A well-traveled quarterback whose college journey ran through Jacksonville State, Gardner-Webb and Troy before he won the backup job behind Arch Manning at Texas.
Matthew Caldwell, an Auburn, Alabama native, took a winding road through four different college programs before landing at Texas for his final season, where he beat out a redshirt freshman for the backup quarterback role. He went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft and signed with the Los Angeles Rams.
Path to the league
Caldwell's college career began at Jacksonville State in 2021, continued at Gardner-Webb from 2022 to 2023, moved to Troy in 2024, and finished at Texas in 2025. He went unselected in the 2026 NFL Draft and signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent on a three-year, $3.1 million contract.
Career highlights
After four stops across four different levels of college football, Caldwell's biggest achievement came at Texas, where he beat out redshirt freshman Trey Owens to win the backup quarterback job behind starter Arch Manning, a notable outcome given his late arrival to the program.
2025 season recap
In his lone season at Texas in 2025, Caldwell appeared in seven games as Arch Manning's backup, completing 7 of 8 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown while adding 64 rushing yards on just two carries. That limited but efficient sample was enough to draw NFL interest, and he signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent after the draft.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Matthew Caldwell (American football)
- ESPN: Matthew Caldwell player page
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Quarterback
- Group
- offense
- College
- Texas
- Hometown
- Auburn, AL, USA
- Age
- 23
- Status
- active
