Jarrett Stidham, Tom Brady, Nick Foles, Jeff Hostetler. Not quite the quartet of quarterbacks NFL fans might have anticipated thinking about ahead of Conference Championship weekend.
Hostetler, the backup who won Super Bowl XXV with the New York Giants are taking over from the injured Phil Sims late in the 1990 season. Foles, the backup who stunned Brady's New England Patriots to win Super Bowl LII with the Philadelphia Eagles after starting in the 2017 postseason following injury to Carson Wentz.
And Stidham, the backup now set to start for the Denver Broncos against the Patriots in place of the injured Bo Nix in Sunday's AFC Championship Game, having not attempted a pass in the NFL since 2023.
Nix helped guide the No 1-seeded Broncos to a 33-30 overtime victory against the Buffalo Bills in Saturday's Divisional Round clash, before being ruled out for the remainder of the postseason with a broken ankle sustained late in the game.
"A positive note going into the game versus the Patriots is that they struggle against backup QBs in championship-type games," Foles joked on Twitter.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton warned people to 'watch out', insisting Stidham is 'ready to go'.
"I think that's what really defines a quarterback. When the moment is the biggest, they have the ability to play their best game," said Stidham's former Auburn college head coach Gus Malzahn in 2020. "That's the way Jarrett was."
Stidham was a fourth-round draft pick out of Auburn by the Patriots back in 2019 and served as backup to Brady and Cam Newton across three seasons at Gillette Stadium before being traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022.
The 29-year-old made his first career NFL start on January 1 2023 when he threw for 365 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions against the San Francisco 49ers after taking over from the benched Derek Carr for the final two games of the regular season. He had been playing under former Patriots offensive coordinator and then-Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels, who is currently in his third stint as New England's OC.
"To me, there were weeks where he was just on point," said former Patriots DB Devin McCourty in 2020. "And those were some of our best weeks as a defense, mainly because Stiddy ate us up in practice leading up to the game, and I think put more pressure on us."
Stidham subsequently signed with the Broncos on a two-year deal ahead of the 2024 season, arriving as backup to Russell Wilson. He again started the final two games of the campaign following Wilson's benching, going 20 of 32 passing for 224 yards and a touchdown to clinch his first career win with a 17-9 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers.
He has appeared in seven games since joining Denver, but did not start or attempt a pass across either the 2024 or 2025 regular seasons.
"He's more prepared than anybody would be in this situation and he can ball," said right tackle Mike McGlinchey. "He can flat out play quarterback. I have no doubt he'll go and play his butt off."
The Broncos will play in the AFC Championship Game for the first time since the 2015 season, which ended with Denver beating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium - the venue for Super Bowl 60 on February 8.
Just six quarterbacks have started a playoff game having not started a game in the regular season since 1950, with Frank Reich the only one to win after taking over from Buffalo's Jim Kelly at the 1992 Wild Card win over the Houston Oilers. Reich, though, did throw 47 passes in five appearances during the regular season.
"It's our three years here and our three years watching him day in and day out that you guys don't have access to," Payton said of his faith in Stidham. "He will be ready to go and ready for the moment.
"One of Stiddy's great strengths is his mental aptitude and his progression and understanding plays. There would be practices where I'm looking at [defensive coordinator] Vance [Joseph] getting [mad], because Stiddy's making our defense look bad. He's very accurate. He's got a lot to his ball.
"Historically speaking, all bets weren't off with [Jeff] Hostetler, they weren't off in Philly [with Foles] when we lost [Drew] Brees at midseason against the Rams and [Teddy] Bridgewater won five in a row. All bets can be off. They weren't off for Houston this year when Mills came in. I don't know if he lost a game."
Denver's quarterback conundrum prompted former three-time first-team All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman, among others, to - largely in dreamy jest - ponder the unlikely prospect of Brady coming out of retirement and lead Payton's offense against his former team.
"Who can Sean Payton call to play QB with only a week before the Broncos play in the AFC championship game? One call he could try to make that may break the internet is Brady. Doubt he would do it but boy would that make for great TV!" Sherman wrote.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion last played in 2022, is now 48-years-old and works as a broadcaster for Fox.
"Absolutely not," said Your Site NFL's Ndamukong Suh. "Sean Payton is too prideful to get the greatest man to ever play the game to be his quarterback. He will be saying he already has all the tools to go and win a championship, even after losing a key player."
A social media pipe dream comes after the NFL witnessed 44-year-old Philip Rivers make a stunning comeback with the Indianapolis Colts this season, taking over from the injured Daniel Jones four years after retiring from the league.
"You do not want your players second guessing anything," said Your Site NFL's Jason Bell. "Why would you do that? You say we are good enough, we have the depth, we can pull this off, we are a team!"
As football watched Rivers decipher modern defenses, there was every bit enough evidence to suggest Brady could likely still survive-meets-thrive in today's NFL. Nonetheless, his role as minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders rules him out of returning to play in the league.
"This is his (Sean Payton's) moment to say 'I can do this, I can get this guy ready'," said Your Site NFL's Jeff Reinebold. "I think Sean's ego is that big I really do and I don't say that in a negative way.
"I just think he really believes in himself that much. I think it's really true fantasy to think that Tom Brady or one of these guys Drew Brees is gonna dust them off and they're gonna go out there in seven days and be ready to play, I think that's ridiculous."
Stidham went 30 of 38 passing for 376 yards and four touchdowns with a 143.0 quarterback rating in the preseason.
He is set to become the second quarterback to make his first start of a season in a Conference Championship Game or later, following in the footsteps of Roger Staubach in 1972, according to ESPN stats.
"This is the best that Denver has and now they've got to find a way and what a story," said Reinebold. "Because if this kid can do it, if he can go out there and patch together enough plays and make enough throws to beat a good New England defense.
"They're going to be at home. You know they're going to have to run the ball. Sean will find a way to help him as much as he can help him, but there's going to come points where he's gonna have to make a throw and it's gonna be a tight window and he's gonna have to get the ball there.
"It's the stuff of legend. So let's see if he can become a legend."
A picture resurfaced this weekend of Stidham and Nix from the time the latter was visiting Auburn in 2018, at which point Stidham was the starting quarterback. Stidham graduated at the end of the 2018 season before Nix became Auburn's starting quarterback in 2019. It's funny how things work out.
"I'm sure that Sean (Payton) will do a good job of getting him ready," said Reinebold. "He's been in the league seven years, but to think that you're gonna go out against the New England Patriots defense and make enough plays to win the game, I think it's a real, real tall ask."
Watch the Denver Broncos face the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game live on Your Site NFL from 8pm on Sunday January 25.
