QBs Most Likely to Get Benched in 2025 With Steven Ruiz

0:00Welcome to the Ringer NFL show. I'm your host, Sheil Kapadia, with my friend Steven Ruiz, and we are talking shaky quarterback spots today. This is an assessment of the most vulnerable, uncertain quarterback situations and how those situations might play out this season. So anyone can do, you know, coaches on the hot seat. We're kind of doing starting quarterbacks on the hot seat. And so the exercise is simple here. We each ranked week one starters most likely to get benched at some point. this season and how early will they get benched. So next week, Monday and Tuesday, Ruiz, when everyone's saying, settle down, it's early, it might not apply to these guys.

0:39These might be some quarterbacks who have to have a sense of urgency because their starting spot might get pulled pretty early in the season.

0:48Steven Ruiz:No, the more I thought about it and the wider I casted my net and considered guys that are not on my radar for getting benched, the more I realized maybe guys 22 through 32 to all have a shot. I'm not saying like those early 20s guys are going to get benched, but I'm saying I can envision a world, a scenario where that does happen. Okay, well, I'm excited for that because I felt like there were a few obvious choices and then I kind of had a harder time after that. So I'm curious to see how many of our picks align and what this looks like. So let's take a break. We come back and we talk about quarterbacks most likely to get benched during the 2025 season.

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3:41all right we're back on the ringer nfl show all right get us started who is your number one pick here the the situation where you say maybe it's only a matter of time but i am very confident that at some point maybe early in the season or midway through the season this team's going to make a quarterback change? I'm going to go with Daniel Jones.

3:59Steven Ruiz:I'm going to go with the quarterback change that I think caught a couple people by, a few people by surprise when it was announced a couple of weeks ago. But my basis for picking Daniel Jones in Indianapolis is just the track record, the recent track record, the injury, the neck injury, I think totally warped Jones's game to the point where I don't know how he's going to be useful for this offense. We talked about it on the pod a couple of weeks ago. But also the decision-making. If a big part of the Colts going with Daniel Jones was how he takes care of the offense and putting the offense in safe hands, adult hands.

4:31Steven Ruiz:I don't know if Daniel Jones is your guy. I always used to joke, like, don't compliment Daniel Jones mid-possession. Don't do it in the middle of the drive because he's liable to do something boneheaded by the end of the drive. And I just think that if that's the basis for starting him, I know Shane Sykin has said, we're not going to give him a short leash. We're going to make him the start of the whole season. But I've heard Shane Sykin say that he He wasn't going to bench Anthony Richardson and then do it the very next day last year. So I'm not buying it. And I think Daniel Jones has kind of been set up to, I wouldn't say fail, but I think fans in Indianapolis are going to be very loud the first time he makes a mistake, throws an interception or gets a sack, fumbles, something like that.

5:09It's not going to be a fun experience for them to watch Daniel Jones. I think you're right. And they were number two on my list. So I had one quarterback and one team ranked ahead of them, but they have to be on anyone's short list. And you're so right there. Why has there been this sort of amnesia about Daniel Jones in recent years? Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield.

5:29Steven Ruiz:Yeah, okay. All right. I feel like there's just been two versions of him. There was the version that was kind of exciting in 2022, that he can run and he looks healthy and he actually has tools. He was a toolsy quarterback. But to your point, he's had the injuries and we are three years removed from that season. And he had every opportunity with the Giants on a big contract for them to give him every chance to say, hey, show us you are that guy or some version of that guy. And it didn't happen. And it sucks for him because I do think the injuries played a role in that. But just statistically, 36 quarterbacks with at least 500 dropbacks the last two seasons, he is last in EPA per pass play.

6:07Below, Will Levis, Desmond Ritter, Sam Howell. I mean, some of Ruiz's favorites from doing, you know, watching the film during the week and doing quarterback ranking. So I'm with you, I was thinking about how does this work for Daniel Jones? Like they would have to win games right away and they get the Dolphins, the Broncos at the Titans at the Rams. So it's not like the hardest schedule. Can they squeeze out two and two there? But this is an organization to your point that just changes its mind based on how the wind blows. And I think there's going to come a point. It's just a matter of when, where they're just like, all right, yeah, let's try Anthony Richardson.

6:42Now maybe he learned something, but they don't really have a plan. Yeah.

6:46Steven Ruiz:That's the only thing that's like giving me pause is the schedule. I think that Broncos game could get very, very ugly if the Broncos are just attacking him and we see the Daniel Jones, who I think goes into a shell more easily over the last couple of years since the neck injury. And back to your point about him being toolsy, like he pushed the ball downfield. He wasn't always accurate, but that was like the best part of his game was the rhythm of his passes on downfield passes, the weight of his passes. He gave his downfield receivers a chance. Like Darius Slayton had a very good rapport with him.

7:15Steven Ruiz:I would say an underrated report, especially on deep passes. But we haven't seen that. And I think that there was a trade-off with him where he kind of had the Darnold thing where he's kind of oblivious in the pocket to pressure. And it's almost a good thing at times because you're going to hang in there and throw it downfield. But now he's not really that kind of guy. And then he's not pushing the ball downfield. So it's like the worst of both worlds instead of the best of both worlds there. I really don't see the value. But I think they don't play a murderer's row of defenses. but I do think they play defenses that can make a quarterback's day look very ugly.

7:47Steven Ruiz:Like the Broncos, I already mentioned. LA, we saw that against Darnold. I think you could see like a big sack game there. The Cardinals, they throw these tricky looks at you defensively, and Jonathan Gannon kind of got that up and running in the second half. I could see him throwing a couple picks there. The Chargers were similar in that they bent, but they didn't break, and they forced turnovers. And I think that if he starts throwing away these games and the bye week comes up midseason, I think there's going to be a rallying cry from fans, And I think the Colts are going to give into that pressure as they already have.

8:16Yeah, I think you're right about that. We'll see. Maybe he'll say, hey, this is the healthiest I've ever felt. And they'll be able to use him in the run game because that was the big thing in 2022 is he was a big factor in the run game. It hasn't been the case since. And maybe he'll look more like that guy. But yeah, I just don't think that's the most likely scenario. So I think that's a good number one pick for you. All right, I've got the Giants and Russell Wilson and Jackson Dart being named the number two quarterback behind him. I just think, and I think you can speak to this, but Russell Wilson is the type of quarterback that really annoys a lot of the coaches he plays for, especially this version of Russell Wilson, where when you're not winning games, like there's stuff you could live with with Russell Wilson when he was improvising and creating and hitting shots downfield.

9:03When that gets taken away, now he becomes an annoying quarterback for coaches because they're like, you're not doing what we practiced. You're not doing what we coach you to do during the week. You're not, the ball's not going where it's supposed to go on this play. And meanwhile, they got Jackson Dart at number two. And Brian Dayball, if you've been reading the Giants coverage, he does seem smitten by his rookie quarterback, which is not uncommon in the NFL. But it just feels to me like there's gonna come a time, maybe early in the season, where Dayball looks at it and says, I'm coaching for my job.

9:38My best shot here is to show that I can develop a young quarterback who shows some promise where we get to the end of the season and ownership's thinking, hey, Dayball and Jackson Dart, let's give them a shot for one more year. So I don't know how early it's going to come. You know, they're at Washington, at Dallas, home against the Chiefs, home versus the Chargers. They also have the hardest schedule in the NFL. So it's not like you're, hey, once we get through these six weeks, we're going to be, okay, So I don't know when it's going to come, but I would have them first on my list of, if we're saying how early, like if it's a pool, you know, like a baby pool or something, I think I would have them first on my list.

10:15Steven Ruiz:Yeah, I considered them first, definitely, because fans are going to want to see it after Jackson Dart lit it up in the preseason. But, and I do agree with your point that this is Dayball's last chance and Russell Wilson doesn't run the offense as designed. And if I'm him, I don't want to go out with a guy that's not even running my offense. I want to go down with the ship, so to speak. But if I'm Dayball, I think my best chance at retaining this job and coming back again next year is kind of banking that good energy you got from the preseason and not ruining it, not exposing Jackson Dart. Because if Jackson Dart goes out there and he's bad, you have no chance.

10:50Steven Ruiz:You have no chance. One, the team's going to be bad. And then two, you can't even go, look, we're on the right track with the quarterback. Now, if he doesn't play a game, if he doesn't see the field at all, then you could be like, oh, you remember Jackson Dart? You remember how excited I was? You remember how excited you guys were watching it? I'm the guy. I'm the guy that wanted him. I'm the guy that's brought him along over the first training camp. I had him looking pretty good in preseason. Imagine what I can do with a full offseason with him. Imagine what this is going to look like next year.

11:15Steven Ruiz:There's only one way to find out, and that's to keep me around. So it's a job preservation thing for me. But if I'm Brian Dayball, I'm folding here. I'm holding here. I'm not putting my cards on the table anymore in 2025. I love this because it's one of my favorite storylines in the NFL, which is sort of the inter-office politics. And so if Dayball can say to your point, I want to dart and you guys saw dart in the preseason, but you signed Russell Wilson and you wanted me to play him and he didn't have it, but I was doing the best I can, just trying to be a good company man. But you got to give me a shot with Jackson Dart next year.

11:52I mean, you saw that. So that's it because you're right. If he plays him, and by the way, I want to know where you are with Jackson Dart because we talked about him during draft time. I know you watch a lot more preseason than I do. I'm looking at, you know, the Jackson Dart headlines and the hype. And this is another one where I feel like people have amnesia. Like I remember Kenny Pickett in 2020. I have some headlines here for you, Ruiz. I actually did prep for this part. 2023 Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett, highest graded quarterback in the preseason. He started 12 games for the Steelers and was traded to the Eagles after the season.

12:29Zach Wilson looks NFL ready in Jets preseason win. That's from 2021. Jets went three and 10 with him that season. He was a rookie. We know how that went. And this is my favorite one because I left Philadelphia to take a job to cover the Seattle Seahawks in 2015. And I went to cover a Seahawks Chargers game. And I got back to my hotel and was checking my messages. And it was all my friends in Philadelphia going, you left at the wrong time, man. I can't believe you. Because you know why, Rui? that night when I was covering Seahawks Chargers. Sam Bradford, you remember it. See, this guy is a sicko.

13:03I mean, he's remembering a preseason game from 10 years ago. Sam Bradford looks unstoppable in Eagles win. That's the headline I found. He went 10 for 10 for 121 yards and three touchdowns. And he started 14 games that year before the Eagles decided they needed to trade him for Carson Wentz. So all I'm saying is, settle down on the preseason stuff. But Ruiz, your assessment of Jackson Dart with kind of the information you have right now?

13:28Steven Ruiz:I think it looked better than I expected it to look. Like, to all your points, it's preseason. Like, the looks aren't going to be the same on defense. I think the game plan, you can't run an RPO-heavy game plan, which I feel like Brian Dayball kind of set him up for, just to ease his transition to the pros because that's what he ran at Ole Miss. It's not applicable to what we're going to see during the regular season. But I do think he showed some good traits, like his pocket presence was better than I assumed it would, not being in a drop back offense at Ole Miss. I thought he showed a little more with his mobility and being able to avoid pressure in the pocket.

14:01Steven Ruiz:So I do like parts of his game, but I think people are just looking at those box score numbers and just being like, oh yeah, he must've been good. But like, even if you watch some of it, like the last game we played, I think against the Patriots, he had that one RPO touchdown. And yeah, it's a touchdown and people were like, oh look, Jackson Dart's getting the ball out on time. He looks pro ready. It was an RPO. So of course he's getting the ball out on time. and two it was a catch but it was not an accurate pass by any means it was kind of behind the guy on the back shoulder so like i just think that i don't think you should be looking into the film at all like that i shouldn't be judging him based off those two plays but i also don't think you should be buying a bunch of stock in him just because he put up good numbers because like you said we saw from kenny pickett a couple years ago saw it with zach wilson i remember that the zach wilson hype after his uh rookie preseason and then sam uh bradford's the one i thought of immediately.

14:48Steven Ruiz:That one is burnt in my brain. That Packers game, I'm telling you. The first two drives, I think it was, they looked unstoppable. I was drinking the Kool-Aid too because that was the year after I think, was that the year after Nick Foles? I forget, but it was like, oh, Chip Kelly has his quarterback now. I know Chip Kelly made that trade, but it was all downhill from there. It looked nothing like that during the regular season. The point is, I want to be clear, I'm not saying Jackson Dart stinks. He could be good. The hardest thing to predict is rookie quarterback performance. I'm just saying in my opinion and if you're a Giants fan you can get hyped you haven't had a lot to cheer about so this isn't me scolding you but if you're not a Giants fan and looking at it objectively I would say settle down let's see what it looks like in the regular season here with Jackson Dart that's all and it's better than him being bad and stinking up in prison so it's not a bad thing yeah absolutely alright let's take a break we come back now it gets a little more difficult I think those were the top two Colts and Giants which other teams might have their starting quarterback in week one benched early midway through the season.

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17:12Steven Ruiz:But I honestly don't know if those backups are going to threaten Joe Flacco. So I'm going to do a little bit of a reach. I'm going to go Justin Fields on this one. I know there was a lot of money invested in Justin Fields. But what are we in, year five now? Year five. And I still, I don't know about you, but I still haven't seen meaningful progression in the areas where I thought Justin Fields needed to progress. The one that you could argue that we saw last year was him reducing his turnovers, reducing the interceptions, reducing the fumbles. But as we talked about throughout the season, that came at the cost.

17:42Steven Ruiz:It came at the cost of what we used to love about Justin Fields, if there was anything to love about his game, which was him just being a big play machine, whether it was with his legs or throwing the ball downfield. We didn't see any of that with Pittsburgh. And just listening to him talk throughout the preseason, I think he just did a press conference today, actually, where he's highlighting the need to protect the football, don't make mistakes. And it seems like he's echoing Aaron Glenn there. defensive-minded head coach is probably saying, hey, if you guys don't turn over the football on offense, we can take care of the rest on defense.

18:11Steven Ruiz:I think Justin Fields is going to start feeling that pressure to get back to his old self and create big plays because he realizes this is probably his last chance. And I think we're going to see the return of that turnover-worthy play problem that really plagued him in Chicago. And if that happens, I wouldn't be surprised if Aaron Glenn is quick to make a move. They have a backup option in Tyrod Taylor. But I don't know if he, where does, what area does Justin Fields give you a lot more than Tyra Taylor at this point in his career, besides the explosive running? I think that's it. I think it is, I mean, more talented.

18:46Like if you just watched them in practice and said, hey, throw the ball and run, you would be like, all right, Justin Fields. But in terms of accuracy, decision making, I think you nailed it with kind of the head coach here and what he is going to want from his quarterback. back. And I think the quickest way for Justin Fields to get benched is turning the football over. I think Aaron Glenn is going to say, we're going to win with defense. We're going to run the ball. Just don't turn it over. And to your point, there has to be a balance there. Now, if he's running the ball effectively and we're saying, wow, look at this Jets run game.

19:18It's kind of fun. They're doing some things and he's not turning the football over. That's a great outcome, but they've got to figure that out. And it's just the ceiling of your offense is going to be limited, I think with Justin Fields in the passing game. Now, I think they're okay with that. I think they know that, but you're right. Last year with the Steelers, it was like, well, he's not turning the ball over. I think they went four and two. It's a small sample. We had a pretty big sample before that, that there were a lot of negative plays and a lot of turnovers and a lot of sacks. So yeah, I think that is the key with him.

19:48And then you, I can't go past the money here because 20 million per year, like this was not a, hey, let's take a flyer on Justin Fields. It's not a big starting quarterback salary, but it's not a backup salary either. I mean, it's a pretty significant commitment they made to him. So maybe they don't care about that. They would go with Tyrod Taylor, but I'm with you. If he has turnovers early in the season and their defense is playing well, I think Aaron Glenn could get pretty sick of it pretty quickly.

20:15Steven Ruiz:Yeah, I do think you get some of the benefit in the run game from Tyrod if he's out there. The one thing I would say is he didn't add value to the Pittsburgh run game. And I think we all kind of took that for granted and thought it would happen. It really didn't happen. So if he's not producing on the ground, and even if he is producing on the ground, I think they have the pieces for a good run game, right? They have a good offensive line. They have some good running backs. I think, you know, in theory, Fields adds value to it. But even if they are basing the offense around that run game, I think there's a very good chance that he gets banged up in this offense.

20:46Steven Ruiz:That's true, too. If it's that style of run game. and I don't know if they see the offense under a steadier hand which I think Taylor is at this point then I don't know if they want to go back I don't know if a defensive coordinator is going to want to turn it over to a turnover prone quarterback so I just think he might have a shorter leash than his salary implies Yeah, it could be I almost feel like they got to go lay up three-pointers with that offense screens, run game, and hey chuck it downfield They really don't need any passes between 5 and 15 yards. It's just, you know, go for it. You don't have to have a high success rate, but can you hit on those explosives?

21:26That's going to be everything for them.

21:28Steven Ruiz:The problem for Fields, though, is he has shown no ability to hit the layups or the threes. I know, the accuracy. Neither one. You're right. You're right. Yeah, no, I'm with you there. All right. Next one on my list. You said it. It's an obvious one. We got to mention it. It's the Cleveland Browns. Joe Flacco is the starter. Dylan Gabriel is the backup. up. Shadour Sanders is third. Now, I'm not sure what the Browns motivation is this season. Like this was a hard one. I had them lower down the list here than I was expecting because I just don't know exactly what they want to do. I feel like their defense could keep them somewhat competitive.