Unlike some other teams, the Green Bay Packers, barring some sort of significant injury over the next few weeks, know exactly who the top two quarterbacks on the depth chart will be heading into their Week 1 matchup with the Detroit Lions in Jordan Love and Malik Willis.
But there's still the matter of the race for the QB3 slot, which might not seem like a big deal but is far more important than some may realize.
And given what went down in the Packers' preseason victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium, one has to assume that rookie Taylor Elgersma has clearly taken the advantage in his battle with Sean Clifford.
Elgersma, who went unselected in the NFL draft but was taken with the 18th overall pick of the CFL draft after winning the Hec Crighton Trophy, which is Canada's version of the Heisman Trophy, for Wilfrid Laurier, started turning heads during rookie camp and is now showing what he can do in live NFL action.
Taylor Elgersma deserves to win the Packers' QB3 job ahead of Sean Clifford
Willis got the start against Indianapolis, but it was Elgersma, not Clifford, who was the first QB off the bench, entering the game with just under five minutes remaining in the second quarter.
While his first drive ended poorly, with Emanuel Wilson losing a fumble on just the second play, his second resulted in the Packers' first points of the game, as he led a five-play, 22-yard drive to set up a Mark McNamee 43-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, thus getting Green Bay to within 10 at 13-3.
Elgersma actually tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ben Sims a few plays earlier, but an illegal formation penalty on Anthony Belton nullified the score.
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The 23-year-old then led a 14-play, 80-yard drive to kick off the second half, which resulted in a three-yard touchdown run from Israel Abanikanda to move the Packers within three.
And following a Colts field goal on the ensuing possession, Elgersma then led a nine-play, 70-yard drive that led to a nine-yard touchdown run from Amar Johnson, which tied the game at 16-16 before McNamee missed the extra point.
Elgersma completed a couple of lengthy passes during the drive to Cornelius Johnson, including an 18-yarder on a 4th-and-3 to keep the chains moving. That proved to be his last drive, and he ended his day having completed seven of 11 passes for 109 yards, thus earning a solid 96.4 passer rating, which led all quarterbacks.
Now, to his credit, Clifford came in and led a 13-play, 68-yard drive and scored what proved to be the go-ahead touchdown on an 11-yard run. His passing, though, left a lot to be desired, as he completed just one of four tosses for 11 yards.
Naturally, given the talent Elgersma faced at the collegiate level, there were naturally some concerns about how he'd fare against NFL players.
But after some solid snaps against the New York Jets last week and this performance against the Colts, the 6-foot-5, 227-pounder is proving he has what it takes to succeed at this level. Did he look perfect against Indy? No, he didn't. There were times he looked a little lost and others where he held on to the football a little too long. But those are natural growing pains that every young quarterback suffers through.
So, let's get real here. Whether it's practice or these preseason contests, Elgersma is simply outplaying Clifford and clearly deserves the QB3 slot on the depth chart right now.
Even if he spends most of the year on the practice squad, he's going to get some good reps there. And with Willis set to enter free agency after this season, which likely results in his departure, Elgersma could easily find himself in a QB2 role a year from now.