9k Football Presents: The Next Man Up! Awards

    Here it is, the moment we've all been waiting for the Next Man Up! Awards. We have seven awards to give out, many of which are dedicated to legendary backup QBs of the NFL's past. In this post, we will celebrate the wonderful world of backup QBs and their "accomplishments".

The Tom Tupa Award

    Tom Tupa was a Punter for the Jets from 1999 until 2001. During a matchup against the Patriots, starting QB Vinny Testaverde tore his Achilles tendon and the Jets were left without a backup. They opted for Tupa who finished out the game as the QB and despite his efforts, the Jets would go on to lose the game.

    The Tupa Award is awarded to a player who has really embraced the Next Man Up! mentality and stepped up when their team had no other choice. This season saw many QB3s come in to finish out games with double injuries, but only one has stood out more than the rest.

The winner of the Tom Tupa Award is:

Saquon Barkley, New York Giants

    Barkley is best known as one of the league's best rushers and the heartbeat of the Giants' offense. In a Week 4 matchup against the Chicago Bears starter Daniel Jones came off the field with a leg injury and shortly after, backup Tyrod Taylor was sent to the sideline with a concussion. Barkley came in as an emergency QB and ran a wildcat rushing attack the remainder of the game and helped secure a Giants win for the history books.

First Team Reps Award

    The First Team Reps Award is given to the backup QB that probably saw more playing time than he should've based on the team's and player's expectations.

The winner of the First Team Reps Award is:

Skylar Thompson, Miami Dolphins

    The 7th-round rookie was never supposed to see the field behind the flashy Tua Tagovailoa and a great insurance policy in Teddy Bridgewater. Due to injuries to both QBs Thompson played in a total of 8 games including starting a playoff game and just barely falling to the division-rival Bills.

Showdown of the Year

    This "award" is for the greatest backup vs backup game this season. With the sheer amount of backups this season we have gotten plenty of matchups, some better than others and one better than all.

Showdown of the Year Goes to:

Brock Purdy & Jarret Stidham, 49ers at Raiders Week 17

    After the benching of Derek Carr the Raiders turned to backup Jarrett Stidham to finish out the season. In his first start, he faced off against another red-hot backup, Brock Purdy. The pair combined for 5 TDs and 649yds. This shootout went into overtime and we saw the 49ers come out on top 37-34.

Gold Star Performance of the Year

    As we all know, we give out GSPs to our backups that perform spectacularly out on the field. This award goes to whom we've decided had the best single-game performance this season.

The Gold Star Performance of the Year goes to:

Joe Flacco, New York Jets at Cleveland Browns Week 2

    We may have seen the very last glimpse of the Dragon in Joe Flacco's comeback victory against the Browns. Down 30-17 with less than two minutes left, Flacco engineered two flawless drives and racked 4 TDs including the 15yd game-winning dart to Garrett Wilson. Sadly we never saw Flacco pull this off again this year, but it was a sweet reminder of what he used to be.

The Steve Young Award

    Steve Young is an MVP, Super Bowl champion, and HOF quarterback, but before all of that, he was the legendary Joe Montana's backup. After an injury during the 1991 season, Young came in to replace Montana and his legacy began. 

    This award is given to the player that caused a QB controversy and will force their team to have a long conversation about the position moving forward.

The winner of the Steve Young Award is:

Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

   Like his San Francisco ancestor, Purdy has come in this year and amazed everyone. From QB3 to sensation, the 49ers will have to decide whether or not to give up on Trey Lance or unload Purdy to the highest bidder. Purdy deserves at least a shot against Lance and I believe he will get it done.

The Nick Foles Award

    Our friend Nick Foles is often the butt of jokes, but we all remember the reason he will be in history forever. In 2017, Foles stepped in for an injured Carson Wentz and faithfully led the Eagles to the Super Bowl and a Lombardi. This award is also known as Backup of the Year as is our greatest award.

Without a doubt...

The

Nick Foles Award

Goes to...

Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

    We all knew Mr. Relevant would take home this award. The 7th-Round rookie led his team all the way to the NFC Championship and made his way into the mix for an open QB competition in the Bay next season. Purdy lived out the hopes we had for Cooper Rush and Bailey Zappe and defied every odd. Purdy was undefeated as a starter all the way until the end when he suffered a brutal elbow injury effectively putting him out of the game despite him finishing out. Purdy fought hard and truly put on a show for every backup in the league.