As a quarterback-driven sport, the value of any team’s secondary option can’t be understated. For an example of this, Rams fans need look no further than Kurt Warner in 1999. Or Marc Bulger in 2002.
Or John Wolford for a very brief moment in time at the end of the 2020 season.
Those are three distinct and vastly different examples, but “backup quarterbacks” have represented some of the absolute greatest players in NFL history. Like when the New England Patriots unexpectedly had to turn to Tom Brady in 2001, or when the Philadelphia Eagles banked Carson Wentz’s MVP season on a Nick Foles resurgence in the playoffs, or when the San Francisco 49ers hung onto Steve Young behind Joe Montana for all those years, or even the seasons in which the Los Angeles Rams were sharing duties between Bob Waterfield and Norm Van Brocklin as one of the most dominant football teams in the pre-Super Bowl era.