The NFL season kicks off this week and fans can hardly wait.
However, some of the team’s starting quarterbacks in Week 1 may not always be the ones we witness under center in each of their team’s 16 games.
Here are four backup quarterbacks who might get some spotlight attention this season while the starters take a back seat.
A.J. McCarron, Cincinnati Bengals
Andy Dalton is on thin ice when it comes to starting in every game in 2015.
The fifth-year quarterback has the tendency to completely choke up his dinner when it comes to prime time and playoff appearances. This is evidenced by Dalton’s horrible 3-7 record for televised games and his four consecutive playoff losses.
McCarron, who missed his entire rookie season with a shoulder injury, got our attention during the preseason. Completing 63.3 percent of his passes, the former Alabama star passed for 465 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. Because of his strong preseason performance McCarron earned the praises of his teammates, including tight end Tylor Kroft.
“You definitely know when AJ’s in the huddle. There’s a presence when he’s in there. I think he’s a real good person, one, and then, two, he’s a really smart quarterback and he knows what’s going on. He’s not afraid to make the calls to put us in the best situation (h/t ALFanBuzz).”
If Dalton continues to struggle in big games, as he has been known to do, it would not at all be shocking to see the Bengals give the nod to McCarron to start if a prime-time matchup was next up on the schedule.
Zach Mettenberger, Tennessee Titans
All rookies go through their struggles on occasion, and nobody should be surprised if we see starter Marcus Mariota hit a few rough patches for the Titans this season.
We witnessed a few troublesome plays from Mariota during the preseason where he scrambled to get out of trouble. And, while he completed 70 percent of his passes overall totaling 326 yards, Mariota posted only one passing touchdown.
When Mettenberger was out on the field preseason, he looked more comfortable overall, tallying three scores and 312 passing yards.
With that said, we all know that Mariota is the favorite in Tennessee and the face of the franchise. However, would it be totally unrealistic for the Titans to give Mettenberger a shot should the team fall into a multi-game losing streak?
Winning is the main goal, and the Titans have only won 15 games in the last three years.
Johnny Manziel, Cleveland Browns
As far as we know, the Browns plan to have Manziel sitting up on the shelf like a rarely touched knick-knack this season.
However, starter Josh McCown could go down with an injury or could flat-out stink up the joint. After all, when McCown started with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, he completed only 56.3 percent of his passes and threw 14 interceptions to only 11 touchdowns in 11 game starts. That’s quite horrendous. And, he recorded an awful 1-10 win-loss record.
Is McCown going to suddenly going to evolve into Andrew Luck playing with the Browns this year? Certainly not. That’s why it is not totally unthinkable that the Browns might try kicking the tires on Johnny Football once again this year. The guy does have the ability to make some pretty fantastic plays.
If McCown plays as poorly as he did last year starting for the Bucs, things for the Browns really couldn’t get much worse with Manziel under center. And, at some point, head coach Mike Pettine needs to find out if Manziel is worth keeping around for the long haul or if he’s just the team’s next big miss at the quarterback position.
Mark Sanchez, Philadelphia Eagles
Let’s be realistic about Sam Bradford’s health. He isn’t exactly the poster child for the invincible man.
Over the course of Bradford’s five-year career, he has only played in 49 of 80 games for which he posted an 18-30-1 record. The Eagles reached deep when they traded for Bradford, who at the young age of only 27 has already undergone two back-to-back ACL surgeries in the past two years.
Health is truly the concern when it comes to Bradford. Most people wouldn’t bet money that Bradford will stay upright and play in all 16 games this season. This means at some point in the season, we’re likely to see backup Mark Sanchez calling the signals in Philly.
Bradford was impressive during the preseason, but his drives were extremely limited and we will need to see more.
And, just for those who like to keep track of stats, Sanchez actually completed 64.1 percent of his passes during his eight starts with the Eagles last season. If Bradford ends up sidelined, Sanchez will get the nod.