz’s peak got here in 2017, however that season turned out to be an outlier pushed by distinctive outcomes on late downs (he ranked solely twelfth in QBR on early downs). From that time on, his numbers dipped — a 55.3 QBR, minus-2% completion share over expectation and solely 5.8 yards per dropback. His one-game cameos the previous two seasons have been dramatically completely different. He posted a 90.2 QBR for the Rams in a Week 18 win over the 49ers in 2023 however might muster solely a 19.1 QBR in a lopsided shutout loss to the Broncos in final season’s finale.
Wentz has had the good thing about taking part in for excellent offensive coaches over the previous two seasons, and he will get that perk once more with Kevin O’Connell. However he’ll must carry out in video games that truly matter this time.
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Schefter: McCarthy not anticipated to play towards Bengals
Adam Schefter says J.J. McCarthy isn’t anticipated to play towards the Bengals attributable to an ankle harm and can seemingly get replaced by Carson Wentz.
Winston could be the Giants’ No. 3, however that does not imply he cannot be one of many 12 finest backups within the league. Winston has by no means recorded a QBR underneath 50 in a season during which he began at the least 5 video games. Regardless that the Browns went 2-5 in his begins in 2024, he posted a 52.2 QBR — which might have been larger than quarterbacks resembling Geno Smith, Russell Wilson, C.J. Stroud and Aaron Rodgers had he certified.
Winston notoriously struggles with interceptions — he has thrown 111 in 105 profession video games and 87 begins — however is keen to take probabilities. Typically whenever you’re all the way down to your backup QB, threat is usually a good factor.
Honorable mentions: Tyrod Taylor (New York Jets), Jimmy Garoppolo (Los Angeles Rams)