NFL

Backup QBs becoming legends before Week 1

This is usually the best time to be a backup quarterback.

You generally get to build up your stats against a backup defense, while your team’s fans wonder why the starter didn’t look quite so good. This is especially true with rookies because everyone just saw them dominate in college and your team has invested a significant draft pick.

There are three such cases this preseason with Blake Bortles (Jaguars), Johnny Manziel (Browns) and Teddy Bridgewater (Vikings). The trio of first-rounders have each had their moments this preseason, but none of them will start Week 1.

This frustrates the fan base, but also gives the coach an out if the unheralded starter in front of each one fails.

Teddy BridgewaterGetty Images

In Cleveland’s case, Brian Hoyer edged out Manziel after both had middling performances in the second game, except Manziel punctuated his with a middle finger. Bridgewater played well enough to win Minnesota’s job, but Matt Cassel was a little sharper playing with the starters. And the Jaguars said all along Chad Henne would start, and despite Bortles outplaying him, the team stuck to its guns and will sit the No. 3 pick to open the season.

The backup love goes beyond rookies, as Robert Griffin III continues to be scrutinized closely in Washington. The chorus for Kirk Cousins, who struggled mightily in the Redskins’ final five games last year, keeps growing.

“Let’s stop beating around the bush. Kirk Cousins has played much better at the quarterback position than Robert Griffin III has,” said Joe Theismann, who was serving as an analyst for the Redskins preseason game against the Ravens, according to the Washington Post.

“Right now, Robert Griffin III is [coach Jay Gruden’s] quarterback. Now, if there was a quarterback competition, it wouldn’t be a competition. Kirk Cousins would be the man I believe he would have to go to.”

Griffin has battled injuries and inconsistency since his rookie season in 2012, when he tore his ACL in the Redskins’ wild-card loss to the Seahawks. His athleticism is awe-inspiring, but also puts him at constant risk for injury. Though Cousins has yet to prove he has the talent of Griffin, the calls for him will continue.

And Mark Sanchez finds himself in a unique situation. He has had a dominant preseason as Nick Foles’ backup, but is no threat to surpass Foles as the starter.

But when the Rams’ Sam Bradford went down for the year with a torn ACL this weekend, Sanchez’s name was one of the first to come up as a possible replacement via trade. One problem: Sanchez, according to USA Today, has no interest in reuniting with former Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer in St. Louis.

Sanchez seems to be at his best in Chip Kelly’s fast-paced system, and might be better suited finding a similar offense he can run next offseason, instead of returning to Schottenheimer, under whom he regressed in 2012.

But at least for now buttfumble isn’t the only thing that comes to people’s minds when you hear Sanchez’s name.

Yes, sometimes it is good to be the backup.