When gritty coach Dan Campbell watched his quarterbacks not named Jared Goff from the Detroit Lions’ sideline, the Hard Knocks cameras captured a lot of grimacing, shaking his head, and hands on his knee. The former NFL tight end’s body language reflected what he was seeing: the struggles of reserve quarterbacks Tim Boyle and David Blough.
Backup QB struggles on display on Hard Knocks
Boyle was prone to interceptions and struggled mightily enough that Campbell, with HBO watching for the fourth episode that aired Tuesday night, decided to change the script and put Blough back into the game. Blough gamely tried to rally the Lions in their preseason finale but was under heavy duress and sacked a lot. He also had a key fumble during a previous preseason game.
Ultimately, the Lions decided to part ways with both of them. They’ll install former San Francisco 49ers backup QB Nate Sudfeld as their replacement.
The Lions aren’t alone in their preference for quality over quantity. It’s what’s happening across the league, for the most part.
For example, the Cincinnati Bengals cut Jake Browning despite some sharp play this preseason from him. They are expected to sign him to their practice squad and will keep Brandon Allen as the backup to Super Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow.
Following the two-quarterback trend
Only 13 of the 32 teams had three quarterbacks on their roster as of Tuesday afternoon’s NFL personnel wire following the initial roster cutdown to the league limit of 53 players.
In the AFC, seven teams have three quarterbacks. That includes the New York Jets, whose starter, Zach Wilson, is recovering from a knee injury, the New England Patriots, the Miami Dolphins, the Indianapolis Colts, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Los Angeles Chargers.
In the NFC, six teams are carrying three quarterbacks: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Carolina Panthers, with Sam Darnold suffering a high-ankle sprain and potentially to be placed on short-term injured reserve, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Washington Commanders, whose rookie, Sam Howell, closed out the preseason with a strong performance.
Several teams plan to sign quarterbacks to their practice squad Wednesday if they clear waivers. That’s the plan with the Houston Texans, as they expect Jeff Driskel to rejoin the team on the practice squad after throwing two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, including one game-winner in the preseason. Davis Mills, a second-year starter drafted in the third round out of Stanford and coming off an impressive end to his rookie year, will be backed up by former Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders quarterback Kyle Allen.
What does it all mean?
“There’s that old saying about if you don’t need something, get rid of it,” an NFL executive said. “You have to have a plan. If your starter and your backup are good enough, you really don’t need three quarterbacks. These roster spots are precious. There are usually injuries and depth issues at other spots and talent you want to keep.
“The third quarterback is usually someone you would rather have on your practice squad than your active roster. People are looking all year to sign quarterbacks off practice squads, but that’s just part of the business. If they have an opportunity elsewhere, you can either promote them or just let ’em go.”
Not everyone believes in the two-quarterback setup
Sometimes, the talent of the third quarterback warrants keeping them around.
That was what Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier thought when they were cutting their roster down to 53 players.
A seventh-round draft pick from Kansas State, quarterback Skylar Thompson showed the Dolphins enough to warrant keeping him around on the active roster.
Thompson, who had a 138.4 passer rating, was kept around to develop behind starter Tua Tagovailoa and proven backup Teddy Bridgewater.
The Dolphins, even though they’re not getting a ton of value in terms of actual play this season from Thompson because Tagovailoa is the established QB1 and Bridgewater would step in if Tagovailoa was hurt or ineffective, don’t want to lose Thompson potentially to another team by having him on their practice squad after exposing him to waivers.
So, he made the team. Thompson has value for the future. That’s why he’s around. What if they decided to use him as a trade chip down the road?
“He played very well,” McDaniel said in a press conference. “Again, another guy that comes in, he just works every day, won over his teammates through his work ethic, and he went out and balled. Another one where we got calls again, people asking what we were going to do and they’re all saying, ‘You know, you guys would be stupid to let him go.’ And there was no thought about us doing that. We’re not in the business of being stupid.”
“I haven’t heard of a good football team that their problem was they had too many good quarterbacks,” McDaniel said. “They touch the ball every play. You can go [through] a lot of draft classes over a long period of time, and if you’re holding your breath for a player out of the seventh round to play like he did in the preseason, you’re going to pass out. You don’t just scoff and look the other way when you have a player playing well at that position. Those are things that if you let those slip through your fingers, you’ll end up regretting that forever.”
Another preseason snapshot, another exception
The Los Angeles Rams have one of the top quarterbacks in the game in Matthew Stafford.
The Rams’ $160 million man also has a chronically sore elbow that he plays through.
That wasn’t the only reason why the Rams kept backup John Wolford and promising third quarterback Bryce Perkins.
Wolford is tough and accurate. Perkins is athletic, can improvise, and shows arm talent.
During a preseason game at SoFi Stadium against the Houston Texans, both Wolford and Perkins had their moments.
While Wolford was sacked five times as his blocking was substandard and he’s more of a traditional pocket passer, he displayed poise and accuracy. He completed 14 of 22 passes for 142 yards and no interceptions in one half of play.
When third QB Bryce Perkins got into the game for the second half, he completed 11 of 13 passes for 123 yards. Perkins showed the kind of athleticism and accuracy to eventually challenge Wolford for the backup quarterback job. The obvious takeaway is that the Rams have two quarterbacks behind Stafford with the kind of skills that could be plugged in by coach Sean McVay, if needed, and keep the offense moving.
“I felt like (Wolford) had good command, made good decisions, saw the coverages the right way, and then there were some instances where we could help him out a little bit more around him,” McVay said afterward. “But I thought both he and Bryce did a nice job, and for Bryce to be able to kind of lead that scoring drive and make some of those plays, you just kind of have a playmaker — good things happen. He instills that belief with guys around him, so it’s definitely something that we’re continuing to evaluate.”
And McVay and the Rams, while in the minority of teams that kept three quarterbacks, can keep developing those guys behind Stafford. Maybe they won’t need them all season if he stays healthy. But maybe they will.
That’s why everyone in the NFL, and life, needs a sound insurance policy. It’s just smart business, whether it’s two quarterbacks or three passers on the roster.