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Jeff Legwold
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Shortly after Sean Payton was hired as the Denver Broncos’ head coach during the 2023 offseason, the team signed three players during the initial hours of free agency. In a quick, decisive nod to Payton’s principles of building from the inside out, offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey and guard Ben Powers were awarded robust deals.
But the third player in that first wave was quarterback Jarrett Stidham.
Football fans have spent the past few days trying to get acquainted with the 29-year-old quarterback, who will start for the Broncos in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots (3 p.m. ET, Empower Field at Mile High, CBS). Stidham gets the nod after starting quarterback Bo Nix fractured his right ankle in the closing moments of Denver’s 33-30 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round. Nix had started all 17 regular-season games en route to 14-3 mark and the No. 1 seed in the conference, as well as last week’s playoff win.
«Stiddy’s been waiting for this moment for the entirety of his career,» McGlinchey said. «He’s more prepared than anybody would be in this situation. And he can ball, he can flat out play quarterback. We’ve seen it every day in practice. We’ve seen it in training camp.
«I have no doubts he’s going to go out there and play his butt off.»
Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer Roger Staubach was the last quarterback to make his first start of a season in a conference championship game.
But Staubach had started 10 games the season before and had thrown 20 passes in four appearances during the 1972 regular season. Stidham has not thrown a pass in a non-preseason game since he replaced Russell Wilson for the final two games of the 2023 campaign, spanning 749 days. According to ESPN Research, he’ll join Joe Webb (2012) as the only quarterbacks since 1950 to enter a playoff start with zero passing yards that season.
Stidham is largely on uncharted ground. But if you ask his teammates, he is the perfect guy for such a unique task.
«We have full faith in Stiddy. He’s the first guy in the building every day,» Broncos defensive tackle Zach Allen said earlier this week. «He’s like a second quarterback coach out there.»
«I’m looking forward to seeing what Stiddy got,» Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II added. «… I’m excited for him, this opportunity, he’s got everything it takes to shine on this level … just how he operates … cool, calm, collected.
«He talks a little trash. When you see that confidence, it definitely resonates with the whole team.»
Still, Stidham has very little game experience. He has played only 20 games since being selected by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2019 draft and played six or fewer snaps in 10 of those contests. And his game-day body of work this season includes four snaps — with zero pass attempts — in the Broncos’ 44-24 victory over the Cowboys on Oct. 28.
But his Broncos coworkers still believe in Stidham’s approach.
«[Stidham] is always ready to compete, to come at us in practice,» Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto said. «He’s got that personality, he lets you know when he’s got it going and he lets you know when you don’t.»
Nix has consistently lauded Stidham’s role in his own development from a first-round draft pick in 2024 to an immediate rookie starter to a quarterback for consecutive playoff teams. Stidham, who spent his first season learning behind Tom Brady in New England before moving to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022 and the Broncos the following year, has successfully walked the line between a player who believes he can start while serving as a quality backup and teammate.
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Stidham and Nix are close, as are their wives, and Stidham was one of the first Broncos to know Nix’s limp after Saturday’s win indicated something serious. Stidham was also one of the teammates who sat with Nix, Nix’s wife Izzy and Nix’s parents in a hallway outside the Broncos’ locker room right after doctors had told Nix his season was over.
«It’s crushing, he’s one of my best friends,» Stidham said. «… Obviously we wouldn’t be in this position without Bo, and yeah, I know all of us on offense, on the whole team, we just want to go out there and make him proud.»
Stidham and quarterbacks coach Davis Webb have served as a sounding board for Nix during the starter’s first two NFL seasons. And Payton valued Stidham so much that he led the charge to sign him to a second contract this past offseason for two years and $12 million.
«I believe in Sean, in Davis and [offensive coordinator] Joe [Lombardi] and our room, and being behind Bo and helping him grow, I take a lot of pride in that,» Stidham said. «That was something I wanted to be a part of … it’s pretty evident [Payton] has the train rolling in the right direction. I don’t think anybody could argue that, and I wanted to be a part of it.»
Stidham’s personality — as well as his portable stereo «Mr. Turtle,» which is waterproof so his music choices of the day can be heard in the showers — are prominent parts of the Broncos’ culture. He’s made an impact on a team whose players have repeatedly talked about how much they enjoy being around each other.
From a football perspective, Stidham has shown in preseason and scout teamwork that he has an aggressive streak and will push the ball downfield. His 9.9 yards per completion this past preseason led all quarterbacks with at least 30 preseason pass attempts, while his four touchdown passes were second. Over his regular-season career, Stidham has 1,422 passing yards, 8 touchdown passes and 8 interceptions.
His best regular-season performance as a pro came in the second-to-last game of the 2022 season with the Raiders. He replaced Derek Carr for the final two games and compiled a 365-yard, three-touchdown day in a 37-34 overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers finished that season leading the NFL in scoring defense and total defense, and Payton said this week that Stidham’s production in that game was a big reason why the Broncos «became aggressive» in their pursuit to sign him the ensuing offseason.
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One thing to watch with Stidham: sacks. He has taken 13 in his four career starts, including six against the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2022 finale. Nix’s sack avoidance behind a Broncos offensive line that is eighth in the NFL in pass block win rate (68.1%) has been one of his best features, as Nix was sacked 22 times in 17 regular-season contests this season and was not sacked in Saturday’s win over the Bills.
Stidham also has some big-moment mojo on his football résumé. When playing for Auburn in 2017, he beat two No. 1-ranked teams (Georgia and Alabama) within two weeks of each other as a redshirt sophomore. Perhaps that’s why Payton was quick to say «watch, just watch» when referring to Stidham while the Nix news was still fresh after the Bills game.
For his part, Stidham has moved through this week with the mindset to keep things «normal» and «just to be myself.»
«I’m still a vibe guy,» he said. «… I like to keep the vibes going. … We’re playing in [the] AFC Championship [Game], one of the last four teams playing, what’s not fun about this?»
