The ebbs and flows of an NFL season can often lead to cruel decisions when it comes to the quarterback position. While a few teams were forced to make a quarterback change due to injury this season, including Minnesota now that Kirk Cousins is feared to have torn his Achilles, performance issues are the biggest reason why a change can be made.
Injuries and poor play combined to influence this week's look at three quarterbacks who should be benched after Week 8. Let's start in Arizona, where they need to make a call about Kyler Murray soon.
3. Josh Dobbs, QB, Arizona Cardinals
This is no slight on Dobbs, who has performed admirably after being acquired right before the season to serve as Arizona's starter, but Jonathan Gannon needs to see what the Cardinals have in Murray. With a potentially franchise-defining decision awaiting them in the draft in April, having as much information as possible in terms of how Murray fits going forward makes the most sense for Arizona.
Murray, who is coming off a torn ACL suffered last December against New England, practiced fully this week and is in his 21-day window to be activated from injured reserve. The Cardinals have a lot of money invested in Murray and it would behoove them to see if the No. 1 pick from the 2019 draft is a good fit for their new regime.
That decision can only happen if Murray starts the rest of the way, giving them nine games of data to decide if their path forward involves building the franchise around him or trading Murray to a quarterback-needy team. Murray can increase his stock by playing well down the stretch and Arizona's roster is poor enough that they will still lose a lot with him, so getting him back in the lineup is a no-brainer.
2. Desmond Ridder, QB, Atlanta Falcons
Ridder actually left Atlanta's 28-23 loss to the Tennessee Titans early with a concussion but he wasn't exactly lighting up the scoreboard prior to his departure. The Falcons struggled to move the ball with Ridder, who completed 8-of-12 passes for 71 yards before getting hurt but looked more cohesive with backup Taylor Heinicke under center.
Heinicke provided a spark for the Falcons, completing 12-of-21 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown playing in relief of Ridder. While we know that Heinicke isn't going to be the future of the franchise, he has demonstrated an ability to keep teams in the playoff hunt dating back to his time with the Washington Commanders.
Head coach Arthur Smith has a delicate dance to perform by trying to take advantage of a very winnable division while developing a young quarterback in Ridder, who has shown flashes of brilliance while making some very bad choices along the way. A chance to reset could be valuable for Ridder while Heinicke keeps the Falcons in the playoff hunt for the next few weeks.
It's unclear at this point if Ridder will be able to clear concussion protocol in time for Sunday's home game against the Cousins-less Vikings. Even if he does, Smith should turn the offense over to Heinicke for the next two weeks with an eye towards rebuilding Ridder's confidence with a mental break.
1. Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
One of the most difficult situations a coach can face is having a team that is ready to win but is being held back by his quarterback. The Steelers find themselves in this exact predicament as Kenny Pickett hasn't taken the second-year leap most were hoping for, entering Week 8 with a 4-2 record but a mediocre statistical profile as he is completing fewer passes now than he did as a rookie, seeing his completion percentage drop from 63 percent to 60.9.
Pickett left today's game with a rib injury and Pittsburgh turned to Mitch Trubisky, who looked more effective in a 20-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Trubisky completed 15-of-27 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown, albeit with two interceptions, averaging 5.1 yards per attempt compared to just 4.6 per attempt for Pickett.
No one expects Trubisky to be a world-beater but he at least has experience guiding a team to the playoffs in the past from his days in Chicago. Pittsburgh has largely been winning in spite of its quarterback as Pickett has thrown just one touchdown in the month of October, simply game-managing for now.
Like we discussed with Ridder earlier, a mental reset may not be the worst thing for Pickett and a rib injury could allow Mike Tomlin to give it to him without inciting a quarterback controversy. With a short week on tap against Tennessee, it makes plenty of sense to bench Pickett on Thursday and try to steal this game with Trubisky before re-evaluating the situation after the mini-bye that follows the contest.