Next man up: Ranking the NFL's backup quarterbacks for 6 teams that have had QB1 chaos - Yahoo Sports

Five plays into the 2026 NFL season, we saw the first starting quarterback go down.

The Seattle Seahawks ' Sam Darnold suffered a glute injury against the New England Patriots , and just like that, Drew Lock was leading the defending Super Bowl champs to a comeback victory on Opening Night.

It wouldn't take much longer for more starting quarterbacks to fall.

Less than 10 minutes into his Vikings debut in Week 1, Kyler Murray was knocked out with a concussion. Week 2 saw three recent first-round quarterbacks succumb to injury: Chicago 's Caleb Williams and Washington's Jayden Daniels , the first two picks of the 2024 NFL Draft, followed by the Giants' Jaxson Dart — and each injury seemingly worse than the next.

Seattle's Sam Darnold going down on Opening Night was an omen for the early portion of the 2026 NFL season.