Who Should I Start? Brett Rypien or Sam Hartman

Tuesday, September 16, 12:15 PM

The Cincinnati Bengals are signing quarterback Brett Rypien from the practice squad to the active 53-man roster on Tuesday, a source told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. With starter Joe Burrow (toe) out around three months after having surgery on his injured toe, Rypien is now in line to serve as the backup to Jake Browning, starting in Week 3 against the Minnesota Vikings. For more QB depth, Cincinnati added signal-callers Mike White and Sean Clifford to their practice squad on Tuesday. The 29-year-old Rypien will be trying to hold off both White and Clifford in the coming weeks for the backup gig in Cincy. Rypien went undrafted out of Boise State before making his NFL debut in 2020 with the Denver Broncos. He played three years in Denver before joining the Los Angeles Rams as a backup in 2023. Rypien has appeared in only 10 games in four seasons and has made four starts in the NFL.

Saturday, August 23, 10:39 PM

Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Hartman completed 12 of 17 passes for 114 yards and two interceptions in a 30-3 loss against the Ravens. Hartman also took two sacks for seven yards while playing the whole first half. One of the interceptions was an unfortunate batted ball, but the other was a late and weak throw where the defender easily undercut it. The Notre Dame product struggled again in the final game of the preseason. He completed only 53.3 percent of his passes while throwing four interceptions to no touchdowns across the three games. It remains to be seen if Washington will opt to to keep three quarterbacks on the roster, and if they did, it seems veteran Josh Johnson would be the choice. Both would be options for the practice squad regardless, but Hartman's lackluster camp and preseason makes it unlikely for him to make the final roster.