September 18, 2025 • 24 mins
Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks dissect the evolving value of the backup quarterback position in today’s NFL. (00:00) With five teams set to start their No. 2 in Week 3, the guys go beyond the surface to examine how their coaching staffs can adjust game plans, manage protections, and structure the passing game to give their backups the best chance to execute. (8:13)
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
What's up? Everybody? Welcome to move the sticks? DJ Buck
with you Buck? How you doing man?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Man?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I'm good. And what's going on? Djuh? It's backup time, man.
It's it's backup season already in the NFL. That's what
I wanted to kind of hit on on this episode
today because I don't know, we talk about star players
so much and talk about building teams, and I think
maybe an underrated aspect of that is preparing for the
for the worst case scenario, which you know, the Bengals
(00:32):
are there obviously with Joe Burrow having a long term injury,
but a bunch of other you know, starters are nicked
up and we're gonna have to see a lot of
backups play this week.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, It's it's so funny how quickly we get to
that point, right, We get to the point where we
talk about quarterback being the most important position in football
and whether you rank the backup quarterback on the roster
and how much value are you placing in the backup
and what some would deem to be a throwaway position
because some would say, well if the quarterback gets hurt,
(01:02):
the season is over anyway. Others are saying no, no, no, no, no,
that's make sure we get a good quarterback in our
system that we can develop. And one of the things
that since we're talking about it, I find fascinating Jake
Browning with the Cincinnati Bengers. And the reason why I'm
fascinated is the outside world is saying, well, Cincinnati has
to go trade for a quarterback. Internally, the Beings are saying, no,
(01:25):
we got our gain. He's been here for years in
this system, he's played for us.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
We're good.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
I just think it's interesting that so many people think
that you can just drop a quarterback in and in
two weeks he's ready to play and save our season.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
And I think I just think that's an anomaly if
it ever happened. Yeah, there's so many different areas to
hit on that, and I want to talk about these
guys we're going to see, specifically talking about Jake Browning,
Marcus Mariota, potentially with Jayden Daniels. As we're recording this,
a little iffy, Tyra Taylor is going to go for
the jet. We've got Mac Jones. We'll see what happens
(02:03):
with brock Purdy there, but Mac Jones looking like it
with the Niners again, and Carson Wentz is one who
was who's next up here with JJ McCarthy hurts. So
I pulled all these guys numbers from the last five years,
so I want to look at kind of what those
numbers look like, so we can get kind of the number,
look at it of what to anticipate there. But before
we even get to that part of it, Buck, I
want to have the discussion of we know about the
(02:24):
importance and we'll get to that too. You touched on
it of having a quality backup, but I wrote down
the traits that you'd want in a backup quarterback, and
I'd love to get your thoughts and if you're with
me or if there's something you want to add to it.
But and I want to put the backups in a
different category here just waiting your turn, which is the
Jackson Darts of the world. Like the first round picks
(02:45):
who are going to be the starters. Those aren't backup quarterbacks.
They're just until the time. Yeah, there's wait. We we're
just putting in the holding tank. Like there's a difference
between being in the holding tank knowing you're going to
send to the starter job versus being kind of a
quote unquote career back up. So this is the traits
that I wrote down that i'd want to back a quarterback.
And I start first of all with intelligence. You got
(03:06):
to be smart because you're not going to have as
much time to be taught. You're going to have to
self learn to some degree because everything's going to be
geared towards the starter. You're not gonna be getting all
the reps. You're gonna to take mental reps. So you
got to start with smart. Number two, and again these
are for the traditional career backup quarterbacks. You better be humble, man.
You better realize it's not about you. A big part
(03:29):
of your job is to serve the starter and helping
him get ready to play each and every week. So
you got to check your ego at the door. So smart, humble.
The third thing I wrote is you got to bring energy.
And I think about that from a standpoint off. You're
bringing energy to the room every day because you're not
contributing on the field. So how can you contribute? Well,
I can contribute by helping the starter, and I can
bring some juice and some energy to the room, which
(03:50):
also translates to, hey, guy goes down in the middle
of the game. It's not everybody on the field slump
your shoulders. This guy trots out in the field. It's not.
This guy brought a little he's got a little red
bull he just bought out to the huddle like this
guy's you know, he's ready to go. He brought some
juice and some energy to the field and to the room.
And lastly, I wrote down, I wrote down the word extension, Buck,
(04:10):
because one of two things, your backup has to be
an extension of the coaching staff on the field. You know,
we always talk about that joystick right like he just
not he might be physically limited, but he is an
extension of the coach and they can kind of play
through him when he's out there on the field. So
either an extension of the coach or you better be
an extension of the play You better be able to
play outside of the structure of the offense with your
(04:32):
athleticism to make some things happen. So that that word
extensions when I focused on.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
You know, there's so many great things that you mentioned
when it came to the backup quarterback The intelligence to
me is the first thing that stands out because in
scout and we talk about your ability to take it
from the board to the field, meaning I see what
the coaches draw up, be able to understand it, I
can take it and fully digest it, and in limited reps,
(04:58):
I can make the ex's in come to life. That
is a rare trait, but that's a trait that a
backup quarterback must have. He cannot be a high rep
guy because those reps aren't available in an NFL practice.
The other part that you talk about when it comes
to humility, being able to understand what my role is
when I am the backup quarterback and has been clearly
(05:20):
established this person's the starter, I'm the backup. The competition
between one and two has to go away because in
that quarterback room, I cannot have tension. We cannot be
working against each other. We have to be working for
each other. And great quarterbacks will use their backups, everybody
(05:42):
in the room to help them get prepared. A QB two,
you're gonna help me on third down, QB three, you
may help me in red zone two minutes, QB four
special situations. I want you to look at that, so
we collaborate when it comes to the study, the film
and all that, so everyone is prepared.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
But it takes humility to be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
And finally, when you talk about energy, you cannot be
a palty guy in the quarterback room.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I'm not playing. I should be playing whether if.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I was in this and that man, you're even adding
energy or you're taking it out. No energy, vampires in
the room, and everyone's not built to be a backup quarterback.
It takes those kinds of things. I would even say
a self awareness.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Here's where it is.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
May not have the talent of the number one guy,
but I'm good enough to help us win if I
do all the.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Things necessary to win. There's so many things.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
That's why every starter and automatically go from being the
starter to it, which is why we see sometimes starters
go from starting out of the league and it's over
because there's a personality that also goes with how about.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Play style and the extension part of the discussion.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I mean with DJ that's it. That's why a lot
of times we see coaches come from the ranks of
being the backup to a head coach. Kellen Moore, like
Jason Garrett, Mike Mike Kafka will eventually be one of
there's so many guys because you have to do so
much behind the scenes to prepare and you have to
have the right thing.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
You have to be a.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Pseudo coach because sometimes DJ the head coach and the
coordinator will communicate to the backup to get it to
the start the starter based on what their relationship is
and that's right. And then when you say extension, then
if it's not that they don't want a complete curve ball.
When this dude comes in defense, y'all better get ready
(07:45):
for an entirely different style.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
And we've worked on it.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
We have a small menu we're able to do. I
would say a little bit of this was Malik Willis
stepping in for Jordan Love. They're not the same, but
Malink Willis comes over. He gave the pack as a
different style quarterback and they were able to use a successfully. Yeah,
extension man, whether it's extension of the coaching staff or
being able to extend the play.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
No doubt. Yeah, I think it's just interesting to see
what you're looking for and what you want in that position.
With these specific guys, I thought we could take a
few minutes here and go over, as we like to
say on here, the operating instructions. So this is, you know,
you got to know how to use these guys and
what they do. So I thought we kind of ripped
through these. I'll give you some quick thoughts and then
jump in there and tell me what you think. But
(08:30):
Mac Jones, to me, mac Jones, going back to what
he was in college and then even studying him a
little bit this morning, going through the recent stuff, I
don't know that he's changed all that much. He's a
touch thrower. He's a rhythm it's anticipation, it's bucket throws.
He's still when he has to really power the ball
and drive the ball, that's not his best. I think
the ball gets away from him, it gets loose. That's
not who he is or what he is. So to me,
(08:52):
it's I would like to be able to run the
ball with him, and then I like to be able
to play kind of out to the perimeter and then
over the top of coverage. I don't know that I
want to make my living trained jamballs and seams in
the middle of the field.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
I'll say this, having watched him extensively last year with
the Jaguars when he had a chance to play. I
think mac Jones is a guy who's good enough to
be a start in this league. I think awareness is everything.
Self awareness, understanding strengths, weaknesses, how I need to play
within this system to be successful. The one thing that
I believe may have helped him in San Francisco, Kyles
(09:28):
Shanahan clearly defines what it is he wants from his quarterbacks.
The system clearly defines where the ball should go. If
you're smart and you understand the system, the completions and
the big plays just come. So the only thing that
really could hold mac Jones back is can he be
disciplined enough and self aware enough to I'm just gonna
(09:50):
stick to the script. When he stays to the script,
he's a really good player.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, no doubt. And you look at his numbers. I
just pull this stuff going back to twenty twenty for
all these quarterback So that was the timeline that I
looked at here Mac Jones. When you look at the
completion percentage of these guys, you start with Jake Browning
was at the very top, that's almost sixty eight percent.
Then you had Marcus Mariota, Tyrod Taylor at that they
(10:16):
were at sixty one. I guess then you have above them.
Mac Jones was splitting, so he was almost sixty five
percent with a lot of volume there. He was sacked
one hundred and twelve times buck so that's going to
be a key part of it too. Again, I think
mac Jones, you can run the ball, and then let's
get the bought of his hands. Let's go. The longer
he holds it, I think the worst you are.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah, it has to come up quick. We want to
operate on schedule. We don't want him to run around
left to his own devices. Let's make sure he understands
how important it is to stick to the script. Play
on time, play on schedule, don't get outside of what
it is that we put on paper. When we do that,
we have a chance to be successful. And for most
(10:59):
quarterbacks is like that. Unless you have the superpowers, you
need to stick to the script, stay within the framework
of the offense.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
On Jake Browning to me and we touched on him
a little bit. He's fearless. That's a good thing and
a bad thing. There's some forces in the middle of
the field. Man. You could not put enough go balls
and corner routes in the offensive game plan for him
like this. If you think you've got a lot, put
put in two more. After he is out his bet.
(11:26):
Let him get over the top outside the numbers. Let's
live out there, let's live with it.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Not only that, when you're the Cincinnati Bengals and you
have what they have. The reason why I think he's
great for them, man, their firepower makes you, hey, man,
just get them the ball. Our guys on the outside
are better than their guys. So we're going to have
all the screens, all the corners, all the go routes
(11:53):
because one on one matchups, our guys are going to win.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
And he understands that and when he he just.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Literally, where's one, where's spot, That's where the ball is going.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
And when they do that, they can win. And I
think Zach Taylor has such a comfort level watching that
game last week.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
They just had to get the halftime so Zach Taylor
could take the twelve minutes to be like, hey, how
we're gonna build this out whatever, And after halftime he
was on fine.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Because all those things that you talked about out breaking routes,
spot routes, bubbles, quicks go ball to t Higgins.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
All those things showed up because Zach Taylor had enough
time to rewrite the script on.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
The seat to remember who's playing quarterback. I think that
is what it is. I have Jake Brownie. This is
the Jake Grounding script. And when they do that, they
still can win games.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
So that's why I wouldn't dismiss the Beagles chances of
being able to kind of keep it afloat.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Well, Joe Burrow's out, all right, Buck, let's pause for
a quick second, and what'll we write back? Let's get
to Carson Wentz h Buck for I think this is
the third time I've seen this now. At Raider games,
they at halftime of they like to have halftime show.
They like to do it up right there, especially for
(13:15):
primetime games, and the Chargers are there for a lot
of prime times, so I think I've seen Montel Jordan
a couple of times. That is how they do it.
But Little John, little John takes the cake. I think
I might have seen Little John three times now. He
rips off those same three songs, pull this. I feel
like there is a string if you if he took
(13:35):
his shirt off, there is a string in his back.
You just pull that string and it just goes shot shot, shot, shot, shot,
shot shot. I mean I've heard this song. I've heard
him sing these songs a bazillion times. I think I've
seen him more in concert than any of any other
musical act. And it's all with Raider games. And that's
Carson Wentz to get. To make a long story short,
(13:56):
let's take our shots man, the hits. Here's where we're
going do. Is that was gonna play out, Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
What I will say is Carson Wentz familiary with Kevin
O'Connell in this offense should help.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Now I'm not having a dreams of him going back
to what he was super efficient man, Like that's you
got to get that out of your head. Like that's
not what he's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
So you have to bake that into the plane and
everyone has to know. God, Jose can sinko.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
There you go, old school showing your age there, because
that's all I can think about. I was gonna say, Rob,
that's even older, or I was.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Gonna say Dave Kean, like whoever, you want someone a
bunch of strikeouts, but they're gonna hit a home run.
So you just have to know this is gonna be
part of the equation. He's gonna have some dirt balls.
He's gonna sell them to the stands. But you're hoping
the few that he hit they're able to convert. The
big thing for Minnesota with him Aaron Jones being out,
can we run it enough to be able to set
(14:56):
up some shot opportunities. We don't want to get into
the passing game where it's a seven or seven high
volume thrower trying to make it where he's the precise
pocket pass. He's never going to live up to the
standard in that regard. But if we can get the
game on our terms, he can be effected. The efficient
the efficiency is not going to be maybe what some
(15:18):
of us cove it, but he certainly can be effective
in a certain style of offense that Kevin o'collin knows.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yeah, no, no question. Let's let's keep it going here.
A couple more guys to get through here on this
backup discussion. Uh Toarrod Taylor, Tyrod, I say it, I
say it. I've said I've said it both ways and
I've been corrected each time. And I've literally called his games.
You know, with him being with the Chargers. So to
Rod I believe is correct. If I'm not, if I'm
(15:46):
not mistaken, okay, But to me, on time is a
big part of his game. I think people look at
him because he's so athletic, and remember what he was
coming out of college and when he was as a
young player, and it's like, oh, okay, this is a
scramble around. He's like a He's like a shrunken down geno.
Like that's how he's I think, in my opinion, watch him.
(16:08):
That's how he's at his best is when he's on time,
getting the ball where it needs to go.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Yeah, Like, I mean, here's the thing. He has been
a very efficient player. We've seen him play at a
high level. He's playing winning football in this league. He's
a really good player when you can support him with
the running game, and they should be able to support
him with the running game with what they have. To me,
it's about understanding who he is and him understanding the bolvement,
which he typically does when he has an opportunity to play.
(16:35):
The thing that the Jets have to do with Tara,
They're going to make sure defensively they're up to snuff,
that they have the game played at a certain level
where he doesn't have to be the playmaker. He can manage,
distribute and operate that way, that's what I want, But
it's the entire operation has to work effectively for Tenlo
(16:56):
to be the player that we need him to be.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
The wing games the Jets got. If the Jet's gonna games,
they got to rely on these backs. They've got three
good backs. Run the ball. This offensive line I think
is better suited in the run game than they are
in the pass game. There's just not enough weaponry outside.
I mean, you got Garrett Wilson and then that's it.
You know. I'm hopeful that you're going to see Taylor
take some steps as he goes throughout the year as
a rookie tight end, but there's just not enough other weapons.
(17:20):
If they're going to win games, they got to do it.
Just chew up clock, run the football. You got to
roll those backs through, keep them all fresh, and at
least with Torod you got to You got to account
for him in the run game. You don't need him
to run the ball much, but just the fact that
he can pull it, you know, once or twice a game.
You got to account for him that should help their
run game. So I think that's the operating instructions there
for the Jets. Last one, we'll see if we see
(17:41):
Marcus Mariota or not. But you know, what are your
expectations and what makes it work? What are the operating
instructions from Mariota?
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Man. I think Cliff Kingsbury's offense has some diversity to
it that you can just lean them the weapons on
the outside. You got Deebo Sam, you got Terry Lauren,
you have Zach Bertz. You don't need Marcus Mariota to
the guy that came from Oregon. There was an athletic
feedop in those things. Smart, efficient, effective, be smart with
(18:08):
the ball, be efficient with the opportunities that you have
in the past game. And let's find a way to
be effective while staying within ourselves offensively. If they do
that with the defense and all that, they can win games.
But I don't need Marcus Mariota to be the show.
I just needed to be a compliment. He doesn't need
to be the Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
And to me, I think you know, with Marcus Mariota,
just protect the football, man, Just protect the football. Be smart.
You think about him, I think he's comfortable throwing on
the move. He always has been. I think this gives
you the opportunity to move the launch point around a
little bit with some of those things. You know, I
(18:50):
don't think you're looking at a dynamic or explosive passing
attack with him, but it's going to be run after catch,
get the ball where it needs to go. And to me,
it's just movement. Move a little bit, don't let a
defense get comfortable with where he is. I think that's
that's part of the discussion there, and we'll see, you
know what, Jayden Daniels, you know, hopefully he gets back
and you know, maybe you know, he surprises us and
(19:11):
plays in this game, but hopefully not gone for too long,
because you know, this offense kind of built through that dude, man,
And I don't know that you can really replicate, No,
I mean you can't. I mean, he is the trigger man.
He is the one that makes it happen.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
And in saying that, I think it's really important that
Marcus understands it.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
He's ride of those guys understand it. Let's just figure
out a way to get through this one. Let's figure
out a way to get through the scam.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Let's do what we need to do just to win
this game and figure out where Jayden Daniels is, because
if he doesn't play, it can't.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Be the show that we've seen.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
It can't be the wide open, fun offense that we've
seen from the Commanders. This is one where I need
Marks to be the grown up in the room to
understand who he is and what he needs to be
at this moment.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
If he does that, they can win. Yeah, if you
want to get some hope here for backup quarterbacks, if
you want to feel like you've you know, your season's
not over, let me give you a couple of numbers here.
Fuck uh, this is just let's just look at passing
yards through two games. Okay. Number one in the league.
Shockingly's Russell Wilson, who was a backup as of last year. Right,
(20:18):
so he ended up coming in and taking over that position,
but he was in a backup role last year. Number
two Daniel Jones, who was relegated to backup status. Then
you get Herbert, then you get Golf, then you get
Dak and you get Stafford. But then you've got Geno Smith,
long time career backup after being you know, a high
pick and kind of washing out as a starter. In
(20:41):
the top ten, you've got Joe Flacco who was a backup.
So I mean there's a lot of guys who've come
from the backup ranks that have you know, that are
productive players in this league. So it doesn't need to be,
you know, the absolute crusher season ending moment that it
feels like when you're a fan and your starter goes now.
Don't need to be that.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
And my thing when it comes to the backup quarterback,
I think we all should have a plan in place.
I think good team building, good coaching requires you to
have an emergency plan of action in case of X,
Y and Z. That's why we signed certain players to
be backup quarterbacks. That's why they should get opportunities in
(21:21):
practice and in preseason to prepare them for how we
need to.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Play in the game.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
If you're a haphazard about the backup quarterback, you doing
it wrong. Hopefully we get a chance to see some
of these guys have success and maybe it would be
a springboard like and he dives right now, one of
my favorite quarterbacks in the league, who show maybe it
wasn't me, maybe it was me As he took his
ball win the Indianapolis. And then when I think you
(21:48):
may have talked about him.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Doing you know, if he goes the Indianapolis, he might
be we talked about that. I feel like you might
have had some inside of trading. That's what I feel like. Wow, well,
I feel like you're so positive. I'm looking at this,
do throw for yards? I'm like, maybe maybe I'm not
gonna admit or deny it, but we did. We did
(22:11):
a full episode, a full podcast episode on the next
Reclamation Project, and I think I have to go back
on it. I think you might even be the one
who took him number one. So it's worked out. It's
worked out so far. And by the way, we're both
old enough to remember Nick Foles taking a team to
a Super Bowl and come it comes full circle on
an episode where we're talking about the guy who was
(22:32):
going to be the m VP that year going down,
and now we're talking about can he be a functional
backup for JJ McCarthy who started all of two games
in this league? Carson went. So this thing comes full
circle quick man, quickly. And that's why you just got
to hang on, hang on, keep working. You never know
when your chance is gonna come.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
But we do know and we said this op quarterbacks
always getting multiple bis a appy, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Yeah. The other thing free free advice for those that
may have been starters and have now landed in the
backup role and look, A, you can have longevity. B
you can make a lot of money. And see free advice.
Find out what the hottest scheme is in the league,
and try and get on with one of those teams.
Because when you when you are with that crew, and
(23:20):
it is the McVeigh Shanahan tree, when you are in
with those guys, they are littered all over the league.
And once you get that stamp of approval, buck, you
got a job for life. You can bounce around between
all these guys. Man. So that's my that's my free
backup quarterback advice. I mean I did that. Yeah, well
there we go. We did, just did a whole episode
on backup quarterbacks. That's what that's what American needs right now.
(23:44):
We need to dive backups. Yeah. Oh, so now we've
got the Jets media guide ty Rod. So they are
going ty Rod. In twenty eight with Cleveland, it was
tell Rod again, that's what I'm saying. I've been He said,
all right, they change differnunciation like eat not helping us
(24:05):
any man, not doing us any favors at all. Anyways,
there we go. There's your backup quarterback episode. We'll be
back tomorrow with the look ahead. We'll chat about some
of these teams that started out hot too and O,
some O and two teams. We'll look at the different
spectrums there and see where we've got some hope and
where we've got some fear, as well as looking ahead
to some ball games this weekend. We'll have you there tomorrow,
(24:28):
right here under the sticks.
And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
What's up? Everybody? Welcome to move the sticks? DJ Buck
with you Buck? How you doing man?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Man?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I'm good. And what's going on? Djuh? It's backup time, man.
It's it's backup season already in the NFL. That's what
I wanted to kind of hit on on this episode
today because I don't know, we talk about star players
so much and talk about building teams, and I think
maybe an underrated aspect of that is preparing for the
for the worst case scenario, which you know, the Bengals
(00:32):
are there obviously with Joe Burrow having a long term injury,
but a bunch of other you know, starters are nicked
up and we're gonna have to see a lot of
backups play this week.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, It's it's so funny how quickly we get to
that point, right, We get to the point where we
talk about quarterback being the most important position in football
and whether you rank the backup quarterback on the roster
and how much value are you placing in the backup
and what some would deem to be a throwaway position
because some would say, well if the quarterback gets hurt,
(01:02):
the season is over anyway. Others are saying no, no, no, no, no,
that's make sure we get a good quarterback in our
system that we can develop. And one of the things
that since we're talking about it, I find fascinating Jake
Browning with the Cincinnati Bengers. And the reason why I'm
fascinated is the outside world is saying, well, Cincinnati has
to go trade for a quarterback. Internally, the Beings are saying, no,
(01:25):
we got our gain. He's been here for years in
this system, he's played for us.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
We're good.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
I just think it's interesting that so many people think
that you can just drop a quarterback in and in
two weeks he's ready to play and save our season.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
And I think I just think that's an anomaly if
it ever happened. Yeah, there's so many different areas to
hit on that, and I want to talk about these
guys we're going to see, specifically talking about Jake Browning,
Marcus Mariota, potentially with Jayden Daniels. As we're recording this,
a little iffy, Tyra Taylor is going to go for
the jet. We've got Mac Jones. We'll see what happens
(02:03):
with brock Purdy there, but Mac Jones looking like it
with the Niners again, and Carson Wentz is one who
was who's next up here with JJ McCarthy hurts. So
I pulled all these guys numbers from the last five years,
so I want to look at kind of what those
numbers look like, so we can get kind of the number,
look at it of what to anticipate there. But before
we even get to that part of it, Buck, I
want to have the discussion of we know about the
(02:24):
importance and we'll get to that too. You touched on
it of having a quality backup, but I wrote down
the traits that you'd want in a backup quarterback, and
I'd love to get your thoughts and if you're with
me or if there's something you want to add to it.
But and I want to put the backups in a
different category here just waiting your turn, which is the
Jackson Darts of the world. Like the first round picks
(02:45):
who are going to be the starters. Those aren't backup quarterbacks.
They're just until the time. Yeah, there's wait. We we're
just putting in the holding tank. Like there's a difference
between being in the holding tank knowing you're going to
send to the starter job versus being kind of a
quote unquote career back up. So this is the traits
that I wrote down that i'd want to back a quarterback.
And I start first of all with intelligence. You got
(03:06):
to be smart because you're not going to have as
much time to be taught. You're going to have to
self learn to some degree because everything's going to be
geared towards the starter. You're not gonna be getting all
the reps. You're gonna to take mental reps. So you
got to start with smart. Number two, and again these
are for the traditional career backup quarterbacks. You better be humble, man.
You better realize it's not about you. A big part
(03:29):
of your job is to serve the starter and helping
him get ready to play each and every week. So
you got to check your ego at the door. So smart, humble.
The third thing I wrote is you got to bring energy.
And I think about that from a standpoint off. You're
bringing energy to the room every day because you're not
contributing on the field. So how can you contribute? Well,
I can contribute by helping the starter, and I can
bring some juice and some energy to the room, which
(03:50):
also translates to, hey, guy goes down in the middle
of the game. It's not everybody on the field slump
your shoulders. This guy trots out in the field. It's not.
This guy brought a little he's got a little red
bull he just bought out to the huddle like this
guy's you know, he's ready to go. He brought some
juice and some energy to the field and to the room.
And lastly, I wrote down, I wrote down the word extension, Buck,
(04:10):
because one of two things, your backup has to be
an extension of the coaching staff on the field. You know,
we always talk about that joystick right like he just
not he might be physically limited, but he is an
extension of the coach and they can kind of play
through him when he's out there on the field. So
either an extension of the coach or you better be
an extension of the play You better be able to
play outside of the structure of the offense with your
(04:32):
athleticism to make some things happen. So that that word
extensions when I focused on.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
You know, there's so many great things that you mentioned
when it came to the backup quarterback The intelligence to
me is the first thing that stands out because in
scout and we talk about your ability to take it
from the board to the field, meaning I see what
the coaches draw up, be able to understand it, I
can take it and fully digest it, and in limited reps,
(04:58):
I can make the ex's in come to life. That
is a rare trait, but that's a trait that a
backup quarterback must have. He cannot be a high rep
guy because those reps aren't available in an NFL practice.
The other part that you talk about when it comes
to humility, being able to understand what my role is
when I am the backup quarterback and has been clearly
(05:20):
established this person's the starter, I'm the backup. The competition
between one and two has to go away because in
that quarterback room, I cannot have tension. We cannot be
working against each other. We have to be working for
each other. And great quarterbacks will use their backups, everybody
(05:42):
in the room to help them get prepared. A QB two,
you're gonna help me on third down, QB three, you
may help me in red zone two minutes, QB four
special situations. I want you to look at that, so
we collaborate when it comes to the study, the film
and all that, so everyone is prepared.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
But it takes humility to be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
And finally, when you talk about energy, you cannot be
a palty guy in the quarterback room.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I'm not playing. I should be playing whether if.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I was in this and that man, you're even adding
energy or you're taking it out. No energy, vampires in
the room, and everyone's not built to be a backup quarterback.
It takes those kinds of things. I would even say
a self awareness.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Here's where it is.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
May not have the talent of the number one guy,
but I'm good enough to help us win if I
do all the.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Things necessary to win. There's so many things.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
That's why every starter and automatically go from being the
starter to it, which is why we see sometimes starters
go from starting out of the league and it's over
because there's a personality that also goes with how about.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Play style and the extension part of the discussion.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I mean with DJ that's it. That's why a lot
of times we see coaches come from the ranks of
being the backup to a head coach. Kellen Moore, like
Jason Garrett, Mike Mike Kafka will eventually be one of
there's so many guys because you have to do so
much behind the scenes to prepare and you have to
have the right thing.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
You have to be a.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Pseudo coach because sometimes DJ the head coach and the
coordinator will communicate to the backup to get it to
the start the starter based on what their relationship is
and that's right. And then when you say extension, then
if it's not that they don't want a complete curve ball.
When this dude comes in defense, y'all better get ready
(07:45):
for an entirely different style.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
And we've worked on it.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
We have a small menu we're able to do. I
would say a little bit of this was Malik Willis
stepping in for Jordan Love. They're not the same, but
Malink Willis comes over. He gave the pack as a
different style quarterback and they were able to use a successfully. Yeah,
extension man, whether it's extension of the coaching staff or
being able to extend the play.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
No doubt. Yeah, I think it's just interesting to see
what you're looking for and what you want in that position.
With these specific guys, I thought we could take a
few minutes here and go over, as we like to
say on here, the operating instructions. So this is, you know,
you got to know how to use these guys and
what they do. So I thought we kind of ripped
through these. I'll give you some quick thoughts and then
jump in there and tell me what you think. But
(08:30):
Mac Jones, to me, mac Jones, going back to what
he was in college and then even studying him a
little bit this morning, going through the recent stuff, I
don't know that he's changed all that much. He's a
touch thrower. He's a rhythm it's anticipation, it's bucket throws.
He's still when he has to really power the ball
and drive the ball, that's not his best. I think
the ball gets away from him, it gets loose. That's
not who he is or what he is. So to me,
(08:52):
it's I would like to be able to run the
ball with him, and then I like to be able
to play kind of out to the perimeter and then
over the top of coverage. I don't know that I
want to make my living trained jamballs and seams in
the middle of the field.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
I'll say this, having watched him extensively last year with
the Jaguars when he had a chance to play. I
think mac Jones is a guy who's good enough to
be a start in this league. I think awareness is everything.
Self awareness, understanding strengths, weaknesses, how I need to play
within this system to be successful. The one thing that
I believe may have helped him in San Francisco, Kyles
(09:28):
Shanahan clearly defines what it is he wants from his quarterbacks.
The system clearly defines where the ball should go. If
you're smart and you understand the system, the completions and
the big plays just come. So the only thing that
really could hold mac Jones back is can he be
disciplined enough and self aware enough to I'm just gonna
(09:50):
stick to the script. When he stays to the script,
he's a really good player.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, no doubt. And you look at his numbers. I
just pull this stuff going back to twenty twenty for
all these quarterback So that was the timeline that I
looked at here Mac Jones. When you look at the
completion percentage of these guys, you start with Jake Browning
was at the very top, that's almost sixty eight percent.
Then you had Marcus Mariota, Tyrod Taylor at that they
(10:16):
were at sixty one. I guess then you have above them.
Mac Jones was splitting, so he was almost sixty five
percent with a lot of volume there. He was sacked
one hundred and twelve times buck so that's going to
be a key part of it too. Again, I think
mac Jones, you can run the ball, and then let's
get the bought of his hands. Let's go. The longer
he holds it, I think the worst you are.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah, it has to come up quick. We want to
operate on schedule. We don't want him to run around
left to his own devices. Let's make sure he understands
how important it is to stick to the script. Play
on time, play on schedule, don't get outside of what
it is that we put on paper. When we do that,
we have a chance to be successful. And for most
(10:59):
quarterbacks is like that. Unless you have the superpowers, you
need to stick to the script, stay within the framework
of the offense.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
On Jake Browning to me and we touched on him
a little bit. He's fearless. That's a good thing and
a bad thing. There's some forces in the middle of
the field. Man. You could not put enough go balls
and corner routes in the offensive game plan for him
like this. If you think you've got a lot, put
put in two more. After he is out his bet.
(11:26):
Let him get over the top outside the numbers. Let's
live out there, let's live with it.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Not only that, when you're the Cincinnati Bengals and you
have what they have. The reason why I think he's
great for them, man, their firepower makes you, hey, man,
just get them the ball. Our guys on the outside
are better than their guys. So we're going to have
all the screens, all the corners, all the go routes
(11:53):
because one on one matchups, our guys are going to win.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
And he understands that and when he he just.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Literally, where's one, where's spot, That's where the ball is going.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
And when they do that, they can win. And I
think Zach Taylor has such a comfort level watching that
game last week.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
They just had to get the halftime so Zach Taylor
could take the twelve minutes to be like, hey, how
we're gonna build this out whatever, And after halftime he
was on fine.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Because all those things that you talked about out breaking routes,
spot routes, bubbles, quicks go ball to t Higgins.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
All those things showed up because Zach Taylor had enough
time to rewrite the script on.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
The seat to remember who's playing quarterback. I think that
is what it is. I have Jake Brownie. This is
the Jake Grounding script. And when they do that, they
still can win games.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
So that's why I wouldn't dismiss the Beagles chances of
being able to kind of keep it afloat.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Well, Joe Burrow's out, all right, Buck, let's pause for
a quick second, and what'll we write back? Let's get
to Carson Wentz h Buck for I think this is
the third time I've seen this now. At Raider games,
they at halftime of they like to have halftime show.
They like to do it up right there, especially for
(13:15):
primetime games, and the Chargers are there for a lot
of prime times, so I think I've seen Montel Jordan
a couple of times. That is how they do it.
But Little John, little John takes the cake. I think
I might have seen Little John three times now. He
rips off those same three songs, pull this. I feel
like there is a string if you if he took
(13:35):
his shirt off, there is a string in his back.
You just pull that string and it just goes shot shot, shot, shot, shot,
shot shot. I mean I've heard this song. I've heard
him sing these songs a bazillion times. I think I've
seen him more in concert than any of any other
musical act. And it's all with Raider games. And that's
Carson Wentz to get. To make a long story short,
(13:56):
let's take our shots man, the hits. Here's where we're
going do. Is that was gonna play out, Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
What I will say is Carson Wentz familiary with Kevin
O'Connell in this offense should help.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Now I'm not having a dreams of him going back
to what he was super efficient man, Like that's you
got to get that out of your head. Like that's
not what he's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
So you have to bake that into the plane and
everyone has to know. God, Jose can sinko.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
There you go, old school showing your age there, because
that's all I can think about. I was gonna say, Rob,
that's even older, or I was.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Gonna say Dave Kean, like whoever, you want someone a
bunch of strikeouts, but they're gonna hit a home run.
So you just have to know this is gonna be
part of the equation. He's gonna have some dirt balls.
He's gonna sell them to the stands. But you're hoping
the few that he hit they're able to convert. The
big thing for Minnesota with him Aaron Jones being out,
can we run it enough to be able to set
(14:56):
up some shot opportunities. We don't want to get into
the passing game where it's a seven or seven high
volume thrower trying to make it where he's the precise
pocket pass. He's never going to live up to the
standard in that regard. But if we can get the
game on our terms, he can be effected. The efficient
the efficiency is not going to be maybe what some
(15:18):
of us cove it, but he certainly can be effective
in a certain style of offense that Kevin o'collin knows.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yeah, no, no question. Let's let's keep it going here.
A couple more guys to get through here on this
backup discussion. Uh Toarrod Taylor, Tyrod, I say it, I
say it. I've said I've said it both ways and
I've been corrected each time. And I've literally called his games.
You know, with him being with the Chargers. So to
Rod I believe is correct. If I'm not, if I'm
(15:46):
not mistaken, okay, But to me, on time is a
big part of his game. I think people look at
him because he's so athletic, and remember what he was
coming out of college and when he was as a
young player, and it's like, oh, okay, this is a
scramble around. He's like a He's like a shrunken down geno.
Like that's how he's I think, in my opinion, watch him.
(16:08):
That's how he's at his best is when he's on time,
getting the ball where it needs to go.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Yeah, Like, I mean, here's the thing. He has been
a very efficient player. We've seen him play at a
high level. He's playing winning football in this league. He's
a really good player when you can support him with
the running game, and they should be able to support
him with the running game with what they have. To me,
it's about understanding who he is and him understanding the bolvement,
which he typically does when he has an opportunity to play.
(16:35):
The thing that the Jets have to do with Tara,
They're going to make sure defensively they're up to snuff,
that they have the game played at a certain level
where he doesn't have to be the playmaker. He can manage,
distribute and operate that way, that's what I want, But
it's the entire operation has to work effectively for Tenlo
(16:56):
to be the player that we need him to be.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
The wing games the Jets got. If the Jet's gonna games,
they got to rely on these backs. They've got three
good backs. Run the ball. This offensive line I think
is better suited in the run game than they are
in the pass game. There's just not enough weaponry outside.
I mean, you got Garrett Wilson and then that's it.
You know. I'm hopeful that you're going to see Taylor
take some steps as he goes throughout the year as
a rookie tight end, but there's just not enough other weapons.
(17:20):
If they're going to win games, they got to do it.
Just chew up clock, run the football. You got to
roll those backs through, keep them all fresh, and at
least with Torod you got to You got to account
for him in the run game. You don't need him
to run the ball much, but just the fact that
he can pull it, you know, once or twice a game.
You got to account for him that should help their
run game. So I think that's the operating instructions there
for the Jets. Last one, we'll see if we see
(17:41):
Marcus Mariota or not. But you know, what are your
expectations and what makes it work? What are the operating
instructions from Mariota?
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Man. I think Cliff Kingsbury's offense has some diversity to
it that you can just lean them the weapons on
the outside. You got Deebo Sam, you got Terry Lauren,
you have Zach Bertz. You don't need Marcus Mariota to
the guy that came from Oregon. There was an athletic
feedop in those things. Smart, efficient, effective, be smart with
(18:08):
the ball, be efficient with the opportunities that you have
in the past game. And let's find a way to
be effective while staying within ourselves offensively. If they do
that with the defense and all that, they can win games.
But I don't need Marcus Mariota to be the show.
I just needed to be a compliment. He doesn't need
to be the Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
And to me, I think you know, with Marcus Mariota,
just protect the football, man, Just protect the football. Be smart.
You think about him, I think he's comfortable throwing on
the move. He always has been. I think this gives
you the opportunity to move the launch point around a
little bit with some of those things. You know, I
(18:50):
don't think you're looking at a dynamic or explosive passing
attack with him, but it's going to be run after catch,
get the ball where it needs to go. And to me,
it's just movement. Move a little bit, don't let a
defense get comfortable with where he is. I think that's
that's part of the discussion there, and we'll see, you
know what, Jayden Daniels, you know, hopefully he gets back
and you know, maybe you know, he surprises us and
(19:11):
plays in this game, but hopefully not gone for too long,
because you know, this offense kind of built through that dude, man,
And I don't know that you can really replicate, No,
I mean you can't. I mean, he is the trigger man.
He is the one that makes it happen.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
And in saying that, I think it's really important that
Marcus understands it.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
He's ride of those guys understand it. Let's just figure
out a way to get through this one. Let's figure
out a way to get through the scam.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Let's do what we need to do just to win
this game and figure out where Jayden Daniels is, because
if he doesn't play, it can't.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Be the show that we've seen.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
It can't be the wide open, fun offense that we've
seen from the Commanders. This is one where I need
Marks to be the grown up in the room to
understand who he is and what he needs to be
at this moment.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
If he does that, they can win. Yeah, if you
want to get some hope here for backup quarterbacks, if
you want to feel like you've you know, your season's
not over, let me give you a couple of numbers here.
Fuck uh, this is just let's just look at passing
yards through two games. Okay. Number one in the league.
Shockingly's Russell Wilson, who was a backup as of last year. Right,
(20:18):
so he ended up coming in and taking over that position,
but he was in a backup role last year. Number
two Daniel Jones, who was relegated to backup status. Then
you get Herbert, then you get Golf, then you get
Dak and you get Stafford. But then you've got Geno Smith,
long time career backup after being you know, a high
pick and kind of washing out as a starter. In
(20:41):
the top ten, you've got Joe Flacco who was a backup.
So I mean there's a lot of guys who've come
from the backup ranks that have you know, that are
productive players in this league. So it doesn't need to be,
you know, the absolute crusher season ending moment that it
feels like when you're a fan and your starter goes now.
Don't need to be that.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
And my thing when it comes to the backup quarterback,
I think we all should have a plan in place.
I think good team building, good coaching requires you to
have an emergency plan of action in case of X,
Y and Z. That's why we signed certain players to
be backup quarterbacks. That's why they should get opportunities in
(21:21):
practice and in preseason to prepare them for how we
need to.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Play in the game.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
If you're a haphazard about the backup quarterback, you doing
it wrong. Hopefully we get a chance to see some
of these guys have success and maybe it would be
a springboard like and he dives right now, one of
my favorite quarterbacks in the league, who show maybe it
wasn't me, maybe it was me As he took his
ball win the Indianapolis. And then when I think you
(21:48):
may have talked about him.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Doing you know, if he goes the Indianapolis, he might
be we talked about that. I feel like you might
have had some inside of trading. That's what I feel like. Wow, well,
I feel like you're so positive. I'm looking at this,
do throw for yards? I'm like, maybe maybe I'm not
gonna admit or deny it, but we did. We did
(22:11):
a full episode, a full podcast episode on the next
Reclamation Project, and I think I have to go back
on it. I think you might even be the one
who took him number one. So it's worked out. It's
worked out so far. And by the way, we're both
old enough to remember Nick Foles taking a team to
a Super Bowl and come it comes full circle on
an episode where we're talking about the guy who was
(22:32):
going to be the m VP that year going down,
and now we're talking about can he be a functional
backup for JJ McCarthy who started all of two games
in this league? Carson went. So this thing comes full
circle quick man, quickly. And that's why you just got
to hang on, hang on, keep working. You never know
when your chance is gonna come.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
But we do know and we said this op quarterbacks
always getting multiple bis a appy, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Yeah. The other thing free free advice for those that
may have been starters and have now landed in the
backup role and look, A, you can have longevity. B
you can make a lot of money. And see free advice.
Find out what the hottest scheme is in the league,
and try and get on with one of those teams.
Because when you when you are with that crew, and
(23:20):
it is the McVeigh Shanahan tree, when you are in
with those guys, they are littered all over the league.
And once you get that stamp of approval, buck, you
got a job for life. You can bounce around between
all these guys. Man. So that's my that's my free
backup quarterback advice. I mean I did that. Yeah, well
there we go. We did, just did a whole episode
on backup quarterbacks. That's what that's what American needs right now.
(23:44):
We need to dive backups. Yeah. Oh, so now we've
got the Jets media guide ty Rod. So they are
going ty Rod. In twenty eight with Cleveland, it was
tell Rod again, that's what I'm saying. I've been He said,
all right, they change differnunciation like eat not helping us
(24:05):
any man, not doing us any favors at all. Anyways,
there we go. There's your backup quarterback episode. We'll be
back tomorrow with the look ahead. We'll chat about some
of these teams that started out hot too and O,
some O and two teams. We'll look at the different
spectrums there and see where we've got some hope and
where we've got some fear, as well as looking ahead
to some ball games this weekend. We'll have you there tomorrow,
(24:28):
right here under the sticks.
Hosts And Creators
Daniel Jeremiah
Bucky Brooks
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Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com