Benching Dalton: A Cincinnati Bengals Love-Tragedy

   On the day of the trade deadline, which also happened to be his birthday, the Cincinnati Bengals announced that they were benching their 2011 2nd-round draft selection quarterback Andy Dalton after nine seasons and starting rookie Ryan Finley, a 4th-round selection from this past years draft out of North Carolina State.

It was announced that the decision was made by first-year head coach Zac Taylor, who was known to be a supporter of Dalton when he arrived in Cincinnati. Dalton, clearly disappointed with the decision, made it known that he was displeased to the media on Wednesday after practice about coach Taylor's decision and the way that the Bengals organization handled the situation. He [Dalton] said that he was informed only three hours prior to the deadline which didn't allow much time for his agent to seek a trade.

With all that is going on around the Bengals organization (or lack of activity that is), it is kind of hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel with all the smoke in the way. However, if we look at this at the surface level it's a way for both parties to get to where they really need to be at this point. I see this possibly being the best for the Bengals organization, fans and even Andy Dalton.

Bengals

• Get to see what life is like after Dalton
• Fresh start for the organization who still seem to be living in the shadows of Marvin Lewis
• Rejuvenating the fan base, turning a new leaf 

Fans 

• They've been highly critical of Dalton for the past few seasons - They get someone new 
• This is closer to the closing of the Marvin Lewis chapter - Andy is an extension of Marvin
• Change isn't always good but it's something new, exciting and the fan base needs this right now

Dalton 

• Doesn't have to worry about getting injured as he gets closer to his contract season
• Won't have to worry about playing behind that offensive line, which hasn't looked very good this season
• Possibly has an opportunity to go play for another team and could see what else is out there for him. Or could gain more appreciation from the Cincinnati fan base which has been extremely critical of his play over the past few seasons. 

Through the first 8 games Dalton has 2,252 passing yards, 9 passing touchdowns, 8 interceptions on 60% of his passes completed. Also, he has accounted for all 3 of the Bengals rushing scores.

Though sounding fretful in his first public interview since the announcement came, Dalton did acknowledge that he is here to support Finley and hopes to see the team succeed going forward and he will support the team in anyway he can. While I didn't see the logic in an 0-8 team making the decision to bench their best option at quarterback while the team is already without their best offensive weapon for the first half of the season in AJ Green and head coach Zac Taylor still is looking for his first win. I do believe that this could be the turning of the page from the Marvin Lewis era that the Cincinnati Bengals have really not addressed since only making the change at head coach but keeping the roster mostly the same.

Ryan Finley will make his first start in the national football league coming off of the bye week, November 10, as the Bengals host the division leading Baltimore Ravens with the possibility of AJ Green returning for that game.

While this seems like the world is collapsing in on Dalton, the Bengals and it's fans. This honestly could be new life unfolding for all three. The Bengals need to be forward-thinking with all decisions at this point. If they are thinking 2020 this could be a stepping stone towards the Bengals knowing they'll draft a quarterback in the upcoming draft, possibly trading Dalton in the offseason and maybe being aggressive next season like many have wished they would for the past few years. While I am not positive of this, it surely feels like optimism is needed and this is one way to see light at the end of the tunnel. 

The Lesson 1999 Should Have Taught Bengals Fans For 2020

Akili Smith, Quarterback - 1999 draft selection (No.3 overall)

The "New Dey" hasn't really lived up to it's hype, so far, in 2019 for the Cincinnati Bengals after an 0-7 start to the season for first-year head coach Zac Taylor. Right now the conversation in Cincinnati is less about actual football in 2019 but more so about the NFL Draft in 2020, where it looks the Bengals will have a top 5 draft pick.

In 1999, with the 4th overall draft pick, the Bengals drafted quarterback Akili Smith from the University of Oregon. In 2000, Smith's first full season as the starter, the Bengals went 4-12. 2001 they were 6-10 and 2002 they regressed to 2-14. Now, Smith wasn't all to blame but he wasn't going to be the key to the rebuilding process.  That was proven to be right as the Bengals drafted Heisman-winning quarterback, Carson Palmer in 2003.

The biggest question right now, for the Bengals, is how do they turn things around as an organization? Drafting a QB seems to always be the way most organizations believe that's solve that problem and that's the basis of rebuilding. For the Bengals, with this draft class, I don't think that's the solution.  I know people have been intrigued with the notion of the Bengals drafting a quarterback early in this years draft to replace the veteran Andy Dalton. Names like Justin Herbert; Oregon; Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama; Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma and Joe Burrow from LSU are all names that have been mentioned as quarterbacks that could possibly be drafted early in the 2020 draft. But if the Bengals remain patient and take the best player on their draft board and not best quarterback on their draft board I think they'll get it right. If it's one thing that I believe that the 1999 draft taught me and should have taught Bengals fans it's that drafting a quarterback is not the solution ... drafting the right PLAYER is.

The Bengals (0-7) are traveling to London, England to face the defending NFC champions in the Los Angeles Rams. Zac Taylor has a chance to get his first win against his old team. The Bengals-Rams kickoff on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.