The Kansas City Chiefs have a new backup quarterback for the fourth straight year and this time it’s Gardner Minshew. The former sixth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft has made a name for himself as a backup quarterback in the NFL, spending time with the Eagles, Colts, and Raiders in the role.
Minshew ended up starting games for the Colts and Raiders but, when push comes to shove, he’s a backup quarterback and that’s what role suits him best. It’s also the role the Chiefs expect from him since Patrick Mahomes is going to be the starter unless something goes horribly wrong (knock on wood).
Minshew might be expected to be the backup quarterback in K.C. but that doesn’t mean that everyone is convinced that he’s one of the better ones. Gilberto Manzano of Sports Illustrated recently ranked the backup quarterbacks in the NFL and had Minshew right around the middle of the pack at 14.
“Minshew went from a productive starting stint for the Indianapolis Colts in 2023 to a disastrous starting role with the Raiders last year. The Minshew Mania rollercoaster saw a combined 20 starts in the past two seasons. He won’t be expected to play as Patrick Mahomes’s backup in Kansas City. Minshew had a cozy stint with the Eagles, starting only four games in two seasons after two up-and-down seasons with the Jaguars to start his career.”
Gardner Minshew considered average backup QB and Chiefs fans should be just fine with that
The good thing about having an elite quarterback running the show for a team is that the backup quarterback is mostly an afterthought. Sure, there are times when the backup might be thrown into action due to injuries or unforeseen circumstances but fans aren’t clamoring to see the backup in a game.
Chiefs fans remember the days when the starter might not have been good enough to stave off the growing calls for the backup to take over. That hasn’t been something we’ve dealt with in Kansas City since Mahomes took over as the starter in 2018 and it’s a wonderful thing. Minshew knew what his role was before signing with Kansas City and the less drama at the most intriguing position in sports, the better.
Minshew is good enough that he can start and win a few games for a team if necessary but he’s not someone you’d want running the offense for more than half the season. That’s what makes him a good pickup for K.C. He can be plugged into the offense should Mahomes have to miss a few games. If Mahomes goes down for longer, the Chiefs aren’t going to be Super Bowl contenders anymore so it doesn’t matter too much who the backup quarterback is because they can’t provide what Mahomes does.
Some teams need to have good backup quarterbacks if their starter is inexperienced or injury-prone but the Chiefs aren’t in that category. Even still, Minshew makes sense in Kansas City as the next Chiefs backup quarterback and hopefully, we never see him on the field except in blowout wins or in the regular season finale after the Chiefs have locked up the number one seed.
