Around the NFL

October 29, 2019

So long, Red Rifle

Bengals benching Dalton for Finley

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

Andy Dalton Ryan Finley

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