Cincinnati Bengals: There are more Andy Dalton fans than you realize

You don’t need to be a Cincinnati Bengals fan to realize that quarterback Andy Dalton has a lot of fans.

You’ve probably seen it by now, the picture of the “Worlds biggest Andy Dalton fan” meeting his favorite Cincinnati Bengals QB.

https://twitter.com/brgridiron/status/1156037357260247040?s=21

Now frequent Stripe Hype readers will know that I’m this sites resident Dalton defender, and I’m not going to pretend like seeing someone else holding the title of “Biggest Dalton fan” doesn’t hurt me just a little bit. That said, it’s hard to argue the commitment of a man who’s wearing a full sweater in sweltering heat to display his super fandom. Honestly, being too hot is WAY worse than being cold, so this man’s commitment ranks higher than the guys who paint their chests and go shirtless in the cold. No offense to the veterans of the freezer bowl.

Anyways,  this Dalton fan amazing t-shirt represents a reality that is difficult for some people to understand. There are a LOT of Bengals fans who like Andy Dalton, even more than those who dislike him.  It’s easy to look at the comments of a social media post and see an overwhelming amount of negativity, and think that is representative of the majority of fans.  However, negative commenters might just represent an extremely vocal minority.

This started to become apparent during the run-up to the NFL draft. At the time, there was a possibility that The Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins would be available to the Bengals at pick 11. So of course, Bengals fans were often polled to find their feelings towards Andy Dalton, and if he should be replaced.  Some of those results can be seen in the following tweet.

Now I’m not pointing this out to throw shade at Dalton’s critics. Even the most vocal Dalton haters are still Bengals fans, which makes them some of the most awesome people in the world.  Many of his critics simply feel he lacks the ability to win a Super Bowl, so understandably they wish to make a change. Because winning a Super Bowl is what every Bengals fan wants.

It’s just worth putting down in writing that Dalton fans are not alone. There’s a good possibility that they’re not even the minority of Bengals fans. Understandably Twitter polls are small sample sizes and are not irrefutable proof of anything.  But there are an awful lot of 14 jerseys being worn out there.

Finally,  Bengals fans understand that there’s a national perception around their quarterback.  The extremely well-done QB tiers article by ESPN’s Mike Sando, had Dalton receiving nearly unanimous tier 3 votes. However, this felt like it was given little consideration when you actually read the qualities of tier 2 vs tier 3 descriptions as laid out in the article.  I presented the following poll to members of the Locked On Bengals, Cincy Jungle, Stripe Hype, & Who Dey UK communities to get a representative opinion as to which tier Bengals fans felt Dalton belonged in. Here are the results.

As you can see, amongst Cincinnati Bengals fans option A holds the slight advantage. Option A is the description of a tier 2  quarterback, Option B is tier 3 according to Sando’s article.   So if you’re someone who believes that this team can win with Dalton at the reigns, you’re not alone. Perhaps with a slightly improved defense and a modern coaching staff calling the plays, Dalton could be viewed very differently in the coming seasons.