Just three years ago, Sam Darnold signed a one-year deal with San Francisco in a backup capacity, where he started just one game. A good backup, tolerable spot starter, draft bust, the perception of Darnold’s career was that his meaningful playing days were behind him.
Three years later, Darnold has ascended to a Lombardi-owning, highly paid, franchise quarterback.
While a case can be made that Darnold holds the biggest career turnaround in NFL history, the QB revival movement didn’t start with him. The league is full of these stories. Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield, and Daniel Jones are all still starters in the league, even though there was a time it was widely believed their careers as starters were over.
Second chances are rare in the NFL, but there always seems to be a batch of forgotten QBs every generation who turn it around in a major way when receiving that second chance. It’s time to look to the future and predict who that next group will consist of.
In what seemed like destiny, the pro-ready, refined, and cognizant prospect out of Alabama slid down the board to the recently QB-needy New England Patriots in 2021. Mac Jones impressed out of the gate, earning a Pro Bowl nod and leading the Pats to a playoff berth in just his rookie season.
The smooth sailing ended there. In his sophomore season, with Joe Judge and Matt Patricia splitting playcalling duties, Jones struggled mightily, both in his ability on the field and in his ability to stay on it. The 2023 season saw his time with New England end quietly. Jones didn’t take another snap after a Week 12 benching.
After spending an insignificant year in Jacksonville, Jones signed in a backup role with the 49ers in 2025. When Brock Purdy had to take some injury time off, Jones seized the opportunity.
Jones helped to keep the hobbled 49ers afloat. In eight starts, he put up over 2000 yards and 13 touchdowns, recording a passer rating of 97.4.
While Jones will spend another year in San Francisco as a high-quality backup, it’s clear that’s not his career trajectory. Once he eventually hits the open market, expect a Malik Willis-type demand for him.
All roads apparently lead back to San Francisco in this thought exercise. In 2021, the 49ers traded significant capital to move up to the No. 3 selection in the draft, where they selected the North Dakota State phenom.
A physical prototype, the physical talent has always been visibly present for Lance. His rocket arm and scrambling ability, combined with elite production in just 17 college starts, convinced San Francisco brass to pull the trigger.
For how big a ‘bust’ some people consider Lance, it happened extremely quietly. A few uneventful spot-starts in his rookie year, two starts before a season-ending injury in year two. That was it for Lance with the 49ers.
Of course, the rise of Brock Purdy sped up Lance’s exit from San Francisco. After just four starts with the 49ers, Lance has since bounced around as a backup, only making two starts since.
The physical talent is still very apparent with Lance, and he doesn’t have some fatal flaw holding him back like other draft ‘busts’. He simply has never been given the shot to show the quarterback he can be with full organizational backing. Once that happens, we could be talking about Lance the same way we do Darnold or Mayfield.
Wilson is immediately different from the other QBs on this list. He hasn’t already shown signs of improvement like Jones, and the Jets gave him plenty of opportunity, unlike Lance.
Wilson looked terrible in most of his 33 starts with the Jets. The rocket-armed prospect out of BYU simply looked lost when he played. Like Lance, the physical talent has always been apparent; the production has not.
However, now two seasons removed from his time in New York, Wilson has secured a third contract to play backup. From Denver to Miami, and now to New Orleans, Wilson has managed to keep his NFL career alive.
He’s seen limited snaps since, but spending a year with Sean Peyton and Mike McDaniel is not a small thing. Wilson definitely a wild card, but the fact that Wilson keeps earning contracts is indicative of some improvement behind the scenes.
It would be shocking, but Wilson has the tools, and why not be optimistic that his time around some elite coaches has unlocked some of that potential?
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