NFL backup QB rankings: Which teams have best, worst contingency plans?

There may be no greater luxury in the NFL than effective relief pitching. Considering how hard it is to simultaneously find 32 capable (at minimum) starting quarterbacks league-wide, having a ringer in the bullpen is a rarity given those guys often bolt for better opportunities and/or are difficult to afford in a salary cap era when first stringers routinely command $30 million or more annually.

However several firemen are already looking like season savers, three NFC backups stepping into the lineup last Sunday to right their respective ships. The Saints' Teddy Bridgewater got his first win since 2015 in place of injured Drew Brees. Kyle Allen turned in one of the best passing performances in Panthers history with Cam Newton sidelined. And Daniel Jones has New Yorkers abuzz after taking over for two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and then becoming the first rookie in more than 50 years to throw for 300 yards while passing for two touchdowns and running for two more in one game.

Jacksonville rookie Gardner Minshew and Indianapolis' Jacoby Brissett had previously earned unexpected battlefield commissions yet have kept their rival teams afloat in the AFC South.

Next? These erstwhile backups must prove they can continue winning with the added burden of heightened expectations.

“Teddy is going to be just fine. The rest of us have to worry about our job,” said New Orleans coach Sean Payton, who best case, won't get Brees back for another month. “If we can surround him with a lot of good performances like we did (at Seattle), we are going to have success.”

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Allen has already been tabbed to start again in Week 4 as Newton's foot heals.

"You do your job,” said Allen, who owns Carolina's only two wins in their past 11 games, the other coming in last year's regular-season finale. “You don’t have to do too much. When your number is called, make plays."

Sounds so simple. But as the Jets' Luke Falk, Steelers' Mason Rudolph and Dolphins' Josh Rosen can attest, stepping into a quarterback breach is often a losing proposition for an understudy. Falk was thoroughly overwhelmed in his first NFL start — he wasn't the first youngster chewed up and spit out by Bill Belichick — as the Jets sputtered to a meager 105 yards of offense at New England.

But given how quickly the league's quarterbacking ranks have already been decimated — by injuries or ever-receding organizational patience — it's inevitable that more backups will be thrust into action. And the cruel reality is that Rudolph, Falk and most other QB2s represent a serious roll of the dice given how few are known commodities as more teams opt for unproven players in the role.  

Bottom line, there are basically very few good insurance policies. You might be surprised by how many backup quarterbacks you've likely never heard of.

Here's my ranking of the league's Plan B QB outlooks from best to worst, including players like Bridgewater and Minshew, who are expected to be temporary fill-ins:

1. New Orleans Saints: Bridgewater, who's making $7.25 million in 2019, deservedly began the season as the league's best-compensated backup quarterback — a "distinction" that now belongs to Manning. A Pro Bowler prior to his devastating 2016 preseason knee injury in Minnesota, Bridgewater — as he used to be for the Vikings, he was efficient (177 yards, 2 TD passes) in Sunday's upset of the Seahawks — now seems ready for an audition that could get him another starting gig, maybe even Brees' if the 40-year-old steps aside in the near future. The X-factor here is Taysom Hill, who plays frequently in specialty packages but has done far more damage as a runner and receiver than as a passer. Intriguing options with this combo.

2. New York Giants: Has Manning been in gradual decline? Sure. But despite his limitations, the bulk of the blame for the team's 0-2 start definitely didn't rest with the four-time Pro Bowler. He's probably still better than a quarter of the guys starting elsewhere.

3. Los Angeles Chargers: It's only been two years since Tyrod Taylor led Buffalo — Buffalo! — to the postseason. Only 30, and known for playing mistake-free football, he could ably keep the Bolts afloat should the injury bug that always afflicts this team finally find Philip Rivers. Watch out down the road for rookie Easton Stick, who took over for Carson Wentz at North Dakota State and set a Division I Football Championship Subdivision record for wins by a starting quarterback.

4. Philadelphia Eagles: They no longer have Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles but remain in relatively good hands should Wentz go down again. Josh McCown is one of the best locker room guys in the league and still has plenty of juice in those 40-year-old legs and arm — he had his best statistical season two years ago while starting 13 games for the Jets. We'd keep him around even though Nate Sudfeld, Foles' presumed successor, is healthy enough to play again after breaking his wrist.

MORE:When will Eagles be able to count on Carson Wentz to win close games?

5. San Francisco 49ers: Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard have combined to start 18 games since 2017, exclusively in less-than-ideal conditions, and both have earned plenty of respect in that locker room for their efforts. Mullens in particular was surprisingly effective as a rookie last season, compiling a 90.8 passer rating after Jimmy Garoppolo went down. He might eventually get a shot to start elsewhere.

6. Jacksonville Jaguars: Thrown into the fire in the season opener, Minshew has more than held his own, notching his first win in Week 3. Given how he's limited mistakes while not playing overly conservative football, already worth wondering if he might relegate Foles to his familiar backup role by the time his clavicle heals.

7. Tennessee Titans: No, Ryan Tannehill didn't make anyone forget Dan Marino in Miami, but he was as steady a passer as the Dolphins have had since the Hall of Famer retired. Tannehill might not ever be a franchise cornerstone, but you wonder if he would have gotten Tennessee to the playoffs in last season's winner-take-all regular-season finale when Blaine Gabbert was no match for the Colts. You also wonder if Tannehill should stay loose given the ongoing offensive struggles under Marcus Mariota.

8. Indianapolis Colts: Brian Hoyer can blow hot and cold and is limited physically. Still, he won 10 of 16 starts in two seasons with Cleveland, sparked a playoff run for the Texans in 2015 and earned enough confidence from Belichick to back up Tom Brady in two separate stints.

9. Baltimore Ravens: Robert Griffin III's upside has never been in question, and the 2012 offensive rookie of the year might really thrive in an offense designed to suit Lamar Jackson. Of course, durability, decision-making and hubris have all proved problematic for RG3. Undersized rookie Trace McSorley could surprise given how his athleticism dovetails with this team's approach.

10. Carolina Panthers: Allen is quickly developing a cult following after his performance Sunday in Arizona (19-for-26, 261 yards, 4 TDs, 144.4 rating). Highly touted in some draft circles, third-round pick Will Grier didn't look NFL-ready this preseason.

11. Los Angeles Rams: Contain your Blake Bortles chortles. Does he have significant flaws? Of course. Does he have underrated athleticism? For sure. Has he thrown 35 TD passes in a season and helped a team reach a conference title game? Yes and yes. Rams fans certainly don't want Jared Goff to go down, but it's worth wondering how Bortles might play after trying to rehab his career under Sean McVay.

12. Washington Redskins: Dwayne Haskins' first-round pedigree suggests he should (eventually) be pretty good. But he basically has one year of college starting experience under his belt plus an average-at-best preseason. Colt McCoy might be able to help here, too.

13. Miami Dolphins: We've all seen what Ryan Fitzpatrick can do when he gets hot. Unfortunately, his streakiness cuts both ways — though the two-game debacle that landed him on the bench last week can hardly be considered his fault.

14. Chicago Bears: Chase Daniel has ridden the backup carousel expertly — excellent in the positional room while avoiding enough meaningful playing time to expose his deficiencies. Now in his 11th season, he's started just four games but went 1-1 last season when Mitch Trubisky was out.

15. Houston Texans: After riding Cincinnati's bench for years, AJ McCarron was widely presumed to start somewhere — and it probably would have happened in Cleveland two years ago if the Browns knew how to properly file the paperwork to execute a trade. Alas, McCarron may forever be a clipboard guy, albeit one who would have led the Bengals to a playoff win four years ago had Vontaze Burfict not been his teammate.

16. Kansas City Chiefs: Matt Moore, 35, has built a career playing mostly decent football on mostly bad teams. He wasn't on a roster in 2018 but latched on here to replace injured Chad Henne. Moore might be able to get K.C. through a game or two without Patrick Mahomes, but hard to expect much more.

17. Cleveland Browns: Journeyman Garrett Gilbert, who tore up the AAF in the spring for the Orlando Apollos and probably would have been the league's MVP, is the current understudy. Baker Mayfield's buddy, Drew Stanton (11-6 career record as a starter), resides on injured reserve.

18. Denver Broncos: Brandon Allen is currently behind Joe Flacco, but the fan base will want to see talented second rounder Drew Lock if the teams falls out of contention and he comes off IR later this season.

19. New England Patriots: Rookie Jarrett Stidham could be on the road to fulfilling his potential, his sublime preseason convincing Belichick to move on from Hoyer. Stidham made his regular-season debut Sunday, completing all three of his passes — though one was a pick-six to Jets S Jamal Adams ... so, jury still out. And the Pats are hedging their bets, adding Cody Kessler behind Brady on Wednesday.

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Ryan Griffin has been with the team since 2015 but has never thrown a regular-season pass. Gabbert, who landed on IR Tuesday, played for Bruce Arians in Arizona but brings an incredibly unimpressive résumé to the table.

21. Minnesota Vikings: Sean Mannion is now in his fifth season but has never shown anything to suggest he can carry a team. In fairness, his opportunities have been scant.

22. Cincinnati Bengals: Fourth rounder Ryan Finley flashed in August, only fueling the fervor of those who'd like to see someone other than Andy Dalton get a chance here.

23. Oakland Raiders: Mike Glennon and DeShone Kizer offer a combined 37 NFL starts — most of those hideous. Nathan Peterman remains in deep storage.

24. Seattle Seahawks: Geno Smith is known both as the guy who cratered as the Jets' starter and was foolishly tabbed to break Manning's string of consecutive starts with the Giants. He's started 31 times, but his skill set bears no resemblance to Russell Wilson's, so hard to see him excelling in this offense.

25. Green Bay Packers: A big dude (6-4, 232), Tim Boyle enjoyed an exceptional 2019 preseason that earned Kizer a ticket out of town.

26. Pittsburgh Steelers: If you knew Rudolph's current backup is rookie Devlin Hodges, then you're hardcore. Might be a temp job, though, now that former Broncos first rounder Paxton Lynch has joined the practice squad.

27. Detroit Lions: Maybe it's David Blough. Maybe it's Jeff Driskel. Shrug.

28. Arizona Cardinals: Any notion Brett Hundley might develop into a reliable player was largely dashed in 2017 when he started nine games in Green Bay while Aaron Rodgers was hurt.

29. Atlanta Falcons: Matt Schaub, 38, is still in the league. But he's barely played since getting beaten out in Oakland by Derek Carr in 2014 and appeared to be on his last legs then.

30. Dallas Cowboys: Cooper Rush has been hanging around for three years but seems eminently replaceable.

31. New York Jets: Falk was on the practice squad two weeks ago, before Sam Darnold contracted mono and Trevor Siemian got hurt. Physically unimpressive game manager seems an apt description thus far for Falk.

32. Buffalo Bills: In his seventh season with his seventh team, Matt Barkley's put plenty of bad football on tape. But he torched the Jets in his only appearance last season and apparently put a vise grip on this job.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis.

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