The Bengals are benching Andy Dalton for Ryan Finley. I was aware that the Bengals are winless, of course, but I thought the primary culprit was their horrible defense and offensive line incapable of opening so much as a crease for Joe Mixon. But quarterbacks usually get the most credit and most blame, so Dalton will take the fall this time.
In fairness to the Bengals, it's not as if Dalton hasn't had enough of a shot running the offense. He's been their starter since 2011, and has never quite gotten over the hump -- no playoff wins, as everyone knows, and a lot of mediocrity.
That's also true in the fantasy realm. In those eight seasons as Cincinnati's starter (2011-Present), Dalton has had one top-10 fantasy finish (1 point for every 20 passing yards and 4-point TD passes), back in 2013. That's as many in that timeframe as Alex Smith and Mark Sanchez, and one fewer than Blake Bortles.
TOP 10 FANTASY QUARTERBACKS, 2011-PRESENT | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Pass | TDP | 2 Pt | Run | TDR | FF | Rk |
2018 | Patrick Mahomes | 5097 | 50 | 1 | 272 | 2 | 496 | 1 |
2018 | Ben Roethlisberger | 5129 | 34 | 4 | 98 | 3 | 428 | 2 |
2018 | Matt Ryan | 4924 | 35 | 2 | 125 | 3 | 427 | 3 |
2018 | Andrew Luck | 4593 | 39 | 2 | 148 | 0 | 404 | 4 |
2018 | Deshaun Watson | 4165 | 26 | 0 | 551 | 5 | 397 | 5 |
2018 | Jared Goff | 4688 | 32 | 3 | 108 | 2 | 391 | 6 |
2018 | Aaron Rodgers | 4442 | 25 | 3 | 269 | 2 | 367 | 7 |
2018 | Kirk Cousins | 4298 | 30 | 3 | 123 | 1 | 359 | 8 |
2018 | Drew Brees | 3992 | 32 | 1 | 22 | 4 | 356 | 9 |
2018 | Dak Prescott | 3885 | 22 | 2 | 305 | 6 | 353 | 10 |
2017 | Russell Wilson | 3983 | 34 | 2 | 586 | 3 | 416 | 1 |
2017 | Cam Newton | 3302 | 22 | 1 | 754 | 6 | 367 | 2 |
2017 | Tom Brady | 4577 | 32 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 364 | 3 |
2017 | Kirk Cousins | 4093 | 27 | 0 | 179 | 4 | 355 | 4 |
2017 | Matthew Stafford | 4446 | 29 | 2 | 98 | 0 | 352 | 5 |
2017 | Alex Smith | 4042 | 26 | 0 | 355 | 1 | 348 | 6 |
2017 | Philip Rivers | 4515 | 28 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 337.55 | 7 |
2017 | Carson Wentz | 3296 | 33 | 4 | 299 | 0 | 335 | 8 |
2017 | Ben Roethlisberger | 4251 | 28 | 2 | 47 | 0 | 333 | 9 |
2017 | Dak Prescott | 3324 | 22 | 0 | 357 | 6 | 326 | 10 |
2016 | Aaron Rodgers | 4428 | 40 | 2 | 369 | 4 | 446 | 1 |
2016 | Drew Brees | 5208 | 37 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 422 | 2 |
2016 | Matt Ryan | 4944 | 38 | 2 | 117 | 0 | 415 | 3 |
2016 | Andrew Luck | 4240 | 31 | 2 | 341 | 2 | 386 | 4 |
2016 | Kirk Cousins | 4917 | 25 | 0 | 96 | 4 | 379 | 5 |
2016 | Philip Rivers | 4386 | 33 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 355 | 6 |
2016 | Blake Bortles | 3905 | 23 | 2 | 359 | 4 | 351 | 7 |
2016 | Matthew Stafford | 4327 | 24 | 1 | 207 | 2 | 347 | 8 |
2016 | Jameis Winston | 4090 | 28 | 3 | 165 | 1 | 345 | 9 |
2016 | Dak Prescott | 3667 | 23 | 0 | 282 | 6 | 340 | 10 |
2015 | Cam Newton | 3837 | 35 | 0 | 636 | 10 | 455 | 1 |
2015 | Blake Bortles | 4428 | 35 | 1 | 310 | 2 | 406 | 2 |
2015 | Tom Brady | 4770 | 36 | 0 | 53 | 3 | 406 | 3 |
2015 | Russell Wilson | 4024 | 34 | 0 | 553 | 1 | 399 | 4 |
2015 | Carson Palmer | 4671 | 35 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 382 | 5 |
2015 | Drew Brees | 4870 | 32 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 379 | 6 |
2015 | Eli Manning | 4436 | 35 | 0 | 61 | 0 | 368 | 7 |
2015 | Aaron Rodgers | 3821 | 31 | 4 | 344 | 1 | 363 | 8 |
2015 | Kirk Cousins | 4166 | 29 | 2 | 48 | 5 | 363 | 9 |
2015 | Matthew Stafford | 4262 | 32 | 0 | 159 | 1 | 363 | 10 |
2014 | Andrew Luck | 4761 | 40 | 0 | 273 | 3 | 443 | 1 |
2014 | Aaron Rodgers | 4381 | 38 | 1 | 269 | 2 | 412 | 2 |
2014 | Peyton Manning | 4727 | 39 | 2 | -24 | 0 | 394 | 3 |
2014 | Drew Brees | 4952 | 33 | 0 | 68 | 1 | 392 | 4 |
2014 | Ben Roethlisberger | 4952 | 32 | 3 | 27 | 0 | 384 | 5 |
2014 | Russell Wilson | 3475 | 20 | 0 | 849 | 6 | 375 | 6 |
2014 | Matt Ryan | 4694 | 28 | 1 | 145 | 0 | 363 | 7 |
2014 | Eli Manning | 4410 | 30 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 350 | 8 |
2014 | Philip Rivers | 4286 | 31 | 0 | 102 | 0 | 349 | 9 |
2014 | Ryan Tannehill | 4045 | 27 | 0 | 311 | 1 | 347 | 10 |
2013 | Peyton Manning | 5477 | 55 | 0 | -31 | 1 | 497 | 1 |
2013 | Drew Brees | 5162 | 39 | 0 | 52 | 3 | 437 | 2 |
2013 | Andy Dalton | 4293 | 33 | 0 | 183 | 2 | 377 | 3 |
2013 | Matthew Stafford | 4650 | 29 | 2 | 69 | 2 | 371 | 4 |
2013 | Cam Newton | 3379 | 24 | 0 | 585 | 6 | 359 | 5 |
2013 | Philip Rivers | 4478 | 32 | 0 | 72 | 0 | 359 | 6 |
2013 | Andrew Luck | 3822 | 23 | 4 | 377 | 4 | 353 | 7 |
2013 | Ben Roethlisberger | 4261 | 28 | 0 | 99 | 1 | 341 | 8 |
2013 | Matt Ryan | 4515 | 26 | 0 | 55 | 0 | 335 | 9 |
2013 | Russell Wilson | 3357 | 26 | 0 | 539 | 1 | 332 | 10 |
2012 | Drew Brees | 5177 | 43 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 437 | 1 |
2012 | Aaron Rodgers | 4295 | 39 | 1 | 259 | 2 | 411 | 2 |
2012 | Tom Brady | 4827 | 34 | 0 | 32 | 4 | 405 | 3 |
2012 | Cam Newton | 3869 | 19 | 0 | 741 | 8 | 392 | 4 |
2012 | Matt Ryan | 4719 | 32 | 0 | 141 | 1 | 384 | 5 |
2012 | Peyton Manning | 4659 | 37 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 384 | 6 |
2012 | Tony Romo | 4903 | 28 | 2 | 49 | 1 | 372 | 7 |
2012 | Matthew Stafford | 4967 | 20 | 1 | 126 | 4 | 367 | 8 |
2012 | Andrew Luck | 4374 | 23 | 0 | 255 | 5 | 366 | 9 |
2012 | Robert Griffin III | 3200 | 20 | 0 | 815 | 7 | 364 | 10 |
2011 | Drew Brees | 5476 | 46 | 2 | 86 | 1 | 476 | 1 |
2011 | Aaron Rodgers | 4643 | 45 | 0 | 257 | 3 | 456 | 2 |
2011 | Tom Brady | 5235 | 39 | 0 | 109 | 3 | 447 | 3 |
2011 | Cam Newton | 4051 | 21 | 2 | 706 | 14 | 445 | 4 |
2011 | Matthew Stafford | 5038 | 41 | 2 | 78 | 0 | 428 | 5 |
2011 | Eli Manning | 4933 | 29 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 370 | 6 |
2011 | Philip Rivers | 4624 | 27 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 351 | 7 |
2011 | Matt Ryan | 4177 | 29 | 0 | 84 | 2 | 345 | 8 |
2011 | Tony Romo | 4184 | 31 | 0 | 46 | 1 | 344 | 9 |
2011 | Mark Sanchez | 3474 | 26 | 0 | 103 | 6 | 324 | 10 |
Fourth-rounder Ryan Finley takes over, and we'll see how that goes. There are a couple of pretty good fourth-rounders starting right now, Kirk Cousins and Dak Prescott.
But on this team and behind this offensive line, Finley is likely to struggle as much as (probably more than) Dalton. He should at least have plenty of motivation. Winning a couple of games would help knock Cincinnati out of position to draft his replacement atop the 2020 Draft.
--Andy Richardson