Bo Nix’s fractured ankle has thrust backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham into the spotlight, starting for the Broncos in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Patriots for a trip to Super Bowl LX.
Stidham hasn’t thrown a pass in an NFL game in more than two years and has just four starts in his seven seasons in the league, but those who know him best will tell you he’s won big games before.
“He’ll be ready for the moment, I’ll tell you that,” Gus Malzahn, Stidham’s head coach at Auburn in 2017-18, told me over the phone. “He’s a great competitor and he’s been waiting on this moment. I expect him to seize it.”
Stidham, 29, is in nearly uncharted waters. He will have the fewest career starts of any quarterback to start in a conference championship game in the Super Bowl era. Back in the 1990 postseason, the Giants‘ Jeff Hostetler had only four starts, also at age 29, when he stepped in for Phil Simms and won three playoff games, including a Super Bowl victory.
Because Nix stayed healthy nearly all season, Stidham has only played four snaps this year, handing the ball off three times and taking a knee at the end of a lopsided win over the Cowboys in October. His last actual pass came in the 2023 regular-season finale, but Broncos coach Sean Payton said his team will have confidence in Stidham, rallying around him as other famous backups have done.
“Historically speaking, all bets weren’t off with Hostetler,” Payton told reporters Monday. “They weren’t off in Philly [with Nick Foles]. We lost [Drew] Brees 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 [Davis] Mills came in. I don’t know if he lost a game … Are there certain things that Bo does differently than Stiddy? Absolutely. That’s where the work begins tonight.”
If you needed an example of Stidham stepping up under pressure to lead his team to unexpected victory, go back to November 2017, when he beat two No. 1 teams in a span of 15 days. He helped Auburn take down top-ranked Georgia, 40-17, behind as he scored four total touchdowns before beating top-ranked Alabama, 26-14, as Stidham rushed for a score to earn a spot in the SEC Championship Game.
Jarrett Stidham helped Auburn take down No. 1 Alabama just weeks after leading the Tigers to an upset over No. 1 Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
“I don’t know if that’s ever been done, and he’s the main reason we did it, with his leadership,” Malzahn, who is now the offensive coordinator at Florida State, told me. “He’s got all the physical tools, has a great arm. He’s a really good leader, understands the game and coverages.”
Stidham, who led Auburn to another top-10 win over No. 6 Washington in the 2018 opener, finished his college career with 48 touchdowns against only 13 interceptions. He was a fourth-round pick of the Patriots, backing up Tom Brady for his last season in New England, but he’s been stuck behind healthy quarterbacks for most of the last seven seasons.
Stidham started the final two games of the 2022 season for the Raiders. He threw for 365 yards, three touchdowns and two picks in his first start, an overtime loss to a 49ers team that reached the NFC Championship Game that season. His lone career win came at the end of 2023 in Payton’s first season in Denver, throwing for a touchdown in a 16-9 win over the Chargers.
Jarrett Stidham played alongside Tom Brady for a season with the New England Patriots after getting selected by them in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Sunday will be his first meaningful NFL snaps, trying to help a Broncos team that went 14-3 and earned the AFC’s top seed to victory and a trip to the Super Bowl. Practice reps are hard to find for a backup quarterback, but he’ll have all the reps this week, helping prepare him for a years-in-the-making chance against the Patriots.
“He’s built for this kind of stuff,” Chip Lindsey, Stidham’s offensive coordinator at Auburn and now in the same role at Missouri, told me over the phone. “I texted him the other day and told him that. This sucks for Bo, but at the end of the day, he’s built for this and he’s proven that. Time and time again, when his number has been called, he’s done a really good job. His mentality, his demeanor, the way he approaches his preparations, he’ll be ready to go for this opportunity.”
Lindsey has all kinds of personal connections in Sunday’s game. Sidham helped him recruit Nix to Auburn, and he was the offensive coordinator at North Carolina in 2023, coaching Drake Maye, who will start for the Patriots on Sunday. He and Malzahn worked with Broncos running back RJ Harvey at Central Florida in 2022 as well.
“Jarrett’s a smart guy, and he’s going to prepare like he’s the starter every week, to not take anything for granted,” Lindsey said. “With us, the moment was never too big for him. He was calm, cool, collected and stayed in the moment and really executed our game plan. I think having this week, where he gets all the reps, that can only help him, for sure.”
Jarrett Stidham raised some eyebrows in his first career NFL start in 2022, nearly leading the Raiders to an upset win over the 49ers. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Payton has the same confidence in Stidham, having spent three years working with him every day and knowing how high Josh McDaniels was on him to acquire him in Las Vegas after working with him in New England.
“It started with our evaluation in New Orleans of him. He was a target for us in the draft,” Payton said. “That doesn’t really mean anything other than we liked this player coming out … I know reports on how he played, and then we saw him play in real time. But ultimately, to answer your question, it’s our three years here. In our three years, watching him day-in and day-out that you guys don’t have access to. He will be ready to go and ready for the moment.”
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