The most popular player on a lot of teams is the No. 2 quarterback. Sometimes it happens even when the starter is a star, ala Tom Brady and former backup Jimmy Garoppolo, or Drew Brees and Teddy Bridgewater. And there's some of that going on with Jacoby Brissett.
Colts GM Chris Ballard was asked about Brissett in an interview recently, and he said he hadn't received any compelling trade offers. It's only surprising if you think Indianapolis is sitting on some future franchise quarterback, rather than a nice career backup.
When Andrew Luck missed the entire 2017 season, Brissett filled in and did a credible job. You know, sort of. He had 17 total touchdowns and just 7 interceptions, striking some as a savvy pickup in the preseason. But let's not get too crazy about it.
Brissett showed enough skills that he belongs in the league as a viable No. 2 quarterback. But he averaged only 203 passing yards, plus the Colts went 4-12. Among all quarterbacks who started most of the season that year, only four put up fewer fantasy points than Brissett. That's in a scoring system with 4-point TD passes, 6-point runs, and 1 point for every 20 passing and 10 rushing yards.
| QB FANTASY PRODUCTION, 2017 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pass | TDP | Run | TDR | FF |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 3983 | 34 | 586 | 3 | 416 |
| Cam Newton, Car. | 3302 | 22 | 754 | 6 | 367 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 4577 | 32 | 28 | 0 | 364 |
| Kirk Cousins, Was. | 4093 | 27 | 179 | 4 | 355 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 4446 | 29 | 98 | 0 | 352 |
| Alex Smith, K.C. | 4042 | 26 | 355 | 1 | 348 |
| Philip Rivers, LAC | 4515 | 28 | -2 | 0 | 338 |
| Carson Wentz, Phil. | 3296 | 33 | 299 | 0 | 335 |
| Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 4251 | 28 | 47 | 0 | 333 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 3324 | 22 | 357 | 6 | 326 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 4334 | 23 | 12 | 2 | 322 |
| Blake Bortles, Jac. | 3687 | 21 | 322 | 2 | 319 |
| Jared Goff, LAR | 3804 | 28 | 51 | 1 | 313 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 4095 | 20 | 143 | 0 | 299 |
| Case Keenum, Min. | 3547 | 22 | 160 | 1 | 289 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 3320 | 25 | 99 | 0 | 276 |
| Marcus Mariota, Tenn. | 3232 | 13 | 312 | 5 | 275 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 3496 | 22 | 66 | 0 | 273 |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 3504 | 19 | 135 | 1 | 273 |
| Tyrod Taylor, Buff. | 2799 | 14 | 427 | 4 | 263 |
| Josh McCown, NYJ | 2926 | 18 | 124 | 5 | 261 |
| DeShone Kizer, Clev. | 2894 | 11 | 419 | 5 | 261 |
| Eli Manning, NYG | 3468 | 19 | 26 | 1 | 258 |
| Jacoby Brissett, Ind. | 3098 | 13 | 260 | 4 | 257 |
| Joe Flacco, Balt. | 3141 | 18 | 54 | 1 | 242 |
| Jay Cutler, Mia. | 2666 | 19 | 32 | 0 | 213 |
| Trevor Siemian, Den. | 2285 | 12 | 127 | 1 | 181 |
| Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 2193 | 7 | 248 | 2 | 176 |
Considering he was a virtual rookie thrust into a new offense on the eve of the season, Brissett did fine. But he did nothing to suggest any of the NFL's other teams should view him as a future franchise quarterback. He looks like a nice No. 2, and the Colts need that as much as any of the league's other franchises. Most likely, he'll be Luck's backup this year, and sign somewhere next year -- maybe with Indianapolis -- as a backup again.
--Andy Richardson