3 QBs who will be benched by the end of November and why

It's never too late to adjust. While we're beyond the halfway point of the 2024 NFL campaign, teams aren't necessarily finished products.

Nevertheless, the avenues to explore at this juncture in the season are fairly limited. This year's trade deadline has officially passed. The free agency pool is dry. So, where else can organizations around the league turn to make impactful personnel moves?

Given the timing, in-house roster shake-ups might be the best way to improve. Perhaps getting certain players more involved is the proper idea. Alternatively, ceding reps and responsibilities from members of the group who aren't performing well may be worthwhile.

More specifically, we could see multiple quarterback substitutions -- and soon. Seeing these three signal-callers relegated to the bench in relatively short order wouldn't be completely surprising.

3. Daniel Jones, New York Giants

Daniel Jones has been an outlier in today's NFL. Somehow, during an era when young quarterbacks' leashes get shorter by the day, he's managed to be the New York Giants starter for six seasons.

Jones continues to get countless redemption opportunities, though he's repeatedly failed to capitalize. Things have reached a breaking point, with Giants head coach Brian Daboll reportedly not committing to him as their Week 12 starter.

With Daboll and the G-Men coaching staff having a Week 11 bye to weigh their options, Jones riding the pine seems increasingly conceivable. Be that as it may, this could ultimately become a business decision by New York, on-field misfortunes aside.

As part of the four-year, $160 million contract extension he signed in March 2023, Jones has a $23 million injury guarantee. Although, they have a potential out of his deal this offseason. But if he gets hurt and they owe him a substantial chunk of money, moving on from the 27-year-old becomes virtually impossible.

Currently slated to pick second in the 2025 draft, the Giants will have a prime opportunity to land Jones' successor. New York cannot squander this chance if it wants to be better positioned for the future, meaning it's time to take charge.

2. Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts

In his two starts since seizing the role from last year's No. 4 overall pick, Anthony Richardson, Joe Flacco has been abysmal. But for whatever reason, Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen continues to reaffirm the 39-year-old gunslinger's spot atop the depth chart.

Steichen has wasted no time confirming that Flacco will start for the Colts in Week 11. Furthermore, the Indianapolis sideline chief stated the latter would remain under center — until he says otherwise.

After another multi-turnover/sack game against the Buffalo Bills in Week 10, Steichen has been asked incessantly about Flacco, with his hard-headed mind made up. Frankly, considering the Colts aren't viewed as a legitimate playoff squad, it's baffling.

If/when the Colts are near or officially eliminated from postseason contention, we should see Richardson back in the lineup. Even if they get in, Indy isn't expected to make any noise, regardless of whether they deploy the former or Flacco.

The Colts know what they have in Flacco and can always revert to him if needed. But they invested greatly in Richardson and only have 10 injury-marred starts to determine whether he's their long-term quarterback solution. So, the front office is only hurting itself by delaying the inevitable of using the home stretch of the 2024 campaign to assess the latter.

1. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings

Can we entirely rule out a Minnesota Vikings quarterback change? Sam Darnold hasn't reached the lows of his early-career form amid his ongoing struggles, but some bad tendencies from that time have become apparent. Following another poor outing in Week 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, maybe head coach Kevin O'Connell will begin to evaluate his options.

Darnold is turning into a pumpkin, slowly but surely regressing. He's playing mistake-prone football -- getting dumped at a high rate, turning the ball over and not seeing the field well. His 10 interceptions are tied for the league and 26 sacks are the sixth-most among quarterbacks.

The Vikings' offense has begun to look stagnant and inconsistent, which could prompt a shocking switch under center. They're becoming too reliant on their stout yet slowly bending but not breaking defense. Perhaps this can be attributed to Vikings stalwart left tackle Christian Darrisaw's season-ending knee injury. Alas, Darnold's woes predate the issue.

It's highly unlikely fellow veteran journeymen Nick Mullens or Brett Rypien will provide the Vikings with more stability than Darnold. However, with an NFC North crown and possibly the No. 1 seed in the NFC at stake, drastic times may call for drastic measures.

Meanwhile, the Vikings have no commitment to Darnold beyond this year. Moreover, they already have their presumed franchise signal-caller on the roster in 2024 first-round selection, J.J. McCarthy. With that in mind, the former's margin for error is only getting thinner with time, especially as the stakes increase.

Add everything up, and benching Darnold sounds plausible, albeit slightly far-fetched. The Vikings are 7-2 with him as their starter, but the team's mostly succeeded despite him lately.