Football has a quarterback development problem from top to bottom, but in the NFL it is most glaring. There simply aren't 32 solid quarterbacks, let alone 64 (a starter and backup) for every team. Injuries to a number of passers around the league like Jaxson Dart, Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Sam Darnold, Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. have made that abundantly clear.
Why is the quarterback pipeline drying up to a degree from a developmental perspective? Today's youth sports culture has athletes specializing in one sport at younger and younger ages, which robs them of the ability to hone different skillsets and muscle groups across multiple sports while their bodies are physically and mentally developing. Coaches at every level of football are passing the buck on developing quarterbacks' football IQ, particularly in film study and X's and O's, because at the collegiate level, and in some cases the high school level, these coaches are just fighting to keep their top players on their rosters.
So what does that mean at the highest level in the NFL when it comes to quarterback depth? Let's take a look at both the five best and five worst backup quarterback situations around the league. The Buffalo Bills don't need to invest heavily in their backup quarterback situation with 2024 NFL MVP Josh Allen built like a tank, standing at 6-feet-5-inches tall while weighing 237 pounds.
However, if Josh Allen were to go down, the Bills would be in a tough spot. Current backup Kyle Allen, 30-years-old, was a mediocre starter in the league early in his career with the Carolina Panthers back in 2019, throwing 17 touchdowns to 16 interceptions while absorbing 46 sacks in 12 games started that year. Since then, he's bounced around the league as a backup, and the last time he started games in 2022 with the Houston Texans, it wasn't great.
Houston lost both of his starts that season, with Allen completing just 59% of his passes (46-78), throwing 2 touchdowns to 4 interceptions, and finishing with 416 yards for a 60.6 passer rating. He also took five sacks in those two games. Kyle Allen has thrown just three NFL regular-season passes since 2023, so if he were thrust into action, it could get ugly.
Quinn Ewers was a rollercoaster quarterback at the University of Texas, and that's exactly what he looked like in his three starts with the Miami Dolphins as a rookie last season. In his start, a home game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16 a year ago, he threw two interceptions and no touchdowns in addition to 260 yards passing while completing 20 of his 30 pass attempts in a 45-21 defeat. Ewers then bounced back with an upswing against the fading Tampa Bay Buccaneers the next week at home in Week 17, throwing for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns while completing 14 of his 22 passes.
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