3 QBs who should be benched after Week 9 and who could replace them

The Week 9 afternoon slate was loaded with plenty of quality football. The Atlanta Falcons kept it rolling against the Dallas Cowboys, the Carolina Panthers locked the New Orleans Saints in the NFL basement, and the Buffalo Bills held off a rollicking Miami Dolphins comeback effort. And that's just the surface.

We are at the midway point of the NFL season, which means we have a pretty solid grasp of what every team is. The Nov. 5 trade deadline will invariably impact the arc of a few teams, but we generally know the contenders from the pretenders. It's too late for those in the gutter to rebound (sorry, Saints fans), but it is not too early for the standings to shift rather dramatically near the top. Take for example the NFC North, where three tier-one contenders are all within a game of each other.

As always, special attention was paid to the quarterback position in Week 9. It's everybody's favorite position to discuss. Whenever a team falls short of expectations, it's safe to bet that the QB absorbs at least some of the blame. There isn't a more important position in the entire sport. There's a reason most teams shell out hundreds of millions of dollars for a halfway decent option.

That said, the truly awful quarterbacks can drag an entire roster down with them. Here are the most lamentable QB performances from Week 9, along with a few potential replacement options.

3. Raiders need to bench Gardner Minshew for good this time

The Las Vegas Raiders just can't figure out how to recapture the magic of last season's post-Josh McDaniels run. Tom Brady has arrived in the ownership group, but unfortunately, he's not on the field. The Raiders would probably love to kick the tires on 47-year-old Brady at this point, but in lieu of that option, Antonio Pierce needs to make the most of limited resources.

Gardner Minshew was benched (for the second time this season) in Las Vegas' 41-24 shellacking at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals, a sub-.500 opponent. The Raiders offense looked impotent, with Minshew completing just 10-of-17 passes for 124 yards before Pierce pulled the plug.

Rather than turning to recent fourth-round pick Aidan O'Connell, who is injured with a broken thumb, Las Vegas turned to a recent pickup — Desmond Ridder. A third-round pick in 2022, Ridder spent last season fumbling his starting opportunity in Atlanta. It has been a whirlwind third campaign in the aftermath of his all-too-brief Falcons stint, with Ridder bouncing between training camp battles and practice squad gigs after an offseason trade.

Now he's the Raiders' starting quarterback? Well, evidently. Ridder didn't do anything special in Sunday's blowout loss, completing 11-of-16 passes for 74 yards and a touchdown, but it's clear Las Vegas has lost its patience with Minshew. At least Ridder is a few years younger with some semblance of "upside" now that he's not held back by Arthur Smith's boneheaded play-calling.

Ridder was a turnover machine in Atlanta and yet, he somehow never took enough risks. The Falcons kept the playbook extremely safe, so Ridder was both kneecapped by scared play-calling and woefully erratic in his decision-making. That is not ideal. The Raiders can potentially give Ridder a longer leash to run the offense, but he needs to make significant strides in the efficiency department. Turnovers are a death knell for young quarterbacks looking to carve out an NFL role.

The Raiders can't keep circling back to Minshew, though. That partnership is all but dead, and this season is pretty much dead, too. So, see what happens with this whole Ridder thing and hope that Aidan O'Connell re-enters the fold sooner than later.

2. Broncos should seriously consider the benefits of benching Bo Nix

History does not treat benched quarterbacks very kindly, but the Denver Broncos should be willing to consider a new approach to Bo Nix's development. Benching Nix should not disqualify him from beginning next season as QB1 and inheriting that role on a full-time basis once he's ready. But right now, don't let the Broncos' winning record fool you. Bo Nix is not ready.

Denver was on the wrong end of a 41-10 Baltimore Ravens smackdown on Sunday. The offense looked positively pallid when faced with an actually competent defense. Nix can put up all the numbers he wants to against the likes of Carolina or New Orleans, but when Denver faces genuine competition, the rookie signal-caller flounders. Every time.

He completed 19-of-33 passes for 223 yards and an interception on Sunday, missing several wide-open targets in the end zone. Nix did pick up a touchdown reception on a creative play call from Sean Payton, but that shouldn't overshadow a middling performance from the No. 12 overall pick. Nix's footwork and processing speed remain inconsistent and he does not have the arm talent to make up for such deficiencies.

Denver isn't exactly brimming with experience in the QB room, but Jarrett Stidham replaced Russell Wilson last season and feels like the more bankable option. Zach Wilson is probably best kept at arms length, but hey, his physical tools always jump off the screen when he's not freewheeling into the dumbest INT you've ever seen. The Broncos have options here. A soft schedule has Denver looking better than they actually are in the standings. If the Broncos want to accomplish anything meaningful this season, however, Nix can't be the man in charge of the offense.

1. Browns need to abort the Jameis Winston experiment after incredible meltdown

The Cleveland Browns toppled the first-place Ravens last week after Deshaun Watson's season-ending knee injury thrust Jameis Winston into the starting role. It was a storybook moment of redemption for the NFL's most beleaguered franchise. Kevin Stefanski was finally able to mount a competent offensive game plan with a proper gunslinger under center. The Browns, 1-6 at the time, looked the part of potential AFC North sleeper.

Well, that lasted seven whole days. We should've seen this coming, but Winston's miraculous three-touchdown performance in Week 8 was immediately followed by a three-interception performance in Week 9. Winston completed 26-of-46 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown in Cleveland's 27-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Not only was Winston inefficient, but he averaged 5.1 yards per attempt, struggling to come by the explosive plays he is known for.

The Browns are 2-7 without much hope in the postseason race. There's no reason to pretend like this season is anything more than a tanking effort — a platform for player development and pure experimentation from Stefanski and his staff. That said, there's no reason to keep trotting out the 30-year-old Winston. He's a journeyman backup with zero future in Cleveland. The Browns might as well unearth 24-year-old NFL sophomore Dorian Thompson-Robinson is see what's cooking there.

DTR was quite bad in his sparse appearances last season, but as the NFL moves increasingly toward dual-threat quarterbacks, there is innate appeal in such a dynamic athlete under center. Thompson-Robinson still has time to put the pieces together, especially if the Browns give him an extended runway to work through mistakes and build up a rhythm.

That should be how Cleveland handles the rest of this season, point blank.