8 benchable QBs playing better than Deshaun Watson
By John Buhler
A lot can change between now and then, but it seems as though the Cleveland Browns are actually winning in spite of Deshaun Watson. While Cleveland may be 3-1 with Watson as their starter, the 4-2 Browns are not getting consistently great play out of their overpriced asset. If you look at ESPN's QBR formula, Watson ranks 24th out of qualifying passers with a not-so-great 41.8 on the season.
The good news for Cleveland is three-fold. One, this year's Browns team looks to be playoff-caliber, so one would think Cleveland can find ways to win games, even when Watson does not play well, or at all. Two, one would think that Watson will eventually find his footing and play like he did in Houston, and at Clemson before that. And three, two of the Browns' biggest rivals have gotten worse QB play.
Among the eight qualifying quarterbacks who are worse than Watson when it comes to QBR, look no further than the Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow coming in at No. 26 with a 40.4, and The Fake Slide King himself Kenny Pickett of the Pittsburgh Steelers coming in at a delightful No. 30 at 35.3. Only Ryan Tannehill of the Tennessee Titans and Bryce Young of the Carolina Panthers have been worse...
So with that in mind, here are eight quarterbacks who are candidates to be benched who have better QBRs than Watson. These eight signal-callers are ranked from best QBR to the worst above Watson.
8. Indianapolis Colts QB Gardner Minshew II: 61.3 QBR
QBR is not the most accurate of stats to determine how good a quarterback is playing, but at times this season, Gardner Minshew II is showing why he should be a starting quarterback in this league. The former Jock Strap King of the Jacksonville Jaguars has actually played pretty well for the Indianapolis Colts. His getting benched nature has everything to do with Anthony Richardson...
If Richardson were healthy, he would be riding pine. For now, Minshew has the Colts playing competitive football in a tight division for rookie head coach Shane Steichen. His rapport with his former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator has certainly kept the Colts in more games than the walking trash can that was Frank Reich last season. That man might have been broken by these Colts.
Minshew's 61.3 QBR is the NFL's 11th best, ahead of players like Kirk Cousins and Trevor Lawrence.
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield: 58.7 QBR
Although they may have played like crap offensively last week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are way more competitive than we thought this season. Moving off an aging Tom Brady in favor of Baker Mayfield was a questionable move, but the Buccaneers are now resembling something to what they were when Jameis Winston was the face of their franchise: A lot of fun, but a lot of turnovers as well.
We have seen at times Mayfield play like he did during his college career at Oklahoma, his best days in Cleveland and that one great game of his while he was with the Los Angeles Rams. Not having much of a ground game has hurt him this season, but Mayfield has shown he can spread the ball around to the likes of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin just fine. He has a limited ceiling, but is effective.
Mayfield's QBR of 58.7 has him 15th, ahead of solid quarterbacks like C.J. Stroud and Derek Carr.