Kellen Clemens. Connor Cook. Matt Moore. When the star quarterback goes down, these are the guys piloting the team. In recent years, these second-stringers have become more important than ever.
No longer can bad quarterback play be covered up. In the modern NFL, the quarterback is the central piece of the foundation to any franchise. Their flaws become the team’s flaws, and if they’re ineffective, so is the rest of the team.
And that’s why the backup quarterback is so essential. With only roughly 30 human beings on the planet capable of playing quarterback adequately at any given time, having multiple good ones on the same roster is a luxury beyond comprehension.