An astonishing 66 quarterbacks went under center to start an NFL game this regular season, matching the previous record for this figure, which was set last season. While some had short, forgettable stints like Brett Rypien for the Rams and Clayton Tune for the Cardinals, others such as Joe Flacco for the Browns and Jake Browning for the Bengals were able to snag multiple wins and give their team some hope despite unfortunate circumstances.
The wide range of quarterbacks to be named starter this season was due largely to one of the defining, albeit depressing aspects of this season: devastating injuries. Starting from the first Monday night game of the season on DATE, where the Jets newly signed, future hall of fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers snapped his achilles tendon after just 3 plays on offense, setting forth former #2 overall draft pick Zach Wilson to be the first replacement quarterback of the season. Wilson’s reign as the head of the Jets offense would not last the entire season either, as underwhelming performance and injuries would allow 2 more Jets to take over the starting quarterback position: Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian. This would make the Jets one of three teams to start 4+ quarterbacks over the course of this season, along with the Browns and Vikings.
The Vikings would first start rookie Jaren Hall after their intended starter Kirk Cousins also tore his achilles in a game versus the Packers in late October. Hall would get benched in his first start for Josh Dobbs–who had started for the Cardinals earlier in the season–who would then ultimately get benched himself for Nick Mullens after the Vikings coaching staff was dissatisfied with his performance in the Vikings 3-0 win to the Raiders.
It’s hard to argue which quarterback situation was worse between the Vikings and Jets, however, what is clear is that the winner of all the backup quarterback mayhem is the Browns and former Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. Flacco took over shortly after being signed to the Browns practice squad in late November. Before Flacco ever played a snap, the Browns had already started 3 different quarterbacks in Deshaun Watson, PJ Walker and Dorian Thompson Robinson. Flacco would take great strides with the Brown’s offense, leading them to a 4-1 record, the top wildcard spot and throwing 13 touchdowns in his 5 starts. Heading into week 18, the Browns playoff seed was set in stone and as to not risk injuring their 4th quarterback of the season would start Jeff Driskel under center, capping their quarterback tally at 5 for the season.
The only other backup who will be starting in this weekend’s wild card games is Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph, who took over following a Kenny Pickett injury and some dreadful play from Mitchell Trubisky.
A few other notable runs at backup quarterback include New Jersey’s own Tommy DeVito, nicknamed the Italian Stallion and Tommy Cutlets due to his Italian background and love for his Mother’s homemade chicken, who took over for the Giants following Daniel Jones’ torn ACL and Tyrod Taylor’s broken ribs. Devito, born in Livingston, only 30 minutes away from the Giants home stadium in East Rutherford, led the Giants to a 3-game win streak, beating the Commanders, Patriots and Packers. While his reign was short lived, Devito played fairly well for an undrafted rookie and was definitely able to cash in on his 15 minutes of fame through his clever branding of his Italian-American heritage. After all, most undrafted rookie quarterbacks don’t have a memorable signature hand sign and multiple nicknames.
Jake Browning took over the starting job for the Bengals when Joe Burrow went down with a season ending hand injury in mid November. Browning led the Bengals to 4 wins in Burrow’s absence and threw for 12 touchdowns on a 70.4% completion rate. Browning’s surprisingly good play was able to keep the Bengals alive in the wild card hunt until Week 17 where they were ultimately eliminated by the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
The two backups still alive in the Super Bowl race will go on the road to try and keep their teams hopes alive this weekend in the wildcard. Steelers backup Mason Rudolph will head to Buffalo Sunday afternoon to take on Josh Allen and the #2 seed Bills, while the Browns Joe Flacco will make the trip down to Houston Saturday evening to take on rookie CJ Stroud and the #4 seeded Texans.
