Clipboard Carrier: The Meaning of the Backup QB

Backup players provide insurance if circumstances arise where a starter cannot perform to expectations or faces an injury. Someone must step up if a player is not able to perform. Many argue NFL quarterbacks are the most crucial position to replace throughout professional sports due to position intricacies and its star-studded modern-day importance. The importance of the backup QB goes far beyond on-field, and conceptually, the player is a proponent of a culture to maximize player’s skillsets.

Many mainstream media believe the principal responsibility of the backup QB is to be a replacement to the starter. There is a reason why teams do not change their backup quarterbacks every offseason. A degree of trust in the backup to (somewhat) continue the on-field performance of the starter is necessary for a team. The backup quarterback’s responsibility is to prepare the starter for game situations and create teamwide intangibles that allow the team to function no matter who is starting under the center.

Backup quarterbacks must not only carry the clipboard (a heavy burden to take on responsibility with the peeled eyes of an entire fanbase) but build and be a proponent of the teamwide culture. The starter, and the backup, are often amongst the leaders in the locker room, and the backup quarterback will assume such a role if the starter cannot play.

From Jacoby Brissett to Jarrett Stidham, the 2022-23 backup quarterback market is active, signifying that teams are looking to upgrade their backup. Therefore, teams are not complacent with the backups on the roster and thereby transitioning the league-wide thought process of a role into one of importance as opposed to the media-generated assembly line role of a backup. As teams become more analytically inclined in their decision-making processes, traditional thought processes are evolving to maximize the working efficiency of every person in the building.

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