Updated 11/18/25
No position in sports commands attention and scrutiny like quarterback. Football is a game of 11 players on each side of the ball and yet each matchup is a duel of quarterbacks. Super Bowl rings matter for the legacy of quarterbacks, not left guards.
Failure to perform at quarterback can find you riding the pine. And so far this season, we’ve already seen some starters lose their jobs as they struggle to meet expectations.
As the league has embraced more passing, the importance of the backup quarterbacks has grown to either keep the offense rolling in the case of an injury or, as we’ll discuss here, try to provide a shot in the arm to a struggling offense. Here’s a look at all the starting QBs benched this season.
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Starting Quarterbacks Benched Through Week 11
The following QBs have been benched after lackluster performances, to say the least: Joe Flacco, Jake Browning, Russell Wilson, Spencer Rattler and Justin Fields.
Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Flacco benched for Dillon Gabriel
Joe Flacco returned to Cleveland for his second stint filling in for the injured Deshaun Watson. But when the Browns drafted Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, it was widely believed that anything short of a sensational 3-0 start by Flacco would prompt a QB change to give one of the rookies a shot.
Drafted ahead of Sanders and maintaining the backup slot on the depth chart, Gabriel became the next man up. In four starts, Gabriel is 1-2 with four touchdowns, two interceptions and a lowly 4.9 yards per pass attempt.
Shedeur Sanders will also get a chance to start in Week 12, as Gabriel is out on concussion protocol.
Cincinnati Bengals
Jake Browning benched for Joe Flacco
Browning took over for an injured Joe Burrow mid-game against the Jaguars, leading a fourth quarterback comeback win. Once he became the full-time starter, though, it got ugly.
On 13% of drop backs, Browning was either picked off or sacked and the Bengals offense was utterly stagnant. Then the Bengals pulled off a miracle.
They traded a fifth round pick for Joe Flacco who has recently been benched in Cleveland. They’re just 1-2 in games started by Flacco thus far, but he’s thrown seven touchdowns to zero interceptions, and they’ve scored 30+ points twice in a row. Turns out throwing it to Ja’Marr Chase 23 times per game is, in fact, a winning strategy.
They scored more points in a loss to the Jets than in all of Browning’s starts combined. The AFC North lacks a clear favorite, so even at 3-5, a Flacco-led Bengals team is well within playoff range.
New York Giants
Russell Wilson benched for Jaxson Dart
There wasn’t much hope for the 2025-26 Giants entering the year. The one glimmer for both the fan base and the job security of head coach Brian Daboll was getting a chance to see what first-round draft pick Jaxson Dart had to offer.
So as to not rush Dart, the Giants started the season with Russell Wilson under center. He went 0-3 in his run including a drubbing by the Chiefs at home. Thus the keys were handed to Dart.
In Dart’s five starts, the Giants are 2-3. But with how dramatically the vibes have shifted, you’d have thought they were 5-0 and Super Bowl bound.
With Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo out for the year, not to mention the defending Super Bowl champs atop their division, expectations are still low. But Dart has given fans some exciting competitive football if nothing else.
New Orleans Saints
Spencer Rattler benched for Tyler Shough
Entering the season, the Saints lacked a good answer at quarterback. QB Spencer Rattler, once a prospective top draft pick, never did enough to truly establish himself. On top of a middling 50.8 QBR, he has more turnovers than touchdowns and he’s 1-13 in his 14 starts.
Shough, a surprising second round draft pick, now gets his shot. For a team with no playoff hopes and an uncertain future, this may be more of a tryout for head coach Kellen Moore to see if Shough can bring any sort of spark to a dim year in New Orleans.
New York Jets
Justin Fields benched for Tyrod Taylor
Fields started the year with an impressive performance in a week 1 loss to Pittsburgh. In that game, he flashed the dual threat promise that made him a first round pick.
The rest of the season has followed the arc of Fields’ career thus far: exciting highs and devastating lows.
He ranks 22nd in passer rating, 30th in QBR, he’s failed to complete 60% of his passes in five games and has thrown for less than 100 yards four times this season.
What’s most detrimental is the lack of deep passing attempts. Five times this season he’s averaged less than five yards per passing attempt.
After back-to-back painful losses that saw him complete 15 passes and get sacked 12 times, even the owner of the Jets dropped disparaging comments in the press.
If it weren’t for a knee injury to Taylor heading into week 8, Fields might have already been benched. Now that he’s healthy, Taylor will take the reins of a lowly offense heading into week 12.
Possible Midseason QB Battles
Just because your job is safe this week, doesn’t mean it will be next week. There are already rumblings of some quarterbacks who may be in danger of losing their spot in the starting lineup if they can’t turn things around.
Arizona Cardinals
Kyler Murray benched for Jacoby Brissett
Off to a 2-1 start, a foot injury kept Murray off the field in week 7 and week 8. In his stead, Brissett has filled in admirably. In two games against two of the league’s best teams, he’s thrown for 599 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception. Unfortunately for him, both ended in heartbreaking losses.
Brissett has played well enough to warrant a conversation about who should stay under center once Murray is well enough to play.
Miami Dolphins
Tua Tagovailoa benched for Quinn Ewers
Tua has already been benched for Ewers once this year, in a humiliating 31-6 loss to the Browns. In that game, Tua threw three interceptions and earned a QBR of 3.3. That’s a metric on a scale of 0-100, for those unaware.
Ewers, a seventh-round draft pick, didn’t wow in his brief stint as starter, so the move felt more like sending a message to Tagovailoa than any sort of hope in their backup.
At 4-7, the season is lost for the Dolphins. Head coach Mike McDaniel looks like he’s on his way out and their quarterback controversy isn’t about midseason performance anymore, it’s about the future direction of the franchise.
Cleveland Browns
Dillon Gabriel benched for Shedeur Sanders
Cleveland’s playoff chances are, once again, non-existent. For the Browns to draft two QBs in the draft implies at least some degree of doubt in each. Though Gabriel took over for Flacco, he’s done little to cement his status as the starter or even the future of the franchise.
Sanders hasn’t either, but in a lost season, the Browns might want to see if he can provide a spark and give them something to consider heading into 2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What quarterbacks have been benched in the NFL this year?
Thus far, Joe Flacco, Jake Browning, Russell Wilson and Spencer Rattler have lost their starting jobs in the 2025-26 NFL season.
What quarterbacks are on the hot seat in 2025?
On top of Joe Flacco, Jake Browning, Spencer Rattler and Russell Wilson losing their starting jobs, more QB changes could be on the horizon. Here's who's on the QB hot seat: Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Fields, Dillon Gabriel
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