This list will rank the Quarterback rooms of each of the 32 teams in the NFL based on the entire rooms prior to training camps. Each post will feature eight teams from team 32 to team 1. This is for the entire room of quarterbacks, not just the starter. Just as Aaron Rodgers learned, it only takes one play to be on your backup QB. All stats provided by ESPN.
This, I felt, was a really tough decision between who was last. Brissett has had some decent seasons, and 2025 was his best. In 14 Games played, Brissett had 23 TD’s with over 3300 yards. While these stats are not terrible, his team only managed 3 wins. I think that Brissett is a good backup option and should not be a full-time starter, and he has never had a winning season as a starter.
Gardner Minshew is the team’s primary backup, whom I feel has really fallen off since his first two seasons in the NFL with the Jaguars. In those first two seasons with the Jags, in 25 games threw for over 5,500 yards and 37 TD’s. Since then, his numbers have dropped significantly, and he has been mostly relegated to being a backup, except for his one starting season in Indy, where he led his team to 9 wins but still missed the playoffs. Not a terrible backup and would be able to keep his team afloat if needed.
Drafted in the third round, who most likely will be the team’s emergency QB, is Carson Beck, whom the Cardinals will be hoping they can develop into their next franchise quarterback. Beck had some pretty big years at Georgia and Miami, but he has work to do for his development.
The other team that I was stuck between choosing who would be 32. The Jets are rolling out Geno Smith as their starter for his second stint. The reason I took the Jets over the Cardinals is that Smith has had more starts and more successful seasons than Brissett has. Prior to his turnover-heavy season in Las Vegas, Smith actually had some pretty good seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. So for that reason, I think perhaps last season for the Raiders was a fluke, and Geno Smith may actually be able to run the offense in a decent way.
However, beyond Geno Smith, there is not much depth. The Jets are running a QB room of Brady Cook, who threw 3 times more interceptions than touchdowns last season. Cade Klubnik, a rookie out of Clemson who had a pretty average season for the Tigers, was barely able to get above .500 last season. Lastly, they also have Bailey Zappe on the roster, who will be competing for that backup/3rd QB spot. Zappe was ousted from New England and did not inspire a ton of confidence in his one season, where he led the Patriots as the QB in 10 games, barely throwing for more than 125 yards per game.
I find it difficult to put the Dolphins anywhere other than here because they are banking on a quarterback who has thrown 155 passes in 4 years in the NFL. I like Malik Willis and think he has a shot at being a decent QB, but the Dolphins have gutted that team, and he does not have a lot to work with and does not have a lot of experience. Along with the fact that behind him there is very little depth with Quinn Ewers, a rookie who started for Tua for a few games last season and wasn’t very good, puts them in this position.
Behind Willis and Ewers is a battle of two unknowns. Cam Miller was drafted in the 6th round in 2025 out of North Dakota State, and Mark Gronowski out of Iowa, who went undrafted. The Dolphins are really hoping one of these guys works out for them. There just is not enough proven ability there for my liking for the Dolphins.
It feels like the Cleveland Browns just live at the bottom of these lists of bad quarterbacks. They just never seem to get the right guy in place. Especially with the report that the starter is most likely going to be Deshaun Watson, I am even less excited about this team than I was before. Watson, who had some really good seasons in Houston, came to Cleveland and has just been plain awful. He has yet to play more than 7 games in a season for Cleveland, which, even when he has played, has not been anywhere close to his play in Houston, and his fully guaranteed contract is just abysmal.
I am more excited by his current backup, Shedur Sanders, whom the Browns drafted in 2025. While I am not the biggest fan of Sanders, he at least is way more electric than most of the quarterbacks that Cleveland has fielded over the last few years. I think he needs to work on his decision-making, but at least he moved the ball and gave the Browns some excitement.
After Sanders is Dillon Gabriel, who was also drafted last year in the same draft as Sanders, and who did not even average 100 yards of passing per game last season. That pretty much says it all. The Browns gave Gabriel the edge over Sanders, and he could barely pass the ball. Lastly, the Browns did take Taylen Green out of Arkansas in the 6th round. This is a QB who, with the right development, could really become a good dual-threat QB .
I really struggled with the next few picks, trying to figure out who would be here. I decided on the Vikings mostly because of Kyler Murray. While he has been awesome at times, something just has not clicked for Murray. His team just cannot find a way to get wins, and he just does not have that winning drive in him. The last few seasons, minus 2024, just have not been very good for Murray. I am interested in seeing if Kevin O’ Connell can work his magic and get a great season out of Murray, but I am not sure.
Behind Murray is 2024 draft pick J.J. McCarthy, who is starting to get a pretty bad rep. From missing the whole first season due to injury and then playing pretty poorly, to being benched for Carson Wentz, to now being upset that Murray is the starter, we are starting to see some bad signs of McCarthy. McCarthy, who, with that offense, we thought would flourish, threw more interceptions than touchdowns.
Finally, behind McCarthy is Carson Wentz. Wentz, who is a former runner-up MVP, has really declined since 2017 and has been moved mostly to being a backup. Prior to his injury last year, Wentz was serviceable for the Vikings, but his injury history is a concern, and serviceable is not good enough for that offense.
This one was also tough for me to put here. I really think that Cam Ward has the tools to be a good quarterback in the league, but we just have not seen it yet, considering he is just in his second year. The Titans are hoping that he continues to take a step in his development and becomes their franchise quarterback, but we still have to see. Ward had a decent year but not a great year. I need to see him be able to throw the ball down the field more consistently and to really take the team on his shoulders. Last year, there were just too many stalled drives for my liking.
Behind Ward is Mich Trubisky, who, after starting for years in Chicago, was moved to being a backup, which is a better role for him. He was never a great starter, serviceable but not great. He will be a good help for Ward and would be able to keep his team alive in the event that he was needed.
The third QB on the team looks to be a battle between Will Levis and Hendon Hooker. Will Levis has not panned out the way the Titans had hoped, as he really needs to improve on his decision-making if he wants to stay in the league. Instead of playing for the next down, there are way too many instances of Levis trying to force something. Hendon Hooker really has not had much of an opportunity over the years since being drafted in 2023, so he is a relative unknown for the Titans.
A Quarterback one battle between Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa is not a good thing in my book. Penix was supposed to be the franchise QB that you moved up to take in 2024, and things just have not panned out with him. That offense should be scoring in bunches with the talent on there. Penix has only played in 14 games in 2 seasons for the Falcons, which is concerning, but even in those 14 games, he is averaging less than 200 yards per game, and the Falcons have missed the playoffs in both seasons since he has been there.
Behind him is an even more injury-prone player in Tua Tagovailoa. When healthy, we have seen some pretty incredible plays by Tua; however, his availability is always in question, and last season, Tua regressed as a passer with a high-powered offense in Miami to the point he was benched late in the season. The injuries and poor play by these two do not inspire a ton of confidence.
Lastly, as the 3rd QB is Trevor Siemian, who started two seasons for the Denver Broncos way back in 2016 and 2017, and beyond that has had little to no work. He is not the worst option, but with the injury concerns to the two in front of him, I would have liked to see them have a possible other option.
I was split here between who should be 25 and who should be 24. I chose the Jaguars here just because Trevor Lawrence last season was really, really good, but beyond that, he has not been the quarterback that we thought he would be when drafted first overall in 2021. I am hoping that he has finally figured it out in the NFL, and we see the same QB that we saw last year, but whether last year was a fluke or not is up in the air. Throwing for over 4000 yards and just shy of 30 TD’s with 29, he really excelled in Liam Cohen’s offense.
Behind Lawrence, though, there is not much depth in my eyes. Nick Mullens is the backup and has been a career backup except for one injury-plagued year for the 49ers in 2020. Career backup with a rookie and a second-year player with no passes behind Mullens does not inspire confidence if Lawrence struggles or goes down to injury. The two other QB’s are Carter Bradley out of South Alabama and Joey Aguilar out of Tennessee.
Some of these may be a bit of a hot take, but this is how I view the bottom of the league in their quarterback rooms in their entirety. I will continue with my bold takes on the next eight NFL teams’ quarterback rooms in the next article. This is the end of my bold quarterback room rankings of NFL teams, part one.
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