In a recent ranking of backup quarterbacks in the NFL by CBS Sports, Matt Barkley finds himself near the bottom of the league.
The backup quarterback position is something that has been talked about pretty frequently since the 2020 NFL Draft because of the fact that the Buffalo Bills added Jake Fromm in the fifth round. The expectation is that he will compete for the starting backup job with Matt Barkley, who has filled the role for the last year and half.
If the recent rankings of backup quarterbacks by Sean Wagner-McGough on CBS Sports is any indication then he has a really good chance of winning the job. The Bills backup quarterback was ranked 26th among the 32 backup quarterbacks in the NFL.
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"26. Bills’ Matt BarkleyMy favorite Matt Barkley fun fact is that he once wore a wetsuit under his uniform as a member of the Bears to stave off the cold. He actually played halfway decent football in that game too considering his lack of experience as an NFL starting quarterback and the fact that he was wearing a wetsuit under his uniform during a real live NFL game. Unfortunately, I don’t have many more great things to say about Barkley as an NFL quarterback. There’s a reason he’s a backup; he carries a career 65.7 passer rating. It wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see rookie Jake Fromm usurp him at some point during the upcoming season. In fact, I flirted with the idea of ranking Fromm here instead of Barkley."
Matt Barkley has had an interesting NFL career that started with a slide in the 2013 NFL Draft, all the way down to the fourth round when the Philadelphia Eagles selected him. After two years with the Eagles, he was traded to the Cardinals. He then bounced around the league and had stops with the 49ers, Bears, another stop with the Cardinals, and the Bengals before landing with the Buffalo Bills.
He has since stuck and been up and down during his time on the field. In 2018, he stepped in as the starting quarterback with Josh Allen and Derek Anderson hurt and played well against the Jets with 232 passing yards and two touchdowns.
This past season, Barkley made two appearances and didn’t look stellar. In Week 4, Barkley played the final quarter against the New England Patriots after Josh Allen suffered an injury. He also played a majority of the Week 17 matchup against the New York Jets with the team’s backups. He finished this past year with 359 total passing yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions.
While the Buffalo Bills would likely go with an open competition if the need ever arose for either quarterback to play extended time, the veteran leadership Matt Barkley brings to the position room is enough to keep him in the role for at least this upcoming season.