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Rethinking the Backup QB in Today’s NFL
As injuries rewrite the quarterback landscape, one question emerges: are we ready to embrace a future where backups aren’t just insurance, but strategic assets for NFL teams?
The Seattle Seahawks needed a win, desperately. After a 5–2 start, they lost 5 of their next 6 games and saw their playoff hopes dwindling. It was in this environment that they entered into a matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the top teams in the NFC, and were relying on their backup quarterback Drew Lock to get the team back on track. The task presented to Lock (where he succeeded) was a symbol of something that we have seen a lot of this year: the importance of backup quarterback play in the NFL.
Long viewed as a positional afterthought, the injuries to quarterbacks Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, DeShaun Watson, and many others have prompted many to call this year the year of the backup quarterback. But when we look at games started over the last 5 years it has become the norm for 60 different quarterbacks to start games in an NFL season. Knowing that this is the norm and that injuries happen, it might be time to re-evaluate how much importance we place on the backup quarterback position in a way that defies typical football convention.
