McCarron hype gaining steam

[Shake n Blake]

(06-26-2015, 04:26 PM)Nately120 Wrote: No foolin'.  For a team that needed a QB in 2011 and had a top 5 pick we did exceedingly well if you ask me.  The fact that the 3 QBs taken before Dalton were disgraced within 3 years and are completely irrelevant says a lot.  3 QB busts taken in the first round in a row over a span of 5 picks is pretty significant.

I go back and forth on Dalton (my opinion kind of reflects his play), but if we were all told before the 2011 draft that we could have a 2nd round QB who would accomplish the following, we all would've said "yes, please":

- career 85.2 passer rating
- stabilized the position and helped lead the team to 4 straight playoff berths
- average 3700 pass yards and 27.5 total TD's 
- low amount of fumbles for a QB
- average ranking of 18th in passer rating
- total class act and good guy

Even with the playoff losses and the slightly high amount INT's, I think we all would've wanted to snap him up. Now I'm not saying we should be content with Dalton. It's ok to want more from him, and I wouldn't keep him around if he repeats 2014. I'm just saying we could've done a lot worse. Yet people act like he's horrible. The amount of vitriol spewed at Andy Dalton just seems way over the top. It's not like he's been failing in clutch situations for 12 years. 

Dalton isn't as good as some think, but he's not as bad as a lot of people think either. He's average, which Flacco, Eli and many others have proven is good enough. It all comes down to why you think he chokes in crunch time. I tend to wonder if any QB or player can be clutch under Marvin Lewis.