5 NFL QBs who went from starters to jobless due to one horrible season 

Josh Rosen

The 2018 NFL season was one to forget in the desert as Josh Rosen's rookie campaign fell off the rails with the Cardinals. It may have arguably never been on the rails to begin with now that it's been given some thought.

Rosen had three more interceptions than he did touchdowns and failed to eclipse 250 passing yards in his first four NFL appearances, doing so in just one game the entire season. Some of his QB stats were brutal relative to the competition, per 98.7 FM Arizona's Sports Station:

"Rosen ranked 33rd and last among qualified candidates with a quarterback rating of 66.7 this season. That ranked immediately behind rookie Bills QB Josh Allen’s 67.9 and rookie Jets signal-caller Sam Darnold’s 77.6 rating. Rosen was also 33rd by averaging 163 passing yards per game and just 5.80 yards per attempt."

The leash in Arizona was so short that he was yanked from the position and was on a different NFL roster by year two. Miami took him on as Ryan Fitzpatrick's backup, and he couldn't play his way out of that role. No team took him on during the pandemic-stricken 2020 season. He was hardly given a chance with the Atlanta Falcons, though his 2/11 passing performance probably had a lot to do with that.

Blake Bortles was at the top of the world in 2018

Blake Bortles

It's somewhat tragic tracking the trajectory of Blake Bortles' NFL career, thus far. The Florida-born quarterback played college ball at UCF. He was drafted with the 2014 NFL Draft's No. 3 pick to be the franchise signal-caller in Jacksonville. His rookie season was disappointing enough to put him on the chopping block. Somehow, he persevered and threw for 35 touchdowns in what was the antithesis of a sophomore slump.

Things peaked in January 2018 when Bortles' Jaguars went toe-to-toe with Tom Brady's Patriots, but the New England 24-20 win was the closest Bortles would get to being at the top of the NFL totem pole.

His offensive line was shaky. His receivers weren't putting themselves in position to make plays, and ultimately Bortles himself no longer had the stuff to be the starter for any team, at least, according to the league.

Mark Sanchez had a rough season in 2012, got injured, and never returned to a starting role

Mark Sanchez

Mark Sanchez can definitely up the tragedy from Blake Bortles' case. Sanchez came from USC as a top prospect and immediately had the Jets in the AFC Championship his first and second seasons after years of futility from the franchise, with Chad Pennington as the primary option under center.

Then, Tim Tebow was brought into the mix. The "butt fumble" transpired at MetLife Stadium on Thanksgiving night 2012 just weeks after Hurricane Sandy. Sanchez was injured playing in a preseason game in the summer of 2013, while trying to earn the starting job. Sanchez's prospects of being a top option in someone's backfield were gone.

Then-Jets coach Rex Ryan spoke of his regret at even having the former first-round NFL Draft pick in the game late during a preseason game. He said that he would have changed things if he could:

“That was a tough situation obviously. If I could go back and change things, of course you would. You don’t want anybody to ever get hurt. But again, you’ve got to decide, guys. Somebody has to play.”

When it happened, Ryan was far less remorseful. He suggested that Sanchez being on the field was necessary. This would enable the team to decide who the starting QB would be for the 2013 season between Sanchez and Geno Smith:

"We're there to win. We had our starting offense out there for three quarters -- we're trying to win the game, that's what we wanted to do. … We're trying to compete. Everybody's out there and injuries are part of the game."

No matter how Sanchez lost his 2013 season, it was clear he was no longer the guy in New York with second-round rookie Smith out to become QB1. He would never start again in his NFL career.

Geno Smith was another Jets flameout

Geno Smith

Unfortunately, speaking of Geno Smith, he was a fellow Jets flameout in 2014. He joined the man he replaced and was neck and neck with during Gang Green's 2013 QB competition, Mark Sanchez.

He had identical touchdowns to interceptions, but Smith's 2014 season hit an embarrassingly low-point in December of that year with the Jets limiting him to eight pass attempts for the first 58 minutes. When New York needed him to successfully run the two-minute drill, he threw an interception with 34 seconds left to close the door on a 16-13 loss.

Smith is, somehow, in the running for Seattle's starting job here in 2022, with the Seahawks competition coming down to the 31-year-old and one of the pieces in the Russell Wilson trade, Drew Lock. By no means is he a clear-cut NFL starter, and he hasn't been one in eight years.

Colin Kaepernick is no longer be a starter for many reasons

Colin Kaepernick

This inclusion may be controversial, but Colin Kaepernick did not engineer a winning effort in San Francisco during his final seasons in the Bay in 2015 and 2016.

The 49ers made a business decision that had on-field ramifications during the winter of 2017 in cutting him. Jimmy Garoppolo, future Super Bowl QB, entered the room with long-time utility option C. J. Beathard.

The fact that few teams have looked at him since then is probably primarily due to off-field distractions, but Kaepernick was never NFL starter material after showing the inability to hit his targets during a difficult 2016 campaign.