Cincinnati Bengals: 3 reasons Ryan Finley should be getting a lot of attention
By Steve Rivera
33 of 44 for 259 yards, three touchdowns, and only one interception is good work for a rookie by any standard. However, that should be framed around the fact that it is work in the preseason. It’s exhibition play where he isn’t exactly seeing the best of a regular-season NFL defense.
It also shouldn’t be ignored. Finley has looked steady, in control, and in command of what he is being given offensively. While it’s something to ponder, he is by no means a first-string quarterback, even in Cincinnati.
But he could be. Dalton is into the sunset of a contract that in all likelihood, short of finding playoff success this season, has him elsewhere sooner rather than later. If things start going sideways in 2019, it seems almost impossible that Finley isn’t on the field. It would also mean the end of the road for a quarterback in Dalton, who inspires more ambivalence than genuine excitement.
The North Carolina State rookie should get a lot of time before the exhibition season winds to a close against the Indianapolis Colts on August 29. While he won’t be replacing Dalton, he will have locked down the backup quarterback position for the Bengals. He will also have served notice that the clock may not be running on Dalton just yet, but it may soon.