For the past two years, the Green Bay Packers have had arguably one of the best backup quarterbacks in all of football. While it doesn't sound like the thing you'd want to brag about, the safety net of having a backup like the Packers did with Malik Willis was put on display several times for Green Bay.
At various points in both 2024 and 2025, Willis stepped in and led the Packers to big wins and solid play when Jordan Love was forced to miss time. After signing with the Miami Dolphins in free agency this offseason, the Packers have turned to two new quarterbacks to lean on should anything arise. In just a brief look, though, it's clear the situation is a lot shakier than it has been.
During the Packers' opening preseason game, a 28-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team got its first chance to see both Tyrod Taylor and Kyle McCord in "real" action. With starter Jordan Love playing just a single series, Taylor and McCord got pretty much the entire game to themselves...and it wasn't the best.
Taylor only got eight passing attempts, but finished 4-of-8 with just 21 passing yards.
To be fair to him, Taylor was under duress for much of his time in the game, as the Packers' offensive line was less-than-stellar. However, Taylor, 37, didn't really make the kind of first impression you would be hoping for. Even with the poor offensive line play, Taylor missed on a couple of passes and couldn't move the offense much at all with his chances.
Kyle McCord was a bright spot, but backup quarterback play was still shaky for the Green Bay Packers last night
On the flip side, McCord, who signed a futures deal with the team in January, performed fairly well. The presumptive QB3 on the team, McCord looked much more in control than Taylor did, throwing for 102 yards and completing 12-of-16 pass attempts.
Of course, this came against the deeper parts of the Steelers' bench. McCord also took a pretty bad sack on a third down that took the team out of field goal range and was only able to really get them in field goal range a couple of times after that.
RELATED: 5 biggest standouts from Packers' preseason loss to Steelers
All in all, it was a pretty uninspiring day for the backups in Green Bay. It's unrealistic to think any quarterback would step in and play at the level Willis did. For all intents and purposes, Malik even being on the Packers was lucky, as the Tennessee Titans had essentially given up on him at the age of 25, allowing the Packers to acquire him for just a seventh-round pick.
With some coaching and development, Willis quickly showed his skills, something that a 37-year-old Taylor and less-touted prospect in McCord might simply never be able to do. However, as we've seen the past two seasons in Green Bay (and across the NFL as a whole), the backup quarterback position is a hyper-valuable one. Not having even a competent one can quickly tank an entire season, no matter how good the rest of the roster might be.
There's still lots of time left, though. No one was saying that Willis was going to turn into a good, let alone above-average, quarterback during his time in Green Bay. Now, he's a highly paid starter in the league. Taylor has the pedigree that you can bank on in terms of being a reliable backup, and McCord has shown some flashes that make you hopeful that Matt LaFleur could mold him into something given enough time.
As it stands, however, there's some reason to be worried. Jordan Love has been dinged up over the past two years and forced to miss some time. The Packers were usually able to weather those storms without much issue, but they will have to work a lot harder to do so now.
Add us as a preferred source on Google