6 NFL rookie QBs who have won their first playoff start
(BVM) – Two NFL teams will be facing difficult tasks this weekend – winning a playoff game with a rookie quarterback under center. The San Francisco 49ers will start Brock Purdy, a winner of his first five NFL starts, while the Miami Dolphins will start Skylar Thompson in place of a still-injured Tua Tagovailoa.
Tua Tagovailoa has been ruled out for the Dolphins' playoff game against the Bills, head coach Mike McDaniel announced.
He still has not cleared concussion protocol and the team is preparing as if rookie QB Skylar Thompson will start. pic.twitter.com/30QSjVk4OD
— ESPN (@espn) January 11, 2023
For the rookies, this is an unprecedented opportunity as the two seventh-round picks will be the latest drafted first-year quarterbacks to start NFL playoff games since 1950. However, the duo will also have a lot of history working against them. In NFL history, a rookie quarterback has started a playoff game just 28 times with only eight victories in those games and none has ever led their team to the Super Bowl. The number gets even smaller for rookies making their first playoff start as teams have only won six of those contests.
Here are the six rookie quarterbacks to win their first NFL playoff start.
Editor’s Note: The entries are listed in chronological order from the oldest occurrence to the most recent.
