If Week 1 brought everything we love about football, then Week 2 brought us the thing we dislike the most about the game: injuries.
Three promising young quarterbacks suffered injuries that appeared to be season-altering the moment they happened in Week 2. The news on Caleb Williams since he suffered the hamstring injury in the Chicago Bears’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings has been promising, but Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels could be out for an extended period of time and New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is done for the season.
Of course, in the short term, the injuries mean that at least two of those teams will be playing backup quarterbacks. But there are also long-term concerns surrounding the Week 2 injuries, particularly with Daniels and Dart, as the futures of both the Commanders and Giants largely hinge on those respective players.
So, we asked people around the NFL what they thought about those injuries and what future concerns they might have about Williams, Daniels and Dart. Here’s what we learned.
Scout: Teams Doomed If They Have To Play Backup QBs Long-Term
Ralph Vacchiano: One NFL scout told me, “My heart sank” when Bears quarterback Caleb Williams went down with what looked like a serious hamstring injury on Sunday afternoon. And he added, “I couldn’t believe it” when, a few hours later, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels went down with an elbow injury too.
And when Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart was on the ground holding his injured knee, the scout texted me, “Holy s—! Another one? What is going on?”
Good question.
It was a weekend of carnage for young, talented NFL quarterbacks and a potentially devastating one for three teams–particularly the Commanders and Giants, who lost their franchise quarterbacks for the season. All three will put on a brave face and say they’re confident in their backups.
But the truth is, they all know what they lost.
“The days of Steve Young backing up Joe Montana are over,” the scout told me. “There just aren’t that many good quarterbacks anymore, and the ones that are good don’t last long on somebody’s bench. What you’re looking for in a backup nowadays is a guy who can keep you afloat for a couple of games, maybe a month.
“But nobody wants to play most of the season with their second guy.”
Jameis Winston will start at quarterback for the Giants with Jaxson Dart out. (Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)
For proof, he pointed to the Giants and Commanders, who will now turn to Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, respectively. They are both 32 years old, so theoretically still in their prime. And they also happened to be the first two picks of the 2015 draft.
“They were stars,” the scout told me. “They had all the ability in the world. Everybody loved them. But it’s [11] years later now. They had their chance and showed they couldn’t do it — not on a consistent enough basis. With their ability, if anyone thought they could lead a team for a full season, they’d be a starter somewhere, believe me.
“But they can’t do it.”
So what’s the outlook for teams who have to play the rest of the way with their backup?
“All they can do is hope,” the scout told me. “You slim down your offense. You lean on your running game. You coach them to just not make mistakes, if that’s even possible. But it’s a downgrade in both cases. And we all know you just can’t afford a downgrade at quarterback. This isn’t replacing a corner or a guard. The position is too important to not have your No. 1 guy.”
Ralph Vacchiano: The Chicago Bears quarterback was one of the brightest emerging stars in the NFL before his painful hamstring injury knocked him out on Sunday. It’s still not clear how long Caleb Williams will be sidelined.
But at least one scout thinks that, even without him, they’d be fine.
“That’s really a running team anyway,” the scout told me. “Williams obviously adds a lot to that, but so much of it is Ben Johnson’s creative scheme. I’m not saying they’d go to the Super Bowl without Caleb. But I think they can ride those two running backs (D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai) to the playoffs behind that offensive line.”
One scout thinks the Bears will be OK without Caleb Williams thanks to players like D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Another scout told me that he even had some faith in the Bears’ backup quarterbacks — either Tyson Bagent, who is recovering from a concussion, or Case Keenum.
“I trust Ben Johnson more than most coaches to find what they do best and make them successful,” the scout told me. “He’s the one that made Jared Goff into a star in Detroit. He salvaged Caleb Williams after his rocky rookie season. I’m not saying [Bagent or Keenum] are Goff and Williams. They’re obviously not.
“I’m just saying they’re in very good hands.”
Eric D. Williams: A little over two years into his NFL career, Daniels has already missed time due to knee and hamstring injuries, and he’s also dislocated his left elbow twice.
Daniels showed his full potential early, leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game and earning Offensive Rookie of the Year after being selected second overall by Washington in the 2024 draft.
Jayden Daniels was arguably viewed as the league’s most promising QB after the 2024 season, but his career has been riddled by injuries since. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
But since then, Daniels has struggled to stay on the field. With two years left on his rookie deal, Daniels is contract extension eligible at the end of this season. And with franchise quarterbacks making north of $55 million annually, Washington general manager Adams Peters will have a tough decision to make on how to handle Daniels’ contract demands moving forward.
“The most conservative approach for them is to – even though the market will increase – wait until after Year 4, when he has proven that he can stay healthy and is indeed the future of the franchise at quarterback,” an NFL contract negotiator told me. “The key there is that they’d be willing to pay more after Year 4 (compared to the lower amount they would pay after Year 3) in exchange for getting more comfortable during Year 4 that he’s worth the investment.
“A more aggressive approach would be for them to still extend him after this season at a top-tier QB contract value, but with contract structuring that mitigates the risk of them paying a bunch of money to a QB who can’t stay healthy.”
The contract negotiator went on to say that, understanding Washington’s negotiation history, the Commanders will more likely take the conservative approach.
Ralph Vacchiano: The Commanders were surely devastated when Jayden Daniels suffered a dislocated elbow on Sunday, just like the Giants were crestfallen when Jaxson Dart suffered an injured knee.
But neither team could have been surprised.
That’s because both young quarterbacks suffered through a list of injuries last season, too. Daniels suffered a knee sprain, a hamstring injury and a dislocated elbow last year that all kept him out of nine games last season, and that’s after playing through a rib fracture as a rookie. And Dart missed 2,5 games with a concussion, and ended up in the medical tent several times for hits to the head.
Jaxson Dart missed multiple games due to a concussion last season. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
All injuries are not the same, but there’s an axiom in the NFL that “hurt guys get hurt.” And that’s something both teams will have to consider as they ponder futures with quarterbacks who have gotten hurt a lot.
“Look, you don’t give up on these guys,” an NFL executive told me. “They’re too talented for that. But you have to think about it. Both of them are going to want huge contract extensions over the next couple of years. How much do you want to invest? And maybe with them you have to be real sure about the rest of your quarterback room. Maybe upgrade your backup and make sure you have a young, developmental guy on your roster just in case.”
“You probably just have to bite your lip and cross your fingers,” a scout told me. “There are probably 20 other teams that would take Daniels or Dart, even with the injury risk. All you can do is hope they stay healthy.
“Also, this should warn both teams to heavily invest in their offensive line.”
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