It’s hard to earn a starting quarterback job in the NFL. It’s even harder to keep it.
Every year, there are some starting quarterbacks who begin the season at the top of the depth chart but find themselves replaced before the end of the season. That’s bound to happen again this season; it’s just a matter of who it’s going to be.
As we prepare for the upcoming NFL season, here are five quarterbacks who will begin the season as starters for their team, but could very well find themselves on the bench by November.
For the purposes of this list, we’re only using established starting quarterbacks or players who have already been named the Week 1 starter; players in legitimate quarterback battles are excluded. That means that the Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons, and Las Vegas Raiders won’t be featured on this list, which is a shame because that certainly would have made things easier.
5\. Aaron Rodgers – Pittsburgh Steelers
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Right off the bat, we have to acknowledge that it is unlikely that the Steelers would bench Aaron Rodgers during his farewell tour, no matter how bad things got. But it’s certainly not impossible depending on how he plays and how the season plays out.
While Rodgers is a no-doubt future Hall of Famer heading into the final season of his storied career, he’s also 42 years old. While he has looked perfectly fine throwing the ball the past few seasons, here’s at least a chance that his age catches up to him and he sees a rather sudden decline, as Peyton Manning did in 2015.
That season, 38-year-old Manning looked like a shell of himself, completing just 59.8 percent of his passes while throwing 17 interceptions to nine touchdowns. He undoubtedly could have lost his job to Brock Osweiler, and the team would have almost certainly been better off. If Rodgers faces a similar rapid decline, the Steelers could be in a similar situation.
But even that isn’t a perfect example, as Manning remained the team’s starter and the Broncos won the Super Bowl.
4\. C.J. Stroud – Houston Texans
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After one of the most prolific rookie seasons in NFL history, it’s been downhill for C.J. Stroud over the past two seasons. This season, it’s do-or-die time.
Back in 2023, Stroud was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year after throwing for 4,108 yards with a 63.9 completion percentage, while throwing 23 touchdowns to just five interceptions – and that was while missing two games with a concussion.
Stroud could not recreate the magic in his second season, and things only seemed to get worse last season, culminating in a disastrous playoff performance in which he threw four interceptions in the first half of the Divisional Round showdown with the New England Patriots.
The reality is that Stroud needs to perform this season as he heads into a contract year with the Texans. If he doesn’t, the team could opt to move in a different direction going forward rather than give him a significant and likely hefty contract extension. And if the team makes that decision midway through the season, that could lead to Stroud getting benched.
The one thing working in Stroud’s favor, however, is that the Texans don’t necessarily have anyone waiting in the wings to take his job, with middling veteran Davis Mills serving as his lone backup. Even if the Texans did decide to bench Stroud, there wouldn’t be much immediate benefit.
3\. Geno Smith – New York Jets
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The Las Vegas Raiders brought in veteran quarterback Geno Smith last season to reunite with his former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll as the Seahawks turned to Sam Darnold instead. While all sides clearly had high hopes, it was a disaster.
Smith had the worst passing season of his career as a starter, posting career lows in passing yards and touchdown passes while throwing a career-high 17 interceptions. His struggles were reflected in the team’s record, as well, as the team finished with just a 3-14 record, with one of those wins coming with Smith on the bench.
After being discarded by both the Seahawks and the Raiders, Smith is now joining a team that has been notoriously unkind to quarterbacks: the New York Jets. The Jets have had 26 different starting quarterbacks since 1999 – including Smith at the beginning of his career, ironically enough.
There’s obviously a chance that Smith could revive his career and establish himself as the quarterback the Jets have been waiting for. He does have some weapons around him, too, with Garrett Wilson and rookie first-round pick Omar Cooper Jr. at receiver and the tandem of Breece Hall and Braelon Allen in the backfield.
But if the Jets find themselves slumping, there’s a strong chance that the team could opt to bench Smith to see what they have in rookie Cade Klubnik, who is expected to be the team’s backup this season after he was drafted in the fourth round of the draft in the spring.
2\. Malik Willis – Miami Dolphins
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With the Miami Dolphins parting ways with Tua Tagovailoa following the 2025 season, Miami is turning to fifth-year quarterback Malik Willis. While Willis actually has some totally respectable career numbers, especially following his rookie year, the reality is that he has only started six games.
In the past two seasons, Willis has made 11 game appearances where he completed 70 of 89 passing attempts (78.7 percent) for 972 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions. It’s easy to see why someone would be optimistic about those numbers, but it’s worth noting that this is still quite a small sample size and he’s totally unproven as a full-time starter.
It’s entirely possible that Willis takes this opportunity in Miami and runs with it, but the reality is that he’s not much more proven than his backup, second-year quarterback Quinn Ewers, who started three games for the Dolphins last year, completing 66.3 percent of his passes for 622 yards with three touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Willis will get the first chance in Miami. If he thrives, he’ll keep his job. But if he struggles, there’s a younger quarterback who looked perfectly fine at times for the Dolphins last season.
1\. Jacoby Brissett – Arizona Cardinals
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After officially moving on from Kyler Murray during the offseason, the Arizona Cardinals opted to sign veteran Jacoby Brissett to a reworked one-year deal to be the team’s starting quarterback this season. It’s a similar situation that Brissett found himself in with the New England Patriots back in 2024, and that did not go well.
In five starts with the Patriots in 2024, Brissett completed just 59 percent of his passes while throwing just two touchdowns along with an interception, leading the team to a 1-4 record in those games. Things were better last season as he had career-best numbers across the board, completing 64.9 percent of his passes for 3,366 yards with 23 touchdowns. Still, it didn’t exactly lead to a lot of team success. In the past two seasons, Willis has just a 2-15 record as a starter.
The unfortunate reality is that Brissett just has a lot that isn’t working in his favor heading into this season. He’s a journeyman quarterback who has been in the league for 10 years without ever establishing himself as a consistent starter.
Adding to that situation, the Cardinals have a couple of potentially enticing options behind him if he were to struggle.
Veteran quarterback Gardner Minshew joined the team this offseason after spending 2025 with the Kansas City Chiefs. While Minshew is a journeyman himself, he has 47 career starts under his belt with just three fewer career wins than Brissett in 15 fewer starts.
Additionally, the Cardinals just selected former Miami and Georgia quarterback Carson Beck in the third round, giving them an intriguing young quarterback on the roster, too. Beck got a chance to shine in the Hall of Fame game last week, and he took advantage, completing 15 of 19 passes for 188 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
Brissett will undoubtedly begin the season as the starter, but in 10 years, he has yet to prove himself as a full-time starter in the league, and the Cardinals have no real incentive to stick by him if they have more enticing options on the bench.