There’s never a good time for an NFL team to lose its starting quarterback. There are few worse ones than when you’re one win away from the Super Bowl.
That’s where the Denver Broncos are after Bo Nix suffered a fractured ankle late in his 33-30 overtime win against the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round. Nix had been the alpha and omega of the Denver passing game — so much so the guy behind him on the depth chart hasn’t thrown a regular season pass in more than two years.
Jarrett Stidham has spent the last three seasons in Denver, most notably serving as Russell Wilson’s replacement once the team decided it was done with the veteran and didn’t want to risk triggering injury guarantees by playing him late in the 2023 regular season. The 29-year-old backup has played 18 offensive snaps the last two years, throwing zero passes and rushing the ball five times for four yards in mop-up duty.
Still, Stidham showed enough in practice and the preseason to keep his spot in the roster behind Nix. Last August he completed 30 of 38 passes for 378 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions to shine against opponents’ second- and third-string defenses in the preseason. In 2024 he completed just 13 of 22 attempts and threw a pair of interceptions without finding the end zone — a brutal performance that nonetheless gave him the inside track on the team’s QB2 position over Zach Wilson.
Stidham is 1-3 as a starter since 2022. His counting stats are decent; six touchdowns against four interceptions in eight games and a 88.5 passer rating. 83 quarterbacks have played at least 150 snaps in that stretch; Stidham’s 0.039 expected points added (EPA) per play ranks 39th — nestled between Jameis Winston and Tyrod Taylor in the rankings.
That’s all to say he’ll probably be a perfectly cromulent backup quarterback, taking few risks, adding some mistakes and generally failing to create the magic Nix was able to dial up in 2025. That could be enough to win in the regular season. In the playoffs? He’s gonna need some help.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Jarrett Stidham’s first NFL pass in 2 years will be in AFC title game