Who should be the Kansas City Chiefs back-up quarterback in 2018?

While the Chiefs trading Alex Smith has allowed them to move onto the Patrick Mahomes era, it has also left a void to at the backup quarterback position.

Growing up as Kansas City Chiefs fans, we all know that they are not very respected on a national level. Analysts generally doubt the Chiefs or just forget about them entirely. This is nothing new. I

A side effect of this is that you generally do not meet a lot of Chiefs fans outside of the Kansas and Missouri area. I am currently living in South Korea for the next year and the weirdest thing has happened: there are Chiefs fans everywhere here. I was blown away by how many there are. I was even more surprised at the fact that, upon meeting them, many of them have the same question running through their minds: who will be the Chiefs backup quarterback in 2018?

In an attempt to help provide an answer for my new friends and neighbors, as well as the rest of Chiefs Kingdom, here’s a rundown of some options the Chiefs should consider.

Sam Bradford

This sounds crazy at first. I get that, but Sam Bradford has had a very hard time staying healthy over the years.  After only starting a game and a half for the Minnesota Vikings this past season, teams may not be willing to pay him the starter money that he has gotten over the years. Bradford’s injury history goes all the way back to his second season in the league; in fact he has only played in all 16 games of a season twice in his entire career.

Knowing this, having him spot start for another team’s quarterback will probably be Bradford’s best bet to continue to have a career in the NFL. If the Chiefs can convince him to come in and back up Patrick Mahomes for a year for around five to seven-million-dollar range they should jump on it. Who knows? He may go to another team and win a Super Bowl after a year here with Andy Reid.

Josh McCown

Josh McCown has been in the league for a long time. He will be entering his 16th year coming into the 2018 season and ,at the age of 38, he showed no signs of slowing down this last year. That was until he was once again hurt, breaking his left hand against the Denver Broncos.

McCown finished last season with 2,926 yards, 18 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and another five touchdowns rushing. He also has struggled to finish an entire season throughout his career. Having a backup that is as injury prone as McCown isn’t generally ideal either, but If you are looking for a very competent backup quarterback that has seen just about everything the NFL can throw at a player, McCown is the guy.

Chase Daniel

Chase Daniel should be the favorite to return to the Chiefs. He backed up Alex Smith for the first two years of the Andy Reid era, and his familiarity with the playbook is a great thing to have. Daniel also played well in his two starts for the Chiefs. During his first game, he completed 21 of 30 attempts for 200 yards passing and a touchdown. He also added another 59 yards on the ground through seven rushes. Unfortunately, the Chiefs lost that game in overtime 27-24 against the then San Diego Chargers. The second game that Daniel started for the Chiefs had a much better outcome (a 19-7 win) even though he only passed for 157 yards on 27 attempts.

Since then, Daniel has spent some time with the Philadelphia Eagles and the New Orleans Saints, but he has not had much of a chance to shine on the field since. If Daniel is still not insisting on a potential starting role, he could be an immediate fit as the team’s No. 2 QB.

Draft Pick

There are people out there who do not value the backup quarterback position. If this is how you feel, then the cheapest route would be for the Chiefs to use one of their draft picks to fill the void. The Chiefs have never been afraid of taking late round fliers on quarterbacks having drafted Aaron Murray and Kevin Hogan in the fifth round. They’ve also kept Tyler Bray as an undrafted free agent for the last several seasons.

No matter how Brett Veach goes about addressing this issue on the roster it is clear the Chiefs will have plenty of options here.