Ranking the NFL’s 32 Backup QBs of 2026: Jameis Winston Cracks the Top Five

From rookies like Fernando Mendoza to experienced former starters, here are the players one rep away from being QB1.

Jameis Winston is returning for his second season on the Giants. | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

It’s tough for backup quarterbacks to get the spotlight. This is the one time of year they get my attention for our annual QB2 rankings, but even in June they’re being overshadowed by blockbuster trades in the NFL. 

Myles Garrett is with the Rams and A.J. Brown is with the Patriots, but don’t forget that Tua Tagovailoa is now with the Falcons. Yes, I’m being a bit sarcastic, but hey, there could be a quarterback battle brewing in Atlanta between Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr.

There’s already been some drama from the Vikings’ quarterback competition between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy. Don’t expect them to sit next to each other in a classroom.

All right, let’s get to the annual backup quarterback rankings. There are a few new names for this year’s list, which include Tagovailoa, McCarthy, and rookies Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson. 

32. Cade Klubnik, New York Jets

It’s not a given that Klubnik will open the season as Geno Smith’s backup after coach Aaron Glenn recently said that veteran Bailey Zappe is No. 2 on the depth chart, but he added that there’s an “open competition” for the role. 

I predict that Klubnik will win the QB2 job this summer, and it bodes well that he’s already received praise from Smith for the way he prepares throughout the week. Most teams would rather not have a rookie fourth-rounder as the backup QB, but the Jets likely wouldn’t mind seeing what they have in Klubnik before next year’s loaded QB draft class. Klubnik played 49 games during his four years at Clemson. 

31. Quinn Ewers, Miami Dolphins

With Tua Tagovailoa struggling again amid a losing season in 2025, the Dolphins made sure to give their rookie quarterback an early audition for 2026. It seems Ewers didn’t do much in his three starts to impress the organization because the team went out and signed Malik Willis to be the new starter. However, it didn’t help Ewers’s case that the team added a new GM (Jon-Eric Sullivan) and coach (Jeff Hafley) this offseason.  

Ewers, a 2025 seventh-round pick, completed 66.3% of his passes for 622 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in four games played. 

30. Joe Milton III, Dallas Cowboys

Milton flashed upside (241 yards, TD) in his memorable Week 18 performance against the Bills while filling in for Drake Maye as a rookie in 2024. That game ultimately led to the Cowboys taking interest in Milton and sending a Day 3 pick to New England for the Tennessee product. 

However, Milton’s development with the Cowboys hasn’t been a fruitful one. He struggled with accuracy in his three preseason starts, but Dallas saw enough to make him Dak Prescott’s backup last season—or the team had no choice but to make him QB2 after the trade with New England. Milton wasn’t needed last year with Prescott starting every game.  

29. Kyle Allen, Buffalo Bills

It’s a bit surprising that the Bills, who are in win-now mode, don’t have better options behind Josh Allen. Then again, if the perennial MVP candidate goes down due to injury, this team has slim hopes for winning a Super Bowl. 

Still, the decision to trust Kyle Allen as the backup could hurt the Bills at the worst time. Oftentimes, backups are just needed for a quarter or a game—or in the AFC title game. Allen has played eight seasons, but most of his starting experience came in 2019 when he started 12 games for the Panthers and he hasn’t done much since. However, Josh Allen and the Bills seem to really like the other Allen after bringing him back to Buffalo for a second stint. 

Allen played for Buffalo in 2023 and has played for six total teams, including Washington, Houston, Pittsburgh and Detroit. 

28. Tommy DeVito, New England Patriots

The football public hasn’t heard much from DeVito since his memorable starting stretch with the Giants in 2023. DeVito went 3–3 as a starter that season (8 TDs, 3 INTs) and impressed the coaching staff with his confident demeanor and ability to run an offense efficiently. But DeVito, who lacks arm strength, didn’t have the same results in his two starts in New York the following season. 

DeVito didn’t see any action last season and rode the bench all the way to the Super Bowl with the Patriots. He must be doing something right because the team brought him back to be Drake Maye’s backup. Perhaps DeVito is an asset when it comes to preparing for opponents.

Mason Rudolph has spent the majority of his career as the backup in Pittsburgh. | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

27. Mason Rudolph, Pittsburgh Steelers

Rudolph is back for his eighth season with the Steelers. (He spent 2024 with Tennessee before returning to Pittsburgh last year.) But it’s not a certainty that Rudolph will be Aaron Rodgers’s backup come Week 1 against the Falcons. The Steelers also have second-year quarterback Will Howard and rookie third-rounder Drew Allar.

While I believe it’s time for the Steelers to see what they have in their younger quarterbacks, that likely won’t be the case with Rodgers back for his age-43 season. Pittsburgh will likely hand the QB2 job to Rudolph instead of making this a true competition. This team continues to favor the present rather than the future, even with new coach Mike McCarthy. Rudolph has 19 career starts with a 9-9-1 record.

26. Jake Browning, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Two years ago, Browning was ranked No. 1 on these QB2 rankings. However, his game fell off a cliff last year and was nowhere near as good as he was before when he filled in for Joe Burrow during a lengthy stretch. 

In 2023, Browning went 4–3, completing 70.4% of his passes. He didn’t appear as confident in his three starts last year, losing every game before he was benched for Joe Flacco. The Buccaneers are rolling the dice here because it seemed Browning’s arm strength drastically declined last season.   

25. Nick Mullens, Jacksonville Jaguars

Mullens isn’t afraid to push the ball downfield, but his aggressive play style also occasionally comes with turnovers. For example, he had a game in 2023 with the Vikings where he threw for 411 yards and four interceptions—Minnesota lost in overtime to Cincinnati.

But there are times when Mullens plays clean football, including his starting debut in 2018 when he threw three touchdowns and no interceptions for the 49ers in a Thursday Night Football game against the Raiders. Mullens, who’s in his second season with the Jaguars, is a quality spot starter, but it’s not ideal to ask him to play in consecutive games. 

24. Kenny Pickett, Carolina Panthers

Pickett has played for the Eagles, Browns, Raiders and now the Panthers since the Steelers gave up on the 2022 first-round pick two years ago. Outside of his starting experience (27 career starts), Pickett doesn’t offer much upside as a QB2. He’s not a streaky quarterback who can get hot in a hurry and push the ball downfield, which is the case for most signal-callers on this list. 

For his career, Pickett has completed 62.4% of his passes and thrown 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 36 games played. Pickett started 12 games in each of his first two seasons with the Steelers, never cracking more than 2,500 passing yards.

23. Ty Simpson, Los Angeles Rams

Simpson is ranked much lower than fellow 2026 first-rounder Fernando Mendoza, who will appear later on this list, partly because it’s going to take him longer to be a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL due to only 15 collegiate starts. However, it helps that Simpson, this year’s No. 13 pick, will be developed by offensive mastermind Sean McVay and has Puka Nacua and Davante Adams as targets. 

Also, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Simpson appears on the initial 53-man roster as QB3 behind Stetson Bennett and Matthew Stafford. But the team would likely lean on Simpson’s upside over Bennett, the 2023 fourth-round pick, if Stafford were to miss time in the regular season. 

22. Mitchell Trubisky, Tennessee Titans

Trubisky has found a new home after spending the past two years in Buffalo. He didn’t see much action as Josh Allen’s backup, but what Trubisky provides away from the field might be more valuable for the Titans and Cam Ward, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft. 

Trubisky, the 2017 No. 2 pick of the Bears, knows what it’s like for a prominent young quarterback to have the pressure of delivering fast results. His past experiences can assist Ward on and off the field. Trubisky already has a connection with offensive coordinator Brian Daboll from when the two worked together in Buffalo in 2021. Trubisky has 57 career starts and also spent two seasons in Pittsburgh, which were sandwiched between the two Buffalo stints. 

21. Teddy Bridgewater, Detroit Lions

It seems like it was ages ago that Bridgewater was viewed as the franchise quarterback in Minnesota. His career trajectory drastically changed after suffering a career-threatening leg injury before the 2016 season. Bridgewater revived his career as a quality backup in New Orleans, gaining the trust of coach Sean Payton while making spot starts in ’18 and ’19.

Bridgewater’s days of being viewed as a high-end No. 2 quarterback are gone, but he still has the trust of coaches, he’s beloved in the locker room and his high football IQ makes him an asset during film sessions. Bridgewater, who played with the Lions in 2023 and ’24, briefly retired to coach high school football before signing with the Buccaneers last season. 

20. Tyler Huntley, Baltimore Ravens

Huntley, who notoriously made a Pro Bowl roster in 2022, is back in Baltimore for a seventh season and a third stint with the team. The Ravens keep bringing Huntley back because he’s a mobile quarterback with a similar skill set as Lamar Jackson, a plus for the coaching staff knowing that the playbook wouldn’t shrink much if Jackson were to miss games. 

In six seasons, Huntley has made 16 career starts, including five with the Dolphins in 2024. He helped the Ravens win two games last season to keep the team’s playoff hopes alive while Jackson was sidelined due to injury.

19. Andy Dalton, Philadelphia Eagles

Dalton, who heads into his age-39 season, is Jalen Hurts’s backup after spending the past three years with Bryce Young and the Panthers. He briefly took the job from Young in 2024, but he was only the starter for five games before sustaining an injury in a car crash, which opened the door for Young to return to the field. 

Now in his 16th year with 169 career starts, Dalton is no longer the kind of backup who can steal a starting opportunity. He’s the well-seasoned, savvy veteran who’s only expected to play in case of emergency. 

18. Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders

Similar to the setup in Baltimore with Jackson and Huntley, the Commanders also prefer the benefits that come from having a starter and a backup with similar skill sets. While Mariota isn’t as fast as he once was, he still has enough mobility to run a playbook tailor-made for Jayden Daniels. 

But Mariota was asked to play too much last season and delivered erratic performances in his eight starts while filling in for the injured Daniels. In 11 seasons, the 2015 No. 2 pick has made 82 career starts with a 36–46 record.

17. Drew Lock, Seattle Seahawks

Teams tend to favor backups they’re familiar with, as evidenced from the number of QBs listed here on their second or third stint with their respective teams. GM John Schneider must have really liked what he saw from Lock in 2022 and ’23 when he played under coach Pete Carroll and behind Geno Smith, because Schneider brought Lock back last year to work with coach Mike Macdonald and Sam Darnold.

Lock struggled in five starts with the Giants during his one year away from Seattle. The 2019 second-round selection of the Broncos has made 28 career starts. He delivered a memorable performance in 2023, rallying the Seahawks to defeat the Eagles on Monday Night Football.

16. Tyrod Taylor, Green Bay Packers

Taylor is the perfect median for backup quarterbacks. He’s not a gunslinger, but his coaches love how he prioritizes playing under structure and protecting the football. There’s not much coaches hate more than a chaotic backup not sticking to the plays called. The mild-mannered Taylor never threw more than six interceptions in the three seasons he started for the Bills between 2015 and ’17.

Overall, Taylor has made 62 career starts with 73 touchdowns and 34 interceptions. While he’s a cautious quarterback, he usually gives his team a chance to win because he rarely goes away from the guardrails. Taylor started his career with the Ravens and has spent time with the Bills, Browns, Chargers, Texans, Giants and Jets.

15. Trey Lance, Los Angeles Chargers

For a second, it seemed Lance was going to make the most of his second opportunity in the league after the 49ers traded the No. 3 pick in the 2021 draft to the Cowboys. But Lance struggled to take the QB2 job from Cooper Rush in his two seasons in Dallas and wasn’t brought back for the ’25 season.  

However, Lance found stability with the Chargers and gained the trust of coach Jim Harbaugh after an impressive preseason last summer in Los Angeles. In four seasons, Lance has six career starts with five touchdowns and five interceptions. 

The Cardinals will be Gardner Minshew II’s sixth career team. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

14. Gardner Minshew II, Arizona Cardinals

Minshew, who has 47 career starts, might be asked to play a lot in Arizona this season if the team doesn’t find a contract resolution with Jacoby Brissett. There’s also rookie third-round pick Carson Beck, but Minshew’s years of experience would likely give him the inside track toward winning the starting job if Brissett isn’t around this summer. 

Minshew did struggle in his nine starts with the Raiders in 2024, but the year before, he kept the Colts’ playoff hopes alive until the season finale. He has good days and bad, like most backups, but the highs can be impressive. 

13. J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings

Perhaps McCarthy should be ranked lower because of how poorly he played last year in his first season as a full-time starter. Not only did McCarthy have a dismal 57.6% completion percentage, durability was also a concern with only 10 games played due to injuries.

Perhaps McCarthy has learned from his 2025 mistakes and there’s also the possibility of him being highly motivated to beat out Kyler Murray for the starting job. He likely won’t win it, but maybe he’ll get the opportunity to regain the job, especially with Murray missing 21 regular-season games since ’21.     

12. Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns

Sanders doesn’t get enough credit for his stellar Week 14 performance last year because it came against the struggling Titans. But the 2025 fifth-round pick displayed confidence and command in clutch moments, recording 364 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and one rushing score in the 31–29 shootout loss. (That was the game coach Kevin Stefanski went with an absurd wildcat play on a crucial two-point conversion.)

That game alone showed how Sanders can get hot in a hurry. The jury is still out on him being a franchise quarterback, but the ability to push the ball downfield could at least make him a high-end backup in his career.

11. Davis Mills, Houston Texans

Mills is a quality game manager who stepped up last year to win three games while C.J. Stroud was sidelined with a concussion. Many forget that Mills was the starter in Houston before Stroud arrived as the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft. It says plenty that the Texans have made it a priority to keep him around, even after demoting him with Stroud’s arrival. 

It also helps that the Texans just need a solid game manager to play with this lights-out defense. Mills knows the system, and that’s a big plus for coach DeMeco Ryans. In five seasons, Mills has 29 career starts with 40 touchdowns and 26 interceptions.

10. Anthony Richardson Sr., Indianapolis Colts

Yes, Richardson has struggled throughout his career and has been unable to stay available. (He had a golden opportunity last year when Daniel Jones ruptured his achilles, but he wasn’t around due to a freak accident with an elastic exercise band.) 

Still, I can’t get over how dominant Richardson was in the first month of his rookie season in 2023. There were shades of Cam Newton and Josh Allen with his arm strength and massive 6'4", 244-pound frame. In a spot start or in relief, Richardson’s game could give teams plenty of fits—that’s if he’s available. There’s also a possibility that the Colts trade or cut Richardson, who has 15 career starts, before the end of training camp. 

9. Jarrett Stidham, Denver Broncos

Stidham is ranked this high mostly because Sean Payton still decided to bring him back as Bo Nix’s backup despite his shaky performance in the AFC title game against the Patriots (17-of-31, 133 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT). Granted, it’s tough to judge any quarterback in a snow storm, but Payton keeping Stidham as his QB2 speaks volumes, given what transpired last postseason with Nix’s ankle injury.

Clearly, Stidham is doing something right in practice to gain that kind of trust from Payton. However, it’s a bit surprising that Stidham has only four career starts in six seasons with the Patriots, Raiders and Broncos.

Justin Fields may have a massive impact on the season if Patrick Mahomes isn’t ready for Week 1. | David Butler II-Imagn Images

8. Justin Fields, Kansas City Chiefs

Fields has been an erratic passer since entering the league as a 2021 first-round pick of the Bears, but he’s also never been coached by the innovative Andy Reid. 

If it turns out that the Chiefs need Fields early in the season to give Patrick Mahomes more time to make a full recovery from his knee injury—though it’s not looking that way with Mahomes participating in OTAs—that could be the ideal scenario for Fields to show what he can do with a strong supporting cast. He didn’t have that in Chicago to start his career or with the Jets last year, and let’s not forget that coach Mike Tomlin was pretty set on giving Russell Wilson the starting job in Pittsburgh when he returned to health. 

Maybe those are more excuses for Fields, but he could extend his career as a backup in this ideal situation.

7. Tyson Bagent, Chicago Bears

Bagent might have gotten some starting consideration from other teams because his name came up in trade rumors this offseason. But coach Ben Johnson was reluctant to part ways with the 2023 undrafted free agent, which is indicative of how he views him as a quarterback. 

Bagent has a strong arm and enough mobility to extend plays. He hasn’t been needed as much since Caleb Williams arrived in 2024, but he had an impressive stretch as a rookie when Justin Fields was sidelined for four games. Bagent went 2–2, completing 65.7% of his passes for 859 yards, three touchdowns and six interceptions.

6. Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints

Rattler has lost 12 out of his 13 career starts, dropping his first 10 games, but he showed impressive flashes in some of those games, which is why coach Kellen Moore decided to hand him the starting job to open his Saints tenure last season.

Perhaps that was partly because Tyler Shough needed more time to learn from the sidelines, but that was a legitimate quarterback battle that Rattler won last summer. Shough wasn’t a first-round pick that was being rushed to the field and needed to prove himself. However, the wins weren’t coming for Rattler and that opened the door for Shough, who seized the opportunity to conclude his rookie year.

5. Fernando Mendoza, Las Vegas Raiders

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Raiders hand Mendoza the keys to open Week 1 against the Dolphins. Kirk Cousins might not have much left heading into his age-38 season and coming off two tumultuous years in Atlanta. 

But the Raiders’ decision-makers keep expressing the importance of being patient with the 2026 No. 1 pick, and did just hand Cousins $20 million guaranteed for the year. Mendoza, and his dangerous back-shoulder throws, will likely see the field sooner rather than later, but probably not in Week 1. Bold prediction: Mendoza will make his debut some time in October.  

4. Jameis Winston, New York Giants

Winston is an aggressive gunslinger with the ball in his hands and a motivational speaker when he’s not slinging it. Not only do his pregame speeches go viral on social media, he showed last year against the Lions that he still has plenty to offer as a quarterback, lighting up Detroit’s secondary for 366 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the Week 12 overtime loss. 

Winston’s reckless ways got him in trouble as a starter for the Buccaneers, but his play style is better suited as a backup. In 2019, Winston led the league in passing yards (5,109) and interceptions (30). Since that memorable season, Winston has been a backup for the Saints, Browns and Giants.

3. Tua Tagovailoa, Atlanta Falcons

This could be Tagovailoa’s first time starting a season as a backup since his early years with the Dolphins, but he might get a chance to start for the Falcons if Michael Penix Jr. doesn’t make a speedy comeback from his torn ACL. Also, Penix needs to show he’s made improvements from his rocky Year 2.

If Tagovailoa gets an opportunity in Atlanta, he might be able to replicate what he did in his first two years working with coach Mike McDaniel in Miami. (Tagovailoa threw for a league-high 4,624 yards in 2023). The Falcons have the weapons with Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts and Drake London. If Tagovailoa can cut back on his turnovers—he’s had 36 interceptions in 42 games over the past three years —he can make the most of his new situation. 

2. Mac Jones, San Francisco 49ers

Jones was the latest failed first-round pick who made the most of a new opportunity last year. After struggling with the Patriots and spending one year as a backup with the Jaguars, Jones landed in an ideal situation with coach Kyle Shanahan and all of his weapons in San Francisco.

Jones kept the 49ers’ playoff hopes alive during a massive wave of injuries during the first half of the season. He produced a memorable upset road win against the Rams in Week 5, recording 342 yards and two touchdowns. Jones went 5–3 while filling in for the injured Brock Purdy. If the 2021 first-round pick hadn’t signed a two-year, $8.4 million deal with the 49ers, he might have gotten some interest as a starter this offseason.

1. Joe Flacco, Cincinnati Bengals

Flacco still has plenty to offer with how well he played for the Bengals last season. Initially, it seemed Father Time was on the verge of getting Flacco in 2025, but it was obvious that he was being held back by the Browns’ dreadful offense. 

After the rare all–AFC North trade, Flacco torched opposing secondaries with the star duo of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. It’s wild looking back at how productive the 41-year-old QB was last season. He threw for 470 yards against the Bears and delivered a 342-yard performance against the Steelers. 

Flacco is the ultimate backup because he offers hope, even amid the worst situations, including last year when the Bengals traded for him after Burrow’s injury.

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