Playing quarterback in the NFL is no small task. It takes a serious level of commitment to the team, both from a leadership and performance standpoint to be the guy in a city. And finding an opportunity is inherently challenging considering there are only 32 jobs in the world.
That said, there are some guys who are currently buried on the depth charts that could definitely be QB1 if they get the right opportunity in another city. Let’s dive in.
Jimmy Garoppolo
Jimmy Garoppolo’s re-introduction to the backup life was a relatively recent development – in part due to the organizational chaos that was afoot in Sin City. At this point, there is almost a zero percent chance that he returns to the Raiders next year and now that he’s gotten popped with a two-game suspension, his chances of getting a starting job in ’24 have diminished significantly. That said, Garoppolo is still a guy who was 1 or 2 plays away from winning a Super Bowl and very much deserves a chance to start elsewhere, it may just be a matter of finding the right team and opportunity.
Davis Mills
While Davis Mills may never be Tom Brady, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have the chops to be an NFL starter somewhere else now that C.J. Stroud has emerged as a bonafide star in Houston. It isn’t like he lit the world on fire when he was starting for Houston, but Mills was thrust into a challenging situation filling in for the embattled Deshaun Watson as a young quarterback and he had some decent moments.
Over his 28 starts, he maintained a positive touchdown touchdown-to-interception ratio and showed flashes. It would be interesting to see him get a chance with a more established team and offense, especially now that he has gotten a chance to cut his teeth a bit in the NFL.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
Marcus Mariota
It is crazy to think that Marcus Mariota is going to be heading into his tenth season in the NFL. There was so much excitement about Mariota coming out of Oregon and now he has sort of turned into a journeyman. After all, he’s had stints with the Raiders, Falcons, and now the Eagles after breaking into the league with the Titans as one of the top picks in the draft.
His role now is backing up Jalen Hurts, but we’ve seen that when he gets in the action he can still make plays and has the mobility to make things very uncomfortable for the opposing defense. It would be great to see Mariota get another chance to start.
Jameis Winston
Listen… The Jameis Winston experience is going to be filled with ups and downs. It has been that way even dating back to his days as a superstar at Florida State, but he is way too talented to be a backup quarterback for the rest of his career. Yes, there were 30 interceptions as well, but we are talking about a guy who threw for over 5000 yards and 30 touchdowns back when he was with the Buccaneers. Now that Winston seems to have matured a significant amount, it would be great to see him get another chance to slot in as QB1.
Jacoby Brissett
Jacoby Brissett is a high-IQ player who could be slotted onto the right team and excel. His teammates seem to absolutely love him and they always want to go to war for the guy, which is half of the battle as a quarterback in the league. He has a well-developed ability to read defenses and make smart decisions under pressure and despite public opinion, he’s not merely a game manager; but rather, a game enhancer, as Brissett consistently brings stability and a calming presence to the huddle. Brissett has shown he can step up and lead, not just fill in. The NFL tends to undervalue a steady hand in favor of the flashy arm, but Brissett is the kind of guy who can orchestrate an offense at a starting caliber level.
Gardner Minshew
Garnder Minshew is another guy who has had a couple of opportunities to start over the years, most recently with the Colts after Anthony Richardson went down with an injury, but after the way that he played last year, it is hard to argue that he couldn’t be a quality starter elsewhere (assuming Richardson is healthy and given back the starting role).
Minshew is as competitive as it gets and finds a way to win games, which immediately puts him ahead of quite a few other starting quarterbacks in the league right then and there.
Jake Browning
Jake Browning in 2023 was nearly the underdog story that Hollywood scriptwriters dream of. Here’s a guy who’s been lurking in the shadows, clipboard in hand, and gets slotted in for QB1 Joe Burrow. The NFL world had extremely tempered expectations for what Browning could accomplish slotting in for the superstar. In fact, many pundits ended the Bengals season right then and there, but Browning proved multiple times over that he has all of the prerequisites needed to establish himself as a starter in the NFL.
In his nine games, seven of which he started, he completed just over 70 percent of his passes and threw 12 touchdowns to seven interceptions – and though he and the Bengals ultimately came up short of their postseason bid, he was very impressive throughout. Obviously, his starting opportunity will not be in Cincinnati as long as Joe Burrow heals up, but he has shown without a doubt that he’s ready for a chance at the big time.
Sam Darnold
It was clear that there was an NFL learning curve that Sam Darnold couldn’t quite keep up with coming out of USC, but to be fair, he did join the Jets, an organization that isn’t exactly known for its player development program. Darnold has extremely impressive physicality, he can make throws on the run with the best of them and more than enough arm strength to make the lauded “all of the throws.”
For Darnold, it is a matter of learning how to break down opposing defenses and limiting interceptions, two things that one would assume Kyle Shanahan is drilling into him out in San Francisco, where he sits behind Brock Purdy. Darnold is still young enough that there is reason to believe that he can evolve and grow as a quarterback—and if given an opportunity—he may very well be a quality starter in the NFL yet.
Drew Locke
While Drew Locke’s NFL career hasn’t exactly been the pinnacle of consistency, there is no denying that he has several critical attributes that are required to become a competent starter in the NFL. Not only does he have a very strong arm that can stretch out the opposing defense, but he actually has a sneaky level of mobility and athleticism that allows him to extend plays and make things difficult for the defensive secondary.
He also seems to have those leadership intangibles, where you can just tell that the guy wants nothing more than to win. If he can find a way to dial in on his decision-making, he could still very much turn into a high-level starter.
Tyrod Taylor
There may not be a single guy in the NFL who has had more bad breaks that impacted his career trajectory than Tyrod Taylor. For starters, he had a 22 and 20 record in Buffalo back before they were the “Josh Allen Bills,” earning a Pro Bowl nod and leading the Bills to the playoffs after a massive postseason drought. Then, Buffalo (rightfully so) pushed their chips to the middle of the table to bring Josh Allen to Western New York and, thus, the T-Mobile experience was over.
Then, he ended up in Cleveland where he was playing in front of Baker Mayfield, the number one overall pick in the draft, and an injury forced him out of play and ended his time as the starter there.
His next stop wasn’t much better either. In fact, it was several degrees worse. He ended up with the Chargers, where again he was playing in front of a young quarterback in Justin Herbert whom the team had invested in a high draft pick and was a victim of malpractice from the medical staff, which forced him out of action and ultimately his job in L.A. Now, Taylor is with the Giants where he massively outperformed Daniel Jones last season, but the team has invested so much in Jones that maintaining the starting role this year will be a challenge. The fact of the matter is that if Taylor doesn’t end up winning the job this year in New York, he could 100% start somewhere else in the NFL.
