The 2023 NFL season was the year of the backup quarterback, as star signal-callers seemed to go down on a weekly basis. In all, 66 different players started a game under center, with such understudies as Joshua Dobbs and Tommy DeVito briefly becoming main characters in the NFL’s soap opera. That’s two shy of the record set in ’22. How well do you remember some of the other backups who cycled into teams’ lineups and our lives? Take the Great Backup Quarterback Quiz to find out.
1. I signed with a new team in 2023 to reunite with my former offensive coordinator. I started a game in Week 7, but after he was fired as head coach I was inactive for the rest of the season.
2. I exited my first career start with a concussion after just 11 snaps, before Joshua Dobbs rallied our team to a win. Dobbs and one other quarterback started games before I finally got another chance to start in Week 17.
3. As an undrafted rookie out of Shepherd University, I started four straight games in October and November, including a Thursday night affair against the Carolina Panthers.
4. I started one game for the Los Angeles Rams while Matthew Stafford was out with a thumb sprain, and we tallied a mere 187 yards and three points. After being waived, I spent time on two more rosters: the Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets.
5. I finished sixth in the 2016 Heisman Trophy voting, played my final college game in the ’19 Rose Bowl and then didn’t take an NFL snap until this season. I won three of my first four starts.
6. Unlike some of the QBs who seemed to come out of nowhere this season, I began my career as a first-round pick. Now on my third NFL team, I took over for a fellow first-rounder until I was eventually benched for the third-stringer.
7. My first career start was a 63–21 blowout loss in Week 15, in which I threw three touchdowns but had two turnovers returned for scores the other way. I kept my job as starter for the rest of the season.
8. I am a fifth-round rookie who started one game for the Cardinals in Week 9—after Dobbs was traded to the Vikings and before Kyler Murray returned from his torn ACL.
9. I am a veteran of 13 NFL seasons with more than 38,000 career passing yards to my name. I stepped in for a September start when my team’s rookie quarterback was out with an ankle injury.
10. I was one of five quarterbacks to start for the Browns this season. I am not Deshaun Watson or Joe Flacco, nor am I Week 18 starter Jeff Driskel or the player who once led the XFL in passing yards and touchdowns.
