Sometimes, all it takes is one rough season to change everything. Whether it’s a loss of confidence, a scheme that didn’t fit, or just plain bad luck, a single down year can derail even the most promising quarterback careers.
These 15 quarterbacks never quite got back on track after hitting that one brutal bump in the road. Some tried to bounce back, others disappeared entirely, but all of them were just never the same.
15. Josh Freeman
Freeman looked like a franchise cornerstone in Tampa Bay until one disastrous season turned him into a cautionary tale. His 2013 campaign was so rough he was out of the league a year later.
14. Blake Bortles
He had one magical playoff run, and then the 2018 season brought him crashing back to earth. The Jaguars moved on, and so did the rest of the league.
13. Carson Wentz
After playing like an MVP in 2017, his 2020 season was a mess of turnovers and bad decisions. He’s been bouncing from team to team ever since trying to find that old spark.
12. Daunte Culpepper
He was on fire in 2004, but then came a brutal 2005 season riddled with injuries and fumbles. After that, he was never quite the same electric playmaker.
11. Matt Cassel
Cassel cashed in after a strong season filling in for Brady, but 2009 with the Chiefs exposed a lot of his flaws. He hung around, but the magic never returned.
10. Sam Bradford
After a solid 2016 season, injuries and inconsistency caught up with him in 2017. That year marked the beginning of the end for his time as a starter.
9. Jameis Winston
Winston threw for 5,000 yards in 2019, but his 30 interceptions made headlines for all the wrong reasons. That turnover-heavy season cost him his starting job in Tampa.
8. Tony Eason
Eason helped lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl in 1985, but a terrible 1986 season saw him benched and eventually fade into obscurity. That one bad year sent his career spiraling.
7. Nick Foles
The Super Bowl MVP had lightning in a bottle, but after a rough 2019 season with Jacksonville, teams stopped seeing him as a viable starter. The magic never came back.
6. Marc Bulger
Bulger had some great years with the Rams, but the 2007 season was a disaster behind a broken offensive line. He never fully recovered and was out of the league a few years later.
5. Mitchell Trubisky
After a promising 2018, Trubisky’s 2019 season was full of missed reads and poor decisions. That year shook the Bears’ confidence in him—and possibly his own.
4. Kordell Stewart
“Slash” had a breakout year in 2001, but his 2002 follow-up was riddled with benchings and inconsistency. He never regained the full-time starter role after that.
3. Vince Young
Young’s 2007 season was full of drama and regression, and it completely changed his trajectory. What started as a promising career turned into a slow fade from relevance.
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2. Derek Anderson
Anderson shocked the NFL with a Pro Bowl season in 2007, but he crashed back down to earth in 2008. It was a steep drop, and he never got back to that level again.
Read More: 15 NFL Quarterbacks Who Went Top 10 and Never Should Have
1. Colin Kaepernick
After electrifying the league early on, Kaepernick’s 2015 season was full of injuries, benchings, and poor performances. Whether due to politics or performance, his NFL career never recovered.
Read More: 10 NFL Quarterbacks Who Went in Round 1 – But Shouldn’t Have
