NFL Quarterback Rankings: Who has the best starting QB at the halfway point of the NFL season?

25. Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh Steelers
Previous Rank: 27

Kenny Pickett is what happens when you make an entire human the shrug emoji and make him the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. We don't know how he keeps his Steelers in games when he does. Yet, he does it on a weekly basis. He has less than 200 yards per game and less than 7 yards per attempt. Diontae Johnson is back, and he looks much better. George Pickens has been a little inconsistent, and he is missing Pat Friermuth, but there's a lot to like weirdly. He still might not be a good QB as far as stats and ability, but he just has this tenacity that's hard to deny.

24. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
Previous Rank: 22

The Cleveland Browns are winning games in spite of their quarterback at times. The Deshaun Watson saga has been incredibly strange, which probably would be easy to predict with how he arrived on the scene. He's 23rd in QBR with only five games played. Why did he miss those games? We don't really know! The Browns likely have buyer's remorse for this transaction. Instead of pushing them to Super Bowl contention, Watson might be the reason they fail to win a playoff game (if they even make it).

23. Justin Fields, Chicago Bears
Previous Rank: 18

This is one of the biggest drops on the list, as Justin Fields' play started to take a turn and then he got hurt. The next Bears game is on Thursday night, as they take on the Carolina Panthers. It's ironic since the Bears got the Panthers' first-round pick this season (which is en route to first overall) after the Bears made a commitment to Fields as their quarterback. Fields hasn't done enough to get that same commitment this offseason, especially with unknown rookie Tyson Bagent having various levels of success in his absence.

22. Taylor Heinicke, Atlanta Falcons
Previous Rank: NR

Taylor Heinicke is one of the few players on this list who took over the starting job because of performance and not injury. He has only been named the starter for this week against Arizona, so it could go back to Desmond Ridder next week. Heinicke was pretty good against Minnesota despite the loss. He didn't make a ton of mistakes, although a third-period interception was pretty bad. For now, Heinicke deserves a look. He's creeping up this list, but it could go either way from here.

21. Gardner Minshew, Indianapolis Colts
Previous Rank: 26

Gardner Minshew has played every game for the Indianapolis Colts this season despite being the backup coming into this season. Anthony Richardson kept getting hurt, and he eventually suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. The results have been mixed from Minshew so far. On the one hand, he's eight in league QBR. He's done an admirable job avoiding the disastrous plays, and he has two fantastic running backs to supplement the offense. On the other hand, he's clearly not a great quarterback. The offense can't run through him, and he seems to target his first option more often than not. Still, the Colts are lucky they are "stuck" with Minshew this season, who could easily be in the top 20 by the next time we do this list.