Ranking every backup NFL quarterback

Tannehill's seven-year tenure as a starter in Miami didn't work out how he wanted, but he still showed flashes. Over his last three seasons on the field, Tannehill had 60/33 TD/INT and averaged 7.4 yards per attempt. He's talented enough to start somewhere despite his recent injuries, and Marcus Mariota's recent shaky play could give Tannehill an opportunity soon.

While he went just 4-11 as a starter when Andrew Luck was injured in 2017, Brissett turned some heads on a team lacking much talent. Brissett shows plus mobility and decent accuracy, and would likely be able to keep the Colts competitive if he gets another opportunity given their upgraded talent and coaching.

Hoyer started his NFL career in New England and returned after six years away with far more experience. Playing for six different teams from 2012-2017, Hoyer's performance was rarely smooth, but he had a winning record as a starter with both Cleveland and Houston. The Patriots seem comfortable with Hoyer as Tom Brady's backup, though going on age 34 he's not their long-term answer should Brady retire soon.

Bridgewater's career was sidetracked by a catastrophic knee injury in 2016, but he led the Vikings to an 11-5 regular season record in 2015. His playing time has been sporadic over the last year, though it is worth noting that Bridgewater struggled with backups as the Week 17 starter. With Drew Brees getting close to retirement, Bridgewater is a possibility to start in New Orleans down the line.

Keenum has seen significant playing time for much of his career as a West Coast system quarterback, and he was a revelation replacing Sam Bradford with the Vikings in 2017. He led the team to an 11-3 regular season record and went all the way to the NFC championship game, but last year's poor results in Denver showed the supporting cast had a lot to do with his success. For the most part, Keenum has struggled to protect the ball during his career and averaged only 6.6 yards per attempt with the Broncos last year. Still, he might give Washington the best chance to win at the start of the season as it grooms rookie Dwayne Haskins.

Henne has his fair share of NFL experience, starting 53 games for his career between Miami and Jacksonville. He averaged fewer than 7 yards per attempt in all but one of his six seasons starting games, though the talent around Henne was never great. It would be interesting to see how Henne would fare with KC's immense offensive talent, but Chiefs fans would prefer not to find out with Patrick Mahomes running the show.

Taylor was never a great quarterback when he started for three seasons in Buffalo, but he consistently protected the ball. His elite 1.3 interception percentage in Buffalo helped him post a winning record over three seasons, but Taylor was downright terrible for Cleveland in four games last year. Taylor's mobility and ability to manage the game does add security, but Philip Rivers has never missed a start since 2006.

Bortles looked like a bust during his first three seasons in Jacksonville before going 10-6 in 2017 and leading Jacksonville to the AFC championship game. He operated well as a game manager during that season with a great running game and elite defense, but the walls came crashing down last year when those two areas regressed. With 75 interceptions in 75 career games, Bortles proved he couldn't take care of the ball well enough to lead a team, but he picked an intriguing spot with head coach Sean McVay.

Daniel has made quite a living as an NFL backup and finally found the field for two starts last season when Mitchell Trubisky was hurt. The results were mixed, but Daniel did complete nearly 70 percent of his passes. He's limited by a lack of arm strength but has proved capable of managing a team in a pinch.

Does Mullens have a starting job in his future? The former undrafted free agent out of Southern Miss came out of nowhere to start eight games for San Francisco while Jimmy Garoppolo was injured, effectively moving the ball with nearly 285 yards per game and 8.3 yards per attempt last season. His 10 picks were a major blemish, but Mullens really showed potential.

Rosen looked lost on a terrible Cardinals team in his rookie season. He gets to start over after getting traded to Miami, but he's behind veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick early in camp. Rosen has plenty of arm talent and showed ability to throw accurately and read defenses at UCLA, but he also has an injury history and terrible early NFL results. He should find the field at some point this year, and his results could determine his career trajectory.

Griffin's early career flashes and flameout are well-documented, but he would seem to be a perfect fit for the type of offense Baltimore runs with Lamar Jackson. Still mobile at age 29, Griffin hasn't seen significant snaps since 2016 and is extremely injury prone. However, in terms of a quarterback fitting a system, he's certainly in the right place with Baltimore.

Siemian came almost out of nowhere to be Peyton Manning's immediate replacement for the Broncos in 2016. He went 8-6 during the regular season with a great supporting cast but failed to complete 60 percent of his passes. His play continued to slip the following year, and Siemian was benched, throwing 14 picks in 11 games. The Northwestern alum has reunited with former Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase in New York and hopes to show better accuracy if he finds the field again.

Schaub made two Pro Bowls as Houston's starter, but his tenure ended suddenly when he threw 13 picks over eight starts for the Texans. The high interception rate continued when Schaub got a chance with Baltimore in 2015. He's rarely found the field since taking over as Matt Ryan's backup in 2016, and at this point his best asset is probably experience.

Barkley saw significant playing time with six starts for the Bears in 2016. While he moved the ball (7.5 yards per attempt), Barkley's 14 interceptions in only 216 attempts were unacceptable. A seasoned quarterback from USC, Barkley needs to do a better job of taking care of the ball.

It's been an interesting few seasons for McCarron. The former Bengals backup was nearly traded to Cleveland in 2017 in a deal that was botched due to paperwork, and then he signed with Buffalo to be the supposed starter last season. He lost out on the starting job to Nathan Peterman and was traded to Oakland and now finds himself with Houston. However, McCarron suffered a thumb injury early in training camp that could keep him out for the entire preseason. Given the recent chain of events, the Texans have reason to be anxious if something happens to Deshaun Watson.

Rush has thrown only three regular-season passes since he arrived in the league two years ago, and his preseason results have been mixed over the last two years. He's certainly shown some flashes in the preseason and was a productive quarterback at Central Michigan, but we won't know Rush's true ability until he's thrown to the wolves.

It was just two years ago that Glennon was signed to be the Bears starter, but he went 1-3 with five interceptions in four starts before getting benched for rookie Mitchell Trubisky. He's now just 6-16 for his career as a starter and enters camp fighting for the No. 2 job with the venerable Nathan Peterman.

Philadelphia might not be sure what it has in Sudfeld, but the early returns have been impressive. He's 20-of-25 for 156 yards and one score in the three regular-season games in which he's appeared, and he threw five touchdowns in the preseason last year. Sudfeld is a leg up on Cody Kessler for the all-important No. 2 job going into the preseason behind oft-injured Carson Wentz.

Gabbert has the arm strength to make all the throws, but the former first-round pick is a proven bust with 48 career starts under his belt. He's completed only 56.2 percent of his passes with only one more touchdown than interception thrown for his career. While Gabbert led the Titans to a 2-1 record during 2018 while Marcus Mariota was injured, the team prioritized improving the No. 2 spot with Ryan Tannehill after Gabbert threw four picks and averaged 6.2 yards per pass attempt.

Pittsburgh's third-round pick last year, Rudolph has a great chance to unseat Josh Dobbs for the No. 2 job behind Ben Roethlisberger. It remains to be seen if Rudolph should be considered the team's quarterback of the future, but he fared well last year in the preseason (315 yards and 3/1 TD/INT) and had a good college track record at Oklahoma State.

Stanton last appeared in a regular-season game in 2017 with Arizona. A former second-round pick with a strong arm, Stanton is 11-6 over his career as a starter despite a terrible 52.4 percent completion rate and 6.2 yards per attempt. He also has more interceptions than touchdown passes for his career.

Kizer was traded by the Browns after going 0-15 with a league-high 22 interceptions in his rookie season. He was called into action three times by Green Bay last year, including some true lowlights in Week 1 vs. the Bears. The arm strength that made Kizer a second-round pick just two years ago is still intact, but his accuracy and decision making have left much to be desired.

Savage was exposed when he started seven games for the Texans in 2017, going 1-6 and completing only 56.1 percent of his passes with 6.3 yards per attempt. His lack of mobility in the pocket is a huge issue, and the former fourth-round pick doesn't have any plus NFL traits. Detroit starter Matthew Stafford has started all 16 games in eight straight seasons, so the concern here is low for the team.

Heinicke is in an interesting battle for the No. 2 job in Carolina with Kyle Allen and rookie third-rounder Will Grier. He didn't play well in his first career start last year, throwing three picks in a 24-10 loss to Atlanta but has the mobility to be a fit behind Cam Newton.

Driskel is hoping to hold off fourth-round pick Ryan Finley for the No. 2 job behind Andy Dalton. Despite an up-and-down college career, Driskel saw five starts in Dalton's stead in his third NFL season. Not surprisingly, he had a rough time moving the offense with only 153 yards per start and 5.5 yards per pass attempt. Given his performance in that 1-4 run, it wasn't a shock that the Bengals used a draft pick on a quarterback.

The sixth overall pick in this year's draft, Jones was a head-scratching selection considering his lack of college production at Duke. He completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes and near reached 3,000 yards in any of his three seasons as Duke's starter. Eli Manning enters the year as the Giants starter, but Jones could find the field if the team's season goes south. His first preseason game did show some promise, albeit against backups and basic defenses.

The 26th-overall pick by Denver in the 2016 draft, Lynch was in over his head in four starts over two seasons before the Broncos cut him in only his third preseason. Lynch was effectively out of the league last year but is getting a chance to prove himself behind Russell Wilson this preseason. There's plenty of arm strength and mobility, so perhaps a change of scenery will be worthwhile.

Green Bay prioritized improving its backup quarterback position last year after what the team saw from Hundley as a starter in 2017 replacing the injured Aaron Rodgers. During that run, Hundley threw 12 interceptions in 11 games and averaged a terrible 5.8 yards per attempt. The fact that he couldn't beat out DeShone Kizer for the No. 2 job last year says a lot.

Lock surprisingly fell to the second round of this year's draft, and the rookie looked in over his head in his first preseason game. His weaknesses in college were short throws and reading defenses, and those issues will take time and coaching to fix. He does throw a beautiful deep ball, but he needs more in his toolbox to succeed at this level. Denver is hoping it won't need to call on Lock for a while.

Mannion finds himself in Minnesota after four years as the Rams backup. His preseason track record has been less than stellar, including a 52.2 percent completion rate last year. Appearing in 10 regular-season games, including one start, Mannion has a pitiful 4.9 yards per pass attempt.

Jacksonville is putting all of its eggs in Nick Foles' basket given that its likely No. 2 quarterback is a rookie sixth-round pick. Minshew was impressive in Mike Leach's quarterback-friendly offense at Washington State last season, completing more than 70 percent of his passes with 38 touchdowns, but his accuracy wasn't nearly as stellar earlier in his career at East Carolina.