Will Blaine Gabbert be the backup behind Patrick Mahomes? Assessing Chiefs QB depth chart for 2023

Blaine Gabbert has signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as their new QB2 following Chad Henne's retirement. Henne called time on his career after the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII in February.

Henne was part of Kansas City's roster for five years and won two championship rings with the team.

Gabbert, 33, has been in the NFL since 2011 after being a first-round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was the third quarterback drafted that year, after Cam Newton (#1) and Jake Locker (#8). He has also played for the San Francisco 49ers, the Tennessee Titans, the Arizona Cardinals, and most recently for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Gabbert spent the last four years of his career in Tampa Bay, first being backup to Jameis Winston and later to Tom Brady. He won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in 2020. He played college football at the University of Missouri.

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Pat McAfee broke the news of Gabbert's signing on his weekly Wednesday show. Gabbert will join Patrick Mahomes, the obvious starter, and Shane Buechele on the Chiefs' quarterback depth chart.

Why has Blaine Gabbert's career not played out as expected?

He failed to live up to expectations due to the failure of the Jaguars to assemble a good roster. This likely prevented him from developing into the franchise quarterback they had hoped for.

He was a prospect full of flaws but with a great understanding of the game. Smart quarterbacks don't always work out as starters, but teams love them because they tend to avoid turnovers. Although he was out of Jacksonville after three years, he has been in the league for over a decade.

He was the backup for Tom Brady at Tampa Bay over the last three years. There are surely many interesting things he would have learned from the legendary quarterback that will be useful next season. He should beat Shane Buechele with ease for the QB2 job.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks depth chart

1) Patrick Mahomes

2) Blaine Gabbert

3) Shane Buechele

About the author

Henrique Bulio is an NFL and College Football journalist at Sportskeeda and the Editor-in-Chief of Pro Football Brasil. He has a total 13 years of experience working in American Football, and playing quarterback at an amateur level in Brazil has given him a unique perspective of the game.

Henrique follows the Philadelphia Eagles closely due to Michael Vick's historic performance on MNF against the Washington Commanders in 2010. His all-time favorite player is Ed Reed; he believes that Reed is the greatest safety to ever play the game. Bill Belichick gets the nod as Henrique's favorite coach for coaching the Patriots to glory over two decades.

If Henrique were to be able to go back in time and watch one game, it would be Super Bowl XLIX, where the Patriots and the Seahawks played a complete, back-and-forth game that concluded with one of the biggest talking points in NFL history.

Technical deep dives are Henrique’s specialty, and he ensures never to use misleading words in his articles, since he himself consumes a lot of information off the web. He has had the privilege of interviewing Cairo Santos, Lamar Jackson, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, Bruce Arians, Matt LaFleur, among others.

Aside from football, Henrique likes to play poker and Counter-Strike.

Know More

Chiefs Fans! Check out the latest Kansas City Chiefs Schedule and dive into the Chiefs Depth Chart for NFL Season 2024-25.

Edited by Gaelin Leif