Beat: Ehlinger could beat Stidham for DEN QB2 role

Ehlinger signed with the Broncos last offseason but didn’t make their final roster. He chose to stay on the team’s practice squad despite receiving 53-man roster offers from other teams. He bounced between the practice squad and the active roster throughout the year. With teams reportedly calling Denver about Jarrett Stidham, the Broncos are keeping Ehlinger around as a potential QB2 option should they choose to move their current backup.

Russinni says teams are interested in Stidham as a possible starting option for 2026 after he started the AFC title game against the Patriots, completing 17 of 31 attempts for 133 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in a 10-7 loss. Stidham, a longtime favorite of head coach Sean Payton, is under contract through the 2026 season. It would be surprising to see the Broncos part ways with their backup quarterback unless a team gets aggressive in acquiring Stidham for whatever reason.

Levis is one of a quintet of backups mentioned by Fowler — Tyson Bagent, Tanner McKee, Davis Mills, and Jarrett Stidham are the others — that fall under the umbrella of “teams that have better-known backups entering the final years of their contracts.” We’ve covered a few of them over the past month — especially Bagent — but haven’t stopped for a beat on Levis for a minute. Levis missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing shoulder surgery. The GM and head coach who drafted him are gone, and Cam Ward is here. It makes all the sense in the world for the Titans to move on if they can find an interested taker.

Stidham’s best play of the game came on the Broncos’ second possession, when he caught the Patriots defense sleeping and aired out a 52-yard completion to Marvin Mims on a third-and-ten. Stidham would follow up that play two plays later with a six-yard touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton to give the Broncos their only points on the day. A controversial fumble on a backwards pass by Stidham late in the second quarter put the Patriots in prime position to score their only touchdown of the game, and a late interception in the fourth quarter officially sealed the Broncos’ fate. Stidham did what he could against a stout Patriots defense, but the added wrinkle of snowy elements in the second half further amplified his struggles. Sunday’s game marked the first time since 2023 that Stidham attempted a pass in a meaningful NFL game. The veteran quarterback remains under contract through the 2026 season and is unlikely to go anywhere this offseason.

Nix’s broken ankle was devastating news for the Broncos as they came out of the Divisional Round. The silver lining is that he should be ready for the team’s offseason program and the injury is not expected to be a long-term issue. According to Schefter, “The recovery, not the surgery, is thought to be the most challenging part of this injury.” Nix will not be able to put weight on his ankle for a month, putting to bed any notion of a Super Bowl miracle. Jarrett Stidham will draw the start in the AFC Championship game versus the Patriots. He will also start in the Super Bowl if the Broncos win today.

Nix reportedly broke a bone in his ankle on the second-to-last play of regulation in the Broncos’ Divisional Round game against the Bills. Nix can now begin the rehabilitation process as backup QB Jarrett Stidham takes the reins for Denver’s AFC Championship Game against the Patriots.

Payton on Sunday said Stidham — who will start the AFC title game with Bo Nix (ankle) sidelined — has “a lot to his ball” and has consistently demonstrated a strong arm in practice. Stidham on 197 regular season attempts over six seasons has completed 59.5 percent of his throws and averaged a decent 7.2 yards per attempt. It’s possible Stidham can manage the Denver offense well enough to make the Broncos competitive against whoever they play in the AFC title game in Denver. He likely won’t be asked to do much, however. Stidham hasn’t thrown a regular season pass since 2023.

Stidham has not thrown an NFL pass since 2023, but after the jaw-dropping reveal that Bo Nix (ankle) will miss the remainder of the playoffs after breaking a bone deep in overtime, Payton announced that Stidham will start the AFC title game. Sam Ehlinger is the only other quarterback on the roster. Stidham has a 1-3 career record as a starter with a 59.4 percent completion rate, eight touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Whoever wins the Patriots/Texans game on Sunday will almost undoubtedly be favored next Sunday.

It is an absolute shockwave after the Broncos survived the Bills in overtime of the Divisional Round. Nix reportedly hurt the ankle on the second-to-last play of regulation. Jarrett Stidham would seem to be in line to start the AFC Championship game at home against the winner of Patriots/Texans next Sunday. Nix’s season ends with a 3931-25-11 passing line in the regular season, along with a 279-3-1 game against the Bills in the Divisional Round. Nix didn’t exactly take a notable step forward in his second season, but he was clutch — he led the league with seven game-winning drives — and he’d already shown enough talent to be a low-end franchise quarterback in his rookie year. Assuming this injury isn’t something that will sideline him for multiple months of the offseason, he’ll likely enter 2026 as a low-end QB1 in fantasy circles.

The Broncos begin their path to the Super Bowl as one of the healthier teams in the league after their Wild Card bye as the No. 1 seed in the AFC, enough so that they appear to have elevated two practice squad members, Elijah Moore and Caleb Lohner, to receive a small roster bonus as thanks for their time on the practice squad this season. The home-favorite Broncos face a difficult challenge against the Josh Allen-led Bills as they aim to avoid the same postseason outcome as in 2024 when the Bills bounced the Broncos in a blowout loss.