Jarrett Stidham, Tom Brady, Bo Nick: The Denver Broncos quarterback conundrum that rocked the NFL playoffs | NFL News

Jarrett Stidham, Tom Brady, Nick Foles, Jeff Hostetler. Not quite the quartet of quarterbacks NFL fans might have expected to think about before Conference Championship Weekend.

Hostetler, a backup who won Super Bowl XXV with the New York Giants, took over for the injured Phil Simms 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 an injury to Carson Wentz.

And Stidham, the backup, is now slated 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 an NFL pass since 2023.

Nix helped lead the top-seeded Broncos to a 33-30 overtime victory against the Buffalo Bills in Saturday’s Divisional Round clash before being ruled out for the rest of the postseason with a broken ankle suffered late in the game.

“A positive note in the game against the Patriots is that they’re going up against backup QBs in championship-type games,” Foles joked on Twitter.

Broncos 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 make their best play,” Stidham’s former Auburn College head coach Gus Malzahn said in 2020. “That’s what Jarrett was.”

Stidham was a fourth-round draft pick out of Auburn by the Patriots back in 2019 and served as the backup to Brady and Cam Newton for 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 Jan. 1, 2023, when he threw for 365 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions against the San Francisco 49ers after coming off the bench for Derek Carr in the final two games of the regular season. He played under former Patriots offensive coordinator and then-Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels, who is currently in his third tenure as New England’s OC.

“For me, there were weeks where he was spot on,” former Patriots DB Devin McCourty said in 2020. “And those were some of our best weeks defensively, mostly because Steedy ate us up in practice before the game, and I think he put more pressure on us.”

Stidham then signed a two-year contract with the Broncos ahead of the 2024 season, arriving as Russell Wilson’s backup. He started again the final two games of the campaign after Wilson was benched, completing 20 of 32 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown to pick up his first career victory in a 17–9 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers.

He has appeared in seven games since joining Denver, but has not started or attempted through the 2024 or 2025 regular season.

“He’s more prepared than anybody in this situation and he can make the ball,” Mike McGlinchey said. “He can absolutely play quarterback. I have no doubt he’ll go and play his game.”

Payton: Stidham ready for a moment

The Broncos will play in the AFC Championship Game for the first time since the 2015 season, which ended with Denver defeating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium – the site of Super Bowl 60 on Feb. 8.

Only six quarterbacks have started a playoff game after not starting a regular season game since 1950, with Frank Reich winning the only one after taking over for Buffalo’s Jim Kelly in a 1992 win over the Houston Oilers. Reich still threw 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 and you guys don’t have access,” Payton said of his faith in Stidham. “He’ll be ready to go and ready at a moment’s notice.”

“One of Steedy’s big strengths is his mental ability and his progression and understanding of the game. There would be practices where I watch (defensive coordinator) Vance (Joseph) get (angry) because Steedy makes our defense look bad. He’s very accurate. He has a lot of the ball.

“Historically, all bets weren’t off with (Jeff) Hostetler, they weren’t off in Philly (with Foles) when we lost (Drew) Brees midseason against the Rams, and (Teddy) Bridgewater won five straight. All bets can be off. They weren’t off when Don Houston lost this year. I know if Don Houston lost this year.

Can Denver pick up the phone to Brady?

Denver’s quarterback conundrum prompted former three-time first-team All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman, among others, to ponder — mostly in dreamy jest — the unlikely prospect of Brady coming out of retirement to lead Payton’s offense against his former team.

“Who can Sean Payton call to play QB just a week before the Broncos play in the AFC Championship game? One call he could try to make that could break the internet is Brady. I doubt he would, but boy would it make for great TV!” Sherman wrote.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion who last played in 2022 is now 48 years old and works as a broadcaster for Fox.

“Absolutely not,” said NFL Sky Sports’ Ndamukong Suh. “Sean Payton is too proud to let the greatest man to ever play the game be his quarterback. He’ll say he already has all the tools to go out and win a championship, even after losing a key player.”

The social media dream comes after the NFL witnessed 44-year-old Philip Rivers make a stunning comeback with the Indianapolis Colts this season, taking over for the injured Daniel Jones four years after retiring from the league.

“You don’t want your players to hit something,” said Jason Bell of Sky Sports NFL. “Why would you do that? You say we’re good enough, we’ve got the depth, we can pull this off, we’re the team!”

As football watched Rivers decipher modern defenses, there was ample evidence to suggest that Brady could probably still survive-meet-thrive in today’s NFL. However, his role as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders prevents him from returning to play in the league.

“This is a moment for him (Sean Payton) to say, ‘I can do this, I can prepare this guy,'” NFL Sky Sports’ Jeff Reinbold said. “I think Sean’s ego is so big and I don’t mean that in a negative way.

“I think he really believes in himself so much. I think it’s really a fantasy to think that Tom Brady or one of these Drew Brees guys is going to dust them off and they’re going to go out there in seven days and be ready to play, I think it’s ridiculous.”

Stidham can become a legend

Stidham completed 30 of 38 passes for 376 yards and four touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 143.0 in the preseason.

According to ESPN, he is slated to become the second quarterback to make his first start in a Conference Championship season or later, following in the footsteps of Roger Staubach in 1972.

“This is the best Denver has and now they have to find a way and what kind of story,” Reinbold said. “Because if this kid can do that, if he can go out there and put enough plays together 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’s going to find a way to help him as much as he can, but there’s going to be times where he’s going to have to make the throw and it’s going to be a tight window and he’s going to have to get the ball there.

“It’s the stuff of legend. So let’s see if it can become a legend.”

This weekend, a picture surfaced of Stidham and Nix from when the latter visited Auburn in 2018, when Stidham was the starting point guard. 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 Sean (Payton) will do a good job of getting him ready,” Reinbold said. “He’s been in the league for seven years, but to think that you’re going to go up against the New England Patriots defense and make enough plays to win a game, I think that’s a real question.”

Watch the Denver Broncos take on the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game live on Sky Sports NFL from 8pm on Sunday, January 25.