{"id":701626,"date":"2026-01-24T14:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T14:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/701626\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T14:14:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T14:14:18","slug":"denver-broncos-qb-jarrett-stidhams-journey-to-afc-championship-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/701626\/","title":{"rendered":"Denver Broncos’ QB Jarrett Stidham’s journey to AFC Championship Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sunday morning, several hours after he stood in the hallway of heartbreak at Empower Field<\/a>, Broncos backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham called an old friend to process.<\/p>\n

Josh Bulla has known Stidham since elementary school in Stephensville, Texas, when a young Bulla first noticed the kid who was a foot taller than everyone else. From that point, Bulla said, Stidham always knew he was headed for some greater destiny. Milestones came and went: he played college football at Baylor and Auburn, where he was a two-year starter , and got drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round in 2019. The final goal \u2014 become an NFL starting quarterback \u2014 came again on the night of Jan. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Just not like this, Stidham told Bulla. .<\/p>\n

He\u2019d gotten his chances before. Two starts in 2022, when the Raiders benched Derek Carr. Two starts in 2023, when the Broncos benched Russell Wilson. Those were exciting. But Bo Nix breaking his ankle Saturday night, as Stidham told Bulla, was \u201cgutting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing that came to mind,\u201d Stidham said, as Bulla recalled, \u201cwas, \u2018No.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, this is Bo\u2019s show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past two years, Bo and Izzy Nix have become \u201clike family\u201d to Stidham and his wife, Kennedy, Bulla said. Nix\u2019s second-year run ended shockingly after a divisional-round win over the Bills, and the emotions Stidham felt extend much deeper than his mentorship in Denver. In Stidham\u2019s two years starting at Auburn, from 2017-18, he played a key role in recruiting Nix there<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It began as simple program ambassadorship, then-Auburn OC Chip Lindsay remembered. Stidham would talk to Nix and host him on visits. Eventually, though, Stidham started asking Lindsay how Nix did in his high school games. He knew that Nix was his successor, former Auburn wideout Ryan Davis recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cJarrett was basically, like, giving him the keys,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

Seven years later, Nix is giving them back. In an Instagram post on Wednesday<\/a> \u2014 Nix\u2019s first public statement since breaking his ankle \u2014 the Broncos\u2019 starting QB offered a hat-tip, saying he \u201ccouldn\u2019t be more confident in Jarrett.\u201d Denver\u2019s season now lies in the hands of Stidham, a career backup who has started four career games in six NFL seasons and hasn\u2019t thrown a regular-season pass in two years.<\/p>\n

\"BoBo Nix (10) and Jarrett Stidham (8) of the Denver Broncos take the field before the game against the Las Vegas Raiders Empower Field at Mile High Stadium on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Across this week\u2019s preparation for the Patriots in Sunday\u2019s AFC championship, Denver\u2019s locker room has heaped praise on Stidham to anyone with a microphone. They have no other choice. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to rip it,\u201d head coach Sean Payton said Wednesday. \u201cAnd that will be our approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Year 2 in Denver, Nix and Payton found synergy as <\/a>the second-year quarterback praised Payton for letting him be his \u201cauthentic self.\u201d These Broncos formed an identity around Nix, a fiery 25-year-old whose white-hot competitiveness fueled a season of second-half comebacks. They are now rallying around Stidham, a cool 29-year-old whose serenity masks his own fire.<\/p>\n

Stidham has kept the same routine for three years in Denver, left tackle Garett Bolles said. He eats the same food. He drinks the same water. He hits the steam room at the same time. He listens to the same music, on a Turtlebox waterproof speaker that he affectionately refers to as \u201cMr. Turtle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing has changed in this week of madness. Stidham is who he is because he knows who he is. That is comfort, as these Broncos head into a war.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got some swag,\u201d Bolles said Thursday. \u201cHe got some swag to him. So, that fuels us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026
In 2023, 6-foot-4 safety JL Skinner arrived in Denver as a raw sixth-round pick out of Boise State. He took plenty of flak from Stidham, who\u2019d just signed as a free agent and who had no more experience in Denver than Skinner.<\/p>\n

Stidham wanted Skinner to be better. And he let him know about it. The QB chirped at him in practice.<\/p>\n

\"SafetySafety JL Skinner (34) of the Denver Broncos tackles wide receiver Deebo Samuel (1) of the Washington Commanders during a kick return on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at Northwest Stadium in Landover, MD. (Photo by Timothy Hurst\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

\u201cJL, what are you doing? What are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Man, (expletive) this guy,’\u201d Skinner said Thursday.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then in my head,I\u2019m like, (expletive), he\u2019s actually throwing that ball right over my head, too. I gotta do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was born with that. The now 6-foot-3 Stidham played offensive line in Pee Wee football in Weatherford, Texas, because he was tall. Future high school coach Joe Gillespie introduced him to former SMU quarterback Kelan Luker for some training in middle school. The first time Luker worked with Stidham, he walked out to a field, saw him throw a few balls, and noticed the kid never missed.<\/p>\n

Stidham had never played quarterback before. To this day, Luker maintains he never really taught him anything over the course of a few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what really happened \u2013 he was so talented, he could just watch what I did,\u201d Luker said, \u201cand he could imitate.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Denver, QB3-turned-QB2 Sam Ehlinger notes that Stidham\u2019s ball \u201cspins really pretty.\u201d The RPMs came naturally. So did unassuming athleticism, a trait that most every teammate or coach notes about Stidham.\u00a0 Underneath six years of backup life in the NFL is years of life as a five-star gem, the No. 1-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2015 (above Kyler Murray, Sam Bradford and Joe Burrow).<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just one of those West Texas boys who grew up spinnin\u2019 it,\u201d said Palmer, a former NFL quarterback who\u2019s trained Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes \u2014 and Nix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stidham\u2019s story has been one of relentless pursuit toward a goal shifted around by strange timing. At 18 years old, he moved out of difficult circumstances in his family\u2019s home and in with Matt and Katy Copeland, a couple in Stephensville who became family; Stidham and those close to him have never publicly discussed the reasons why<\/a>. He played a year at Baylor in 2015, transferred out amid widespread fallout from the school\u2019s sexual abuse scandal<\/a>, and regrouped for a semester at a local community college.<\/p>\n

After two years at Auburn, Stidham arrived in New England in 2019. It was Tom Brady\u2019s last year; the Patriots were treating Stidham as \u201cthe next guy,\u201d as Davis said, a former Auburn receiver who spent six months in New England\u2019s training camp in 2019. Stidham picked Brady\u2019s brain, and Brady once left three of his custom hoodies as a gift in Stidham\u2019s locker. But the Patriots brought in former MVP Cam Newton two weeks before training camp the next year in 2020, and drafted Mac Jones in the first round in 2021, and shipped Stidham to Las Vegas in 2022 without ever starting him in a game.<\/p>\n

Old habits die hard, Bulla recalled. Stidham grew up as the guy. He never stopped believing he could be. After signing in Denver, he got a taste of it late in 2023, when the Broncos benched Wilson. He lost the starting job to rookie Nix in 2024. Bulla asked Stidham how he was feeling heading into training camp this past summer, wedged squarely behind a young franchise face.<\/p>\n

\"JarrettJarrett Stidham (8) of the Denver Broncos rolls out as Jaylon Allen (76) of the San Francisco 49ers pressures during the third quarter at Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018It\u2019s the NFL,’\u201d Bulla said . \u201c\u2018Everyone\u2019s talented. Crazy things can happen. And I still have to act the way I always have, and that I want to be the starter.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026
In December 2017, Carson Wentz tore his ACL, and the 11-2 Philadelphia Eagles had to recalibrate around backup quarterback Nick Foles. Offensive coordinator Frank Reich set about watching the \u201cFoles highlight reel,\u201d as he dubbed it \u2014 cut-ups of every single Foles completion from five previous NFL seasons. He sat with Foles and had the quarterback walk him through some preferred concepts: a few post routes here, a deep ball there.<\/p>\n

Outside the Xs and Os, though, Reich and the rest of the Eagles\u2019 staff didn\u2019t do much to try to control messaging to the team. They let Foles roam free as a personality. And Foles \u2014 whose confidence earned him a provocative nickname in Philadelphia<\/a> \u2014 became legend across a Super Bowl run in the weeks to follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re trying to cover up what you perceive as some weakness, some leadership weakness of the backup quarterback, then you\u2019re in trouble,\u201d Reich said.<\/p>\n

Reich, a former quarterback himself who once stepped in as a backup to Jim Kelly for multiple Buffalo Bills playoff runs in the 1990s, has taken an interest in Stidham\u2019s particular situation in Denver. He\u2019s watched clips of his interviews. He\u2019s detected moxie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like the kid\u2019s a winner,\u201d Reich said. \u201cLike, he\u2019s a winner. And everybody knows it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emotion crested and fell in Denver in the span of a single hour<\/a>\u00a0after the Broncos\u2019 33-30 overtime win over Buffalo. Sean Payton went to a podium in street clothes, told reporters Nix was out for the season with a fractured ankle, and the Broncos\u2019 locker room came away as stunned as the rest of the world. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi found out from his son, driving home from the stadium. Receiver Courtland Sutton literally didn\u2019t believe it was true.<\/p>\n

\"BoBo Nix (10) of the Denver Broncos roars after throwing a touchdown pass to Marvin Mims Jr. (19) during the fourth quarter of the Broncos\u2019 33-30 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Saturday. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Utter chaos has swirled around Stidham in the days since. The Copelands were deep in the woods of West Texas on a hunting trip, cracking open a few Coors Originals and playing cards, when they got the news he was starting. Friends have let Stidham know they\u2019ll make it to Denver in any way possible for Sunday\u2019s game. An entire fanbase has turned its social-media avatars to pictures of Stidham in a strange form of solidarity<\/a>. This shot is \u201ceverything he\u2019s ever dreamed for,\u201d Bulla said.<\/p>\n

Stidham has yet to flinch, in public or private.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he getting sleep this week? I don\u2019t know,\u201d said Brian Hoyer, a longtime NFL backup who was with Stidham in New England in 2020 and 2021. \u201cI talked to him (Tuesday). And either it hasn\u2019t hit him yet and he doesn\u2019t have any words, or he hid it really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a \u201ccalmness\u201d about Stidham, Payton said on Wednesday. There always has been. The most worked-up Bulla has ever seen Stidham \u2014 in a circumstance not involving family or football \u2014 was when Bulla pranked Stidham in high school by hotwiring his beat-up 1995 Chevy Silverado and hiding it in a different parking lot. On-field mistakes have always brought the same reaction, Palmer described: Aw, shucks, and move on.<\/p>\n

These days, Stidham carries that \u201cMr. Turtle\u201d speaker into the team shower on the daily, blasting an assortment of Kate Bush and Fleetwood Mac and country tunes. He has a rookie football card of cornerback Riley Moss pinned to the front of his locker, for some reason. He wore a full-body lion costume to the Broncos\u2019 Halloween party in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I see him,\u201d practice-squad receiver Elijah Moore said, \u201che\u2019s playing music. I guess he\u2019s just got the vibes on him. I love that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stidham did not always present this way. Take it from Washington head coach Jedd Fisch, who coached New England\u2019s quarterbacks in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally?\u201d Fisch said, told the tale of Mr. Turtle. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t like that.\u00a0Yeah, I don\u2019t remember. Maybe it\u2019s because we were in the middle of COVID \u2026 I would not have guessed that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The years have brought Stidham\u2019s self-awareness outward, as he\u2019s moved into a comfortable stage of life. Stidham and wife, Kennedy, welcomed their third child in October. When he and Bulla catch up these days, they spend roughly two minutes talking football and the rest figuring out \u201cwhat the hell\u201d to do in fatherhood, as Bulla put it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a direct correlation,\u201d Palmer said. \u201cWhen people have their personal lives figured out and then get put into the spotlight on a big stage, I see that go better for the guys that have their lives figured out \u2026. I would say Jarrett\u2019s about as stable as it gets, for a guy his age.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no reason to change,\u201d Palmer continued. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason to do it different. So I\u2019m sure that Jarrett is going into this weekend with a lot of confidence that \u2013 he is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026
Sean Payton, Skinner said, does not keep \u201cbums\u201d on his roster. Backups. Practice squad. Doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

Stidham was one of Payton\u2019s first signings upon arriving in Denver in 2023, even as the Broncos already had Wilson. The organization made it a priority to bring Stidham back this past free agency, on a two-year deal worth $12 million. The money signals trust around the league. Moore \u2014 a 25-year-old receiver who\u2019s now been on four NFL teams \u2014 said he\u2019s heard of Stidham\u2019s reputation in the past, before signing with the Broncos a month ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cStiddy got signed back-to-back-to-back for a long time now,\u201d Skinner said at his locker Thursday. \u201cAnd nobody knows why, from the outside. But we know why, from the inside. Because that mother(expletive) can throw that goddamn rock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Payton believes Stidham\u2019s inside the 32 best quarterbacks in the NFL. So does Patriots defensive play-caller Zak Kuhr, who told New England reporters Thursday<\/a> that Stidham \u201ccould be a starter for a number of teams.\u201d Stidham\u2019s arm talent and sneaky mobility aren\u2019t in question: quietly, he ran for a combined 84 yards in two starts for the Raiders in 2022.<\/p>\n

Sean Payton called Jarrett Stidham a “real good foot athlete” today. Of note: Stidham ran for a combined 84 yards in the first two starts of his career with Las Vegas in ’22.<\/p>\n

Here’s a first-down scramble against a top defense in the 49ers in ’22. Plus a ball-flick celebration. pic.twitter.com\/YbCcUZHwK0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) January 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The major issue, heading into Sunday\u2019s conference championship, is whether Stidham has enough between the ears to handle the \u201ckitchen sink\u201d that the Patriots\u2019 defense throws at opposing quarterbacks, as Hoyer described. Under Kuhr, a swarming New England attack stumped Los Angeles\u2019s Justin Herbert in the wild-card round and picked off Houston\u2019s C.J. Stroud four times in the divisional round.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to bring a lot of (expletive), and that\u2019s where he has to rely on Sean Payton, and the preparation, and I\u2019m sure there\u2019s gonna be a lot of checks and \u2013 \u2018When you see this look, you gotta get into this play or change the protection,\u2019\u201d Hoyer said.<\/p>\n

The counter-move is that New England has no shred of Broncos tape on hand to prepare for Stidham. So, how does Denver design a gameplan around him in the span of a week?<\/p>\n

Payton has made clear he sees Nix and Stidham as two different styles of quarterbacks. Others disagree. Stidham spent much of 2020 with Fisch studying tape of Jared Goff, and San Francisco\u2019s Jimmy Garoppolo, and quarterbacks in West Coast systems with plenty of under-center looks. This Denver offense has shifted more in that direction across the second half of 2025, and Palmer and Hoyer don\u2019t see Payton\u2019s established system needing to change much from Nix to Stidham.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they can run the ball and throw the play-action game, he can reach anywhere on the field with the ball,\u201d former Auburn OC Lindsey said. \u201cAnd try to create some explosives off play-action \u2013 that would be the first thing that would come to my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

On one hand, Stidham\u2019s in a position where three weeks and a Super Bowl ring would forever change his life, Bulla said. On the other hand, friends and confidants don\u2019t see Stidham stretching himself much for Sunday. Quarterbacks who finally receive their shot, as Palmer said, generally fall into one of two mental buckets. Some hope it\u2019ll go well. Some think it should go well.<\/p>\n

Stidham feels, Palmer said, that he should play well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we win that game,\u201d Skinner said, \u201cwhat they gon\u2019 say now? What they\u2019 gon say now, you know what I mean. They gon\u2019 say \u2014 \u2018Stiddy this. Stiddy that.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cStiddy gon\u2019 get a brand-new contract off this, bro,\u201d he continued. \u201cThat\u2019s how I\u2019m looking at it, man. We riding out with Stiddy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t