Five Young QBs Down in Two Weeks and the NFL Season Just Started

Monday Night Was a Massacre

Week 2 turned into an emergency room showcase on Monday night. According to NBC News, New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart left in the first quarter of a 28-6 demolition at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams after taking a brutal hit to his left knee on a third-and-8 pass play. The pocket collapsed, a Rams linebacker got into him, and Dart limped off the field. He did not come back.

Around the same time in Washington, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow after being tripped by one of his own linemen in a 37-20 loss to the Cowboys. Not a hit from a defender. His own guy took him out. The same elbow, by the way, that Daniels dislocated last season, which limited him to just seven games. The 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year is now running out of elbow ligament goodwill at a terrifying pace.

And in Chicago, Caleb Williams was carted off the field with a hamstring strain in a 9-3 loss to the Vikings, his emotional exit immediately becoming a meme before the ambulance had cleared the field. Williams' Bears had scored 59 points in Week 1. They scored 3 on Monday. The NFL giveth, and the NFL taketh away your hamstring.

This Was Already a Bad Week Before Monday

Let's not forget that the carnage started before Monday Night Football even kicked off. Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray went down with a concussion in Week 1. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, the defending Super Bowl champion's starter, has also been sidelined. NBC News reports that all five of these quarterbacks are former first-round picks and all are under 30 years old.

The Vikings are somehow 2-0 with Carson Wentz running the offense, which is either an inspiring story about team depth or a deeply unsettling sign that the football gods have a specific sense of humor. Darnold is expected to return to practice this week, though his starting status remains unclear. Murray is reportedly expected to start in Week 3 after clearing concussion protocol. So it is not all doom, but it is a lot of doom.

The Dart Situation Has an Extra Layer of Dark Comedy

Jaxson Dart's injury trajectory deserves its own sidebar. NBC News notes that Dart's aggressive play style drew attention during his rookie season when he missed time with a concussion but did not exactly dial back the recklessness when he returned. During the preseason, he told reporters he was genuinely confused about why he kept ending up in the medical tent.

"I really respect the rules, and the thought behind, you know, the NFL has of keeping players healthy and reviewing things," Dart said in August. "But at the same time, I'm still puzzled by just feeling like every time that I get hit, you know, I just find my way in there."

The man is literally baffled by cause and effect. The universe heard that, and on Monday, Dart got hurt on what NBC News described as a relatively routine pass play. No scramble, no desperate fourth-quarter heave. Just a normal snap, a collapsing pocket, and a knee that did not appreciate the moment. Giants GM Joe Schoen told ESPN that Dart would be OK and was getting X-rays, which is the sports equivalent of "we'll talk more after the test results come back."

The Backup Situation Is Exactly as Grim as You'd Expect

With their starters down, the Bears, Giants, and Commanders are now turning to Tyler Bagent, Jameis Winston, and Marcus Mariota, respectively, according to NBC News. Read that sentence again slowly.

Jameis Winston, veteran of approximately forty NFL scandals and one absolutely legendary pizza theft incident, is now the New York Giants' best hope for a turnaround season under new head coach John Harbaugh. Marcus Mariota is stepping back into a starting role for a team that just watched its second-year franchise quarterback blow out his elbow getting tripped by his own offensive lineman. Bears coach Ben Johnson said Williams has a strong recovery ability and the injury is considered week-to-week, which is either true or the kindest spin on a hamstring strain you will ever hear.

The Harbaugh-led Giants had beaten Dallas in Week 1 in what felt like a genuine fresh start for one of the NFL's most beleaguered franchises. Now they are 1-1 and handing the keys to Jameis Winston. The circle of life in New York is something to behold.

The League Has a Big Problem It Keeps Ignoring

The NFL has spent years building its marketing around this new generation of quarterbacks. Williams, Daniels, Dart, Murray, Darnold — these are the names the league was counting on to carry the next decade of prime time ratings and jersey sales. Two weeks in, five of them are hurt, three of them badly enough that their teams lost the moment they went down.

Washington coach Dan Quinn offered the most honest reaction to Daniels going down again. "It sucks for him," Quinn told reporters Monday. "I know how much these guys put into it. So, when there are setbacks like this, you just want to stand by them." That is a coach trying very hard not to say what everyone in that building is actually thinking.

The quarterback position is more protected by rule than it has ever been in the sport's history, and five first-round picks under 30 are still getting chewed up before Halloween decorations hit store shelves. Something is not adding up.