New York Jets: Who should be Aaron Rodgers' backup in 2024?
2. Gardner Minshew
Gardner Minshew is a very good low-end starter, if that makes sense. And I'm honestly not sure why Minshew hasn't gotten a legitimate chance to start in the NFL. I guess he did, with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they ended up replacing him with Trevor Lawrence. If you want grit, toughness, and decent QB play, Minshew is your guy for a QB2 role.
He honestly does have the same type of aura as Aaron Rodgers, so I think the both of them would get along pretty well. Minshew has also largely been pretty efficient during his NFL career. His career began in 2019, and in 42 total games, Minshew has tossed 52 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. His passer rating is 91.1 and he's currently been starting for the Indianapolis Colts, as rookie QB Anthony Richardson has been out.
With 30 career games starting, there might not be a better backup QB option than Minshew.
3. Marcus Mariota
Another former first-round pick who never solidified himself as a franchise QB is Marcus Mariota, who has been with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, backing up Jalen Hurts. Mariota was the 2nd overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft and spent the first five years of his career with the Tennessee Titans. In Tennessee, Mariota went 29-32 as a starter and threw 76 touchdowns against 44 interceptions.
Since then, he's held backup roles but did start 13 games for the Atlanta Falcons in 2022, tossing 15 touchdowns against nine interceptions. Mariota is another one of those very good low-end starters who is probably holding out hope that he can get another shot to start in the NFL. The one thing with Aaron Rodgers that does make this situation interesting is that Rodgers turns 40 years old at the beginning of December, so he's surely not got much more time left in the NFL.
Also, no one really knows how Aaron Rodgers will look when he eventually comes back from his Achilles injury, so the hypothetical new backup QB might see an avenue to get into the starting lineup at some point.