Just how good are quarterbacks in the National Football League when you factor in both the starters and the men who are backing them up?

The famous saying in life is that you are only as strong as your weakest link, and the same can be said for quarterbacks in the NFL.

You have your starting franchise quarterback, the man that you can rely on and will hopefully bring you Super Bowl glory at some point in the future. But behind him are players that for the most part you hope that you never have to use unless you’re using them in relief to allow the starter to rest and avoid injury.

But as former Indianapolis Colts GM Bill Polian will attest to, you need to make sure that those players can play otherwise you are going to find yourself in big trouble, just as they did when they didn’t have a replacement ready and waiting for Peyton Manning, leading to a 2-14 record. And as the San Francisco 49ers proved last season, if you’ve got a good backup system in place, you can still go quite far, until the day that line runs out.

And so it is only fair to judge a team by their quarterback room as a whole rather than just the man that is going to be getting the most minutes on the field. Which is why, inspired by SI.com’s piece about backup quarterbacks in the league, and using Tiermaker, we’ve gone through all 32 rosters in the NFL and ranked them into five categories based on how strong we think they are in terms of depth at quarterback, with the majority of it weighted towards what the backup situation looks like:

Top-Tier Depth:

A good enough starter and if he needs to take a few weeks out, they shouldn’t suffer a dramatic drop-off in form

Should Be Capable:

Pretty much have excellent starters, and the backups are good, but you wouldn’t necessarily trust them for the whole season

Pretty Average:

Pretty good starters, the dropoff to the next man on the roster is slightly terrifying

Cause For Concern:

A lot of questions need to be asked about the depth throughout the team

Time To Panic:

Nothing there to give you any faith heading into the season

NFL QB rankings-1

Top-Tier Depth: San Francisco 49ers

Should Be Capable: New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs

Pretty Average: Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers, Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots

Cause For Concern: Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Washington Commanders, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars

Time To Panic: Tampa Bay Buccaneers