Ranking KC Chiefs backup quarterback options from worst to best
By Matt Conner
Shane Buechele (a.k.a. the in-house option)
Whether or not it’s your favorite or your least favorite approach, this feels like the most likely option of all for the Chiefs going forward.
Here’s the thing that makes Shane Buechele feel fairly important to the Chiefs in 2023: They’ve created space for him on the team’s active roster since the 2021 NFL season. By the end of that year, the Chiefs had learned of the Arizona Cardinals’ interest in bringing him in from the Chiefs’ practice squad. However, the Chiefs stopped those plans by promoting Buechele to the active roster.
Since that team, the Chiefs haven’t allowed Buechele out of their sight, so to speak. Even with Mahomes healthy and Henne ready, Buechele has remained on the active roster, taking up an important spot when other positions suffering through injuries could have been bolstered or other prospects stashed.
The Chiefs’ posture when it comes to Buechele is a strong signal that they like him as something more than a competitive arm for training camp (see Oladokun). Knowing Henne was older and likely to retire after this season, it made sense to keep Buechele around for the chance to be the No. 2 guy on the roster. The team’s actions have signaled this intent for quite some time now and maybe that should tell us everything we need to know about his potential ceiling as well.