Where does Bills’ Matt Barkley rank as a backup QB?
Backup quarterbacks are just one snap away from being at the top of the depth chart. There’s a chance that the man holding the clipboard one week will make the most of his chance on the field, a la the Titans’ Ryan Tannehill, who took over for the Tennessee and parlayed his performance into a four-year, $118 million extension.
For the Bills, Matt Barkley is the guy who’s one play away from jumping in with the first-team offense in lieu of a Josh Allen injury, week in and week out. With Tannehill previously near the top of the charts as a backup QB in the NFL, where does Barkley stack up against the competition?
Pro Football Focus ranked the best backup quarterbacks ahead of the 2020 season. Unfortunately, PFF does not see Barkley inspiring confidence if he were to play in a substantial chunk of games, slotting the veteran as the 23rd-best second-string quarterback in the league.
In a simulation of 100,000 situations, PFF estimated where Barkley falls among the league’s backups. In fewer than half of the simulations (42.4-percent), Barkley was viewed as a top-16 quarterback. In a longshot scenario of Barkley taking the helm for an extended time and finishing as a top-10 quarterback in the league, Barkley lands in this range in only five percent of the scenarios.
Barkley solidified his place as the Bills backup during Buffalo’s tumultuous 2018 quarterback season, one in which the team traded a quarterback prior to the start of the season and started four quarterbacks in the regular season. Barkley exploded with a 232-yard passing day that year, leading the Bills to a 41-10 victory over the New York Jets.
Flash forward to 2020 and Barkley is entering the final year of his contract with Buffalo. The team drafted Jake Fromm in the fifth-round of this April’s draft, adding some intrigue to the quarterback depth chart. Fromm won’t challenge Barkley in the short term. However, things could get interesting depending on Barkley’s progress during this year.
Really the most telling thought behind Barkley’s place on the Bills is the idea that he’s the “veteran backup” to Allen. Yes, he is older, but veteran? Allen has 27 starts to Barkley’s seven in their respective careers. The Bills front office brass will need to make a decision if Barkley will earn another contract extension with the team as safety option if Allen were to miss time… or does Fromm or another younger option fit behind their starter?
