Ranking all 32 backup NFL quarterbacks for the 2026 season - ESPN

The very first game of the 2026 NFL season provided an important reminder about backup quarterbacks: They don't really impact a team's chance to win… until they do. And then they suddenly really do.

Sam Darnold getting injured early in the Seahawks' season opener against the Patriots forced Drew Lock into action. When Kyler Murray suffered a concussion against the Packers later in Week 1, the Vikings turned to Carson Wentz. Both teams went on to win with their respective second-stringers. In both instances, the defense likely carried the winners more than anything else, but had the offense collapsed with the backup QB, there would have been no hope. The Falcons, who started QB3 Cooper Rush against the Steelers last Sunday with both Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. out, can attest to that.

With backups already playing a big role early in the season, I've decided to rank each team's No. 2 QB. It's a tricky exercise because we're operating on severely limited information in many cases. Some of these players haven't played in a meaningful pro game in years. Some of the younger backups don't have much regular-season experience at all — if any. So the margin for error is large. But that shouldn't prevent us from doing these rankings — after all, teams must make choices about their backups with similarly scarce information.

So, here is my ranking of every team's No. 2 quarterback. I included Wentz and Lock, but I used Penix as the Falcons' backup for the purpose of this exercise (though I also noted where Rush would land if he were the true No. 2).

This was the easiest decision. Sure, we haven't seen Mendoza take a snap in a regular-season game, but being the No. 1 draft pick is worth enough to easily put him at the top. He