hen people talk about
those who are
considered elite NFL
quarterbacks, you will
rightly hear names
such as Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers
and Drew Brees thrown around. You
could argue that Ben Roethlisberger
deserves a seat with two Super Bowl
successes, and Eli Manning can stake
a similar claim due to his pair of
Lombardi Trophy wins.
Others mentioned are the new
breed of young signal-callers who have
captured our imagination in various
ways – Russell Wilson, Cam Newton
and Andrew Luck – but one player
who doesn’t get much air time is Andy
Dalton. Based upon his growth and
influence at the game’s most important
position, it might be time to put the
sixth-year passer into that mix.
For the first four seasons of his NFL
career, Dalton was a good quarterback
who was also the punchline to any joke
made about the Bengals and the fact
that they were continually one-anddone in the playoffs. From 2011-2014,
Dalton was an 80s-rated passer – good
enough to win with, but not good
enough to win it all. But, in 2015, he
looked genuinely elite and in the form
of his NFL life, spreading the ball to
an array of weapons in the Cincinnati
attack – before a broken thumb
prematurely ended his season.
Now, as the 2016 season continues
to play out, Dalton is as vital to his
team’s cause as any player in the league
– and there are some who feel he is on
the verge of becoming something quite
special. “Andy Dalton is way better than
advertised,” wide receiver Brandon
LaFell, who joined the Bengals this
W
season after a stint in New England
that brought a Super Bowl ring, tells
Gridiron. “If we continue to take
the steps we’re taking, he could be a
similar player to Tom Brady. Everybody
respects him just like everybody
respects Brady. Brady demanded the
best out of everybody and Andy is doing
the same thing here.”
Dalton is impressive from a
physical skills point of view, which is
probably why Houston Texans head
coach Bill O’Brien labelled him ‘one
of the top quarterbacks in the league’.
At 6ft 2ins and 216lbs, he doesn’t
possess prototypical size but, when
you watch the ball fizz out of his hand
during practice, it quickly becomes
clear he has an arm that can make all
the throws.
Dalton can also rip off a decent-sized
run on the occasional read-option plays
called in Cincinnati so, in a league of
haves and have-nots at quarterback,
do the Bengals feel their franchise
passer is in the building? “We do,”
insists head coach Marvin Lewis.
“We’ve committed ourselves to Andy
that way and he’s been the starting
quarterback since the day he walked
into this building. That’s really an
incredible thing for a young guy to be
mature enough to do. He was the guy
we basically hand-picked to succeed
Carson Palmer because of his maturity
and the things that he did.”
Dalton echoes his coach’s
sentiments when asked to describe his
ascent from storied TCU quarterback
taken 35th overall to Day 1 starter.
“Leadership at the quarterback
position is huge,” he explains. “As soon
as you get into the position where
“he could be a
similar player to
Tom Brady”
6
GRIDIRON