Clifford Viewed as One of NFL’s Worst Backup QBs

Sean Clifford won the Green Bay Packers’ backup quarterback job with ease last year. He’ll have a bigger challenge this year against Michael Pratt.

Packers QBs Jordan Love and Sean Clifford / Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Backup quarterback is a unique position. In ranking quarterbacks, it’s what have you done for me lately. In ranking backup quarterbacks, it’s what have you done, period.

Thus, with only 13 regular-season snaps and one pass on his resume, Green Bay Packers quarterback Sean Clifford is considered one of the worst backup quarterbacks in the NFL.

At Sports Illustrated, Clifford is No. 31 – same as last year, when he was a rookie.

“Clifford, a 2023 fifth-round pick, only threw one pass during his rookie season,” Gilberto Manzano wrote. “The Packers are taking a gamble by relying on an inexperienced player to back up Jordan Love, but it says something that the team was comfortable with him filling the role for his second season.”

That is the key sentence. The Packers could have signed a veteran to serve as Love’s backup, if for no other reason than to provide a set of experienced eyes to share wisdom. Instead, Clifford won the backup job with ease thanks to a strong training camp and preseason. 

“He’s a gamer,” quarterbacks coach Tom Clements said before the start of OTAs. “A little bit of Matt Flynn in him. Once the season started, he was running the scout team and he started to become more familiar with our offense. And then running opposing team’s offenses, you usually have a lot of similar plays, and he ran the scout team very well.

“Ran the huddle well, he’s a good leader, and he started to make plays throughout the year. He developed throughout the year, which is what you’d like to see. He’s doing a great job in this offseason. So, I think he’ll make a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2.

Clifford is No. 30 at Pro Football Network, ahead of only the Lions’ Hendon Hooker and the Saints’ Jake Haener.

As a rookie fifth-round pick, Clifford went 1-for-1, his lone pass a 37-yard strike at the end of a blowout win in Week 17 at Minnesota.

Last year, Clifford beat out Danny Etling to be the backup. This year, he’ll have a bigger challenge against seventh-round draft pick Michael Pratt, who is viewed as a better prospect than Clifford.

“As a backup, you want someone if the starter is out for a game or a couple of games to come in there and run the team,” Clements said. “Got to know the offense, which I’m sure that will happen, and have the confidence of the other guys in the huddle, and I think that will happen. As I said, usually there’s a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2, so I anticipate that to be the case.

“You just have to be ready to go. Sean is very into the game. If you watch him on the sidelines, he’s always talking to Jordan, learning, watching what’s going on out on the field. He loves football, so he just needs to continue to work and be ready.”

At Sports Illustrated, the Vikings’ Sam Darnold, a former first-round pick with 56 starts on his resume, is No. 8 – well ahead of Hooker (25th) and Chicago’s Tyson Bagent (26th). At Pro Football Network, Darnold is eighth, Bagent is 17th and Hooker is 31st after missing most of his rookie season due to a torn ACL sustained while starring at Tennessee.

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