With 63 different starters league-wide last year, insurance under center is vital. From Davis Mills to Mitchell Trubisky, we stack up which division rivals can survive a crisis.
Across the NFL, a total of 31 different backup quarterbacks started at least one game in 2025. In total, 63 different quarterbacks played as a starter last season—illustrating the importance of having depth in the quarterback room.
Last season was a relatively healthy one for the starting quarterbacks of the AFC South with Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars), CJ Stroud (Houston Texans), Daniel Jones (Indianapolis Colts) and Cam Ward (Tennessee Titans) combining to start 61 of a possible 68 games and had a combined winning percentage of .541. But as the Colts found out in Week 14, not having a plan at the backup quarterback position can derail even the hottest starts to a season.
While Lawrence, Stroud, Jones and Ward are entrenched as the starters for their respective teams for the foreseeable future, injuries are not only unpredictable, they are inevitable.
So, which AFC South team is best equipped to handle an injury to their respective starting quarterbacks? Here we rank the division’s backup quarterback situations from best to worst.
1. Davis Mills, Houston
Stroud helped lead the Texans to the NFL playoffs for a third consecutive season in 2025 but missed three games in the middle of the season due to a concussion. Along with Houston’s Super Bowl caliber defense, Mills stepped in admirably winning all three of his starts. In three consecutive wins against the Jaguars, Titans and Buffalo Bills, the former Stanford Cardinal completed 59 percent of his passes for 719 yards, five touchdowns and just one interception. Spending his entire five-year career with the Texans, Mills has started 29 games, has completed 61.8 percent of his passes and has thrown 40 touchdowns to 26 interceptions.
2. Mitchell Trubisky, Tennessee
Ward’s rookie season was one to forget. Already facing the challenge of being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft and forced into action from day one, Ward waded through his first season and a mid-season coaching change and managed to start all 17 games for the Titans. This season Ward will finally have some help. Not only did new head coach Robert Saleh bring in former Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, the Titans signed Trubisky, who served as the Bills’ backup behind Josh Allen under Daboll.
The former No. 2 overall pick by the Chicago Bears has started 57 games in his career and has a .543 winning percentage. Trubisky has completed 64.4 percent of his passes with 78 touchdowns to 48 interceptions.
3. Nick Mullens, Jacksonville
Part of Lawrence’s rise to elite status of NFL quarterbacks last season was starting all 17 games—a feat he hadn’t accomplished since 2022. Mullens joined the Jaguars last season after three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, but only saw 36 offensive snaps in 2025. Mullens has started in 20 career games, but newcomer Carter Bradley from South Alabama has made an impression on coaches early on in the offseason.
4. Anthony Richardson Jr./Riley Leonard, Indianapolis
Through the first 10 games of 2025, Jones had the Colts humming with an 8-2 record and looked to be a lock for the playoffs. Then in Week 12 Jones suffered a fractured fibula which eventually led to him tearing his Achilles in Week 14. With Richardson unavailable after a workout-related eye injury forced him to miss most of the season, the Colts pulled Philip Rivers out of retirement. Leonard ultimately started the Colts’ final game of the season throwing for 270 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 38-30 loss to the Texans.
Jones and the team have said they are confident he will be a full participant during training camp and will be ready for the start of the 2026 season.
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