If Sunday's preseason showed Bills fans anything, it's that an injury to Josh Allen could be devastating to the potential of the 2025 Buffalo Bills. Backup quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Mike White combined to score zero points, and the Bills' offense looked lifeless against the Bears' defense.
As if it did not need any more confirmation, Pro Football Network released a ranking of the NFL's backup quarterbacks. The Bills did not rank favorably, with Trubisky coming in 31st out of 32 backups in the league.
Josh Weil, writing for PFN, called Trubisky "one of the biggest draft busts in recent memory" and cited his struggles both as a starter in Chicago and as a backup in Pittsburgh. He said that for the Bills' fans' sake, he hopes Buffalo does not have to rely upon Trubisky as a starter.
Should the Bills be exploring for a new backup QB sooner than later?
On the one hand, Weil is probably selling Trubisky short. The former No. 2 overall draft pick has a 31-26 record as a starter in the NFL, and he made the majority of his starts with the Bears, a team that's not known for winning much. He led the Bears to the playoffs twice, a feat that has not been accomplished by many Chicago quarterbacks.
He's also been solid in his limited opportunities with the Bills. Between 2021 and 2024, Trubisky has appeared in 15 games with the Bills, usually mopping up a blowout win or the rare blowout loss. He has a 73.5% completion rate, a 117.3 passer rating, has scored three touchdowns and has given up one interception.
While he is four years removed from being a starter and admittedly struggled during his two-year tenure in Pittsburgh, Trubisky is probably better than some of the names ranked ahead of him by PFN.
Brandon Allen (ranked No. 25) has a career record of 2-8. Tyler Shough (ranked No. 24) has not played in an NFL game yet. Tanner McKee (ranked No. 20) and Joe Milton III (ranked No. 18) have made just one NFL start each, in week 18 of 2024, in meaningless games. Hendon Hooker (ranked No. 17) hasn't made a single start, and Aiden O'Connell (ranked No. 13) has been among the worst quarterbacks in the league over the past two years.
It's fair to say Trubisky deserves to be ranked at least five or six spots higher, and an argument could be made for him to be in the Top-20. Still, based on his poor track record and the amount of time he's spent on the bench in recent years, it's hard to argue he should be much higher than 20. It's fair to wonder if Buffalo should look for a new backup quarterback soon.
The answer probably is not Mike White either. White has a 2-5 record in his career as a starter, and has a 61.4% completion percentage in his career. His 74.7 career passer rating is significantly worse than Trubisky's career mark of 86.
The Bills might want to consider drafting a new backup quarterback in 2026, but until then, they'd better hope Josh Allen can stay healthy in 2025.