Every Bengals starting QB ever: Full list
The Cincinnati Bengals entered the NFL in 1968 and have had some talented quarterbacks at the helm since their inaugural season. They've also had some not very good quarterbacks or just downright forgettable signal-callers.
Let's go through each decade and look at every quarterback to start a game for the Bengals during that time. I also listed how many years that quarterback was with the Bengals, how many starts they had in a decade, and how many playoff starts they had in a decade. Let the fun begin!
Bengals starting quarterbacks from 1960 to 1969
Name (Time spent with CIN) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Bengals) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Bengals) |
|---|---|---|
John Stofa (1968) | 7 (7) | 0 (0) |
Dewey Warren (1968) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Sam Wyche (1968-1970) | 6 (9) | 0 (0) |
Greg Cook (1969, 1973) | 11 (11) | 0 (0) |
The Bengals were only around for two years in the 1960s but even still, they had four different guys start at quarterback for them during that two-year span.
John Stofa was the first quarterback ever to take snaps for the Bengals and that's precisely why he earned the nickname "The Original Bengal". Dewey Warren also started a handful of games in that inaugural 1968 season. Sam Wyche might be a familiar name to some as he served as the Bengals' head coach later in his career after his playing days were over and Greg Cook finished out the decade, starting 11 games in the 1969 season.
Bengals starting quarterbacks from 1970 to 1979
Name (Time spent with CIN) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Bengals) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Bengals) |
|---|---|---|
Virgil Carter (1970-1972) | 22 (22) | 1 (1) |
Sam Wyche (1968-1970) | 3 (9) | 0 (0) |
Ken Anderson (1971-1986) | 111 (172) | 2 (6) |
Wayne Clark (1974) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
John Reaves (1975-1978) | 6 (6) | 0 (0) |
Jack Thompson (1979-1982) | 1 (5) | 0 (0) |
The Bengals had six different quarterbacks start games for them in the 1970s, which was their first full decade as a franchise. Ken Anderson started the majority of games for them in the 70s with 111 starts under his belt and two playoff starts on his resumé as well. The quarterback with the second-most starts in the 70s was Virgil Carter, who started 22 games and was the starting quarterback in the Bengals' first-ever playoff game in 1970.
The Bengals tried to find their next franchise quarterback, spending the third overall pick on Jack Thompson in 1979. Thompson is included in the next decade's section as well but there's not much to say other than he was a bust.
Bengals starting quarterbacks from 1980 to 1989
Name (Time spent with CIN) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Bengals) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Bengals) |
|---|---|---|
Ken Anderson (1971-1986) | 61 (172) | 4 (6) |
Jack Thompson (1979-1982) | 4 (5) | 0 (0) |
Turk Schonert (1981-1985, 1987-1989) | 7 (7) | 0 (0) |
Boomer Esiason (1984-1992, 1997) | 77 (123) | 3 (5) |
Dave Walter (1987) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Adrian Breen (1987) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
The 1980s were good to the Bengals. Not only did they find two franchise quarterbacks to carry the load for them but they reached the Super Bowl on two separate occasions. Ken Anderson started 61 games in the 80s, paving the way for Boomer Esiason to take over as the starter and start 77 games during the decade.
As mentioned on the previous decade's entry, Jack Thompson had been selected to be the next big thing at quarterback, but didn't pan out, only starting four games in the 1980 season and five overall in his career with the Bengals. Turk Schonert even started more games than Thompson did.
Bengals starting quarterbacks from 1990 to 1999
Name (Time spent with CIN) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Bengals) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Bengals) |
|---|---|---|
Boomer Esiason (1984-1992, 1997) | 46 (123) | 2 (5) |
Donald Hollas (1991-1992, 1994) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Erik Wilhelm (1989-1991, 1993-1996) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
David Klingler (1992-1995) | 24 (24) | 0 (0) |
Jay Schroeder (1993) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
Jeff Blake (1994-1999) | 66 (66) | 0 (0) |
Neil O'Donnell (1998) | 11 (11) | 0 (0) |
Paul Justin (1998) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
Akili Smith (1999-2002) | 4 (17) | 0 (0) |
The 1990s started off well, with Boomer Esiason continuing to lead the way at quarterback and starting what would be the only two playoff games of the decade for the Bengals.
With the sixth overall pick in the 1992 NFL Draft, Cincinnati selected David Klingler hoping he'd be their next franchise quarterback after Esiason was traded in the 1993 offseason. Klingler started 24 games over three seasons and wasn't the guy.
Jeff Blake had the most starts at quarterback for the Bengals in the 90s with 66 to his name. The team did try to find another franchise signal-caller at the end of the decade, nabbing Akili Smith with the third overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft. We all know how that went.
Bengals starting quarterbacks from 2000 to 2009
Name (Time spent with CIN) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Bengals) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Bengals) |
|---|---|---|
Akili Smith (1999-2002) | 13 (17) | 0 (0) |
Scott Mitchell (2000-2001) | 5 (5) | 0 (0) |
Jon Kitna (2001-2005) | 46 (46) | 0 (0) |
Gus Frerotte (2002) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
Carson Palmer (2003-2010) | 81 (97) | 2 (2) |
Ryan Fitzpatrick (2007-2008) | 12 (12) | 0 (0) |
The new millennium started off with Akili Smith as the Bengals quarterback and it didn't go well. He was out of the league by 2003. Fortunately, the Bengals did get some better talent at quarterback during the 2000s with Jon Kitna starting 46 games and eventually landing the first overall pick in 2003 where they took USC star Carson Palmer, who started the only two playoff games of the decade for the organization.
Oh don't forget about Ryan Fitzpatrick! Before he was known as FitzMagic, he was donning the black and orange stripes in Cincinnati.
Bengals starting quarterbacks from 2010 to 2019
Name (Time spent with CIN) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Bengals) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Bengals) |
|---|---|---|
Carson Palmer (2003-2010) | 16 (97) | 0 (2) |
Andy Dalton (2011-2019) | 133 (133) | 4 (4) |
A.J. McCarron (2015-2017, 2023) | 3 (3) | 1 (1) |
Jeff Driskel (2018) | 5 (5) | 0 (0) |
Ryan Finley (2019-2020) | 3 (4) | 0 (0) |
The Bengals only had five different starting quarterbacks in the 2010s. Carson Palmer kicked off the decade as the starter but demanded a trade following the 2010 season so he wasn't around long that decade.
Cincinnati spent a second-round pick on TCU's Andy Dalton in 2011 and he went on to start 133 games and four playoff games during his Bengals career. Dalton missed a few games due to injury, which led to A.J. McCarron, Jeff Driskel, and Ryan Finley getting some spot starts along the way. McCarron even had to start a playoff game during the 2015 season (but we won't say anything else about that game).
Bengals starting quarterbacks from 2020 to Present
Name (Time spent with CIN) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Bengals) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Bengals) |
|---|---|---|
Joe Burrow (2020-Present) | 52 (52) | 7 (7) |
Brandon Allen (2020-2022) | 6 (6) | 0 (0) |
Ryan Finley (2019-2020) | 1 (4) | 0 (0) |
Jake Browning (2023) | 7 (7) | 0 (0) |
The 2020s have been pretty kind to the Bengals so far. After an abysmal 2019 season that signaled the end of the Andy Dalton era, Cincinnati held the first pick in the 2020 draft and took LSU's Joe Burrow.
In 2021, Burrow rebounded from injury in a big way, leading the Bengals to a division title and a Super Bowl run. While they fell short, Burrow proved that he's the right guy to lead this team, leading them to another AFC Championship appearance in the 2022 season.
Unfortunately, Burrow has had his fair share of injuries, meaning that Brandon Allen, Ryan Finley, and Jake Browning have had to start more games than Bengals fans would like to see. Allen also started a game at the end of the 2021 season since the Bengals had a playoff spot locked up.
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