Andy Dalton, Corner Turned or Weapons Gone?

[BengalChris]

(06-06-2016, 04:10 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: This year will be a big year for Andy (isn't it always?). It seemed like as we approached last season, we were discussing how having all of Andy's weapons back were going to help him turn the corner. In 2014, Eifert was hurt, MLJ was hurt and AJ missed large portions of the season. Dalton had his worst year as a pro, and exited the playoffs quickly again.

2015 comes around, and Andy finally has his weapons back. Eifert turned into a top 5 TE, AJ Green was able to get open with the newly found health of MLJ (and Tyler) and the offense was clicking. Andy Dalton was on the top of his game.

2016 is coming, Eifert is hurt and MLJ/Sanu (the distract the defense from AJ Green squad) is now gone.

My question is, did Andy truly turn the corner last year? Or, was it the stars aligning, with healthy weapons and the 2nd year of Hue Jacksons offense in place that translated into better play?

The answer surely lies somewhere in between, but why do you think Andy will continue progressing like he did last year or why do you think he will regress to something resembling 2013 (which wasn't bad imo). Or perhaps you think he will regress to a 2014 level of play.


I think Andy is a great player, and will make the offense around him work well enough this year to get us to the playoffs (as always). However, I can see the argument that last year was an outlier year, where everything was set up for success and those years don't come around too often....

what do you guys think?

First, I believe it's a very good question.

As much as I was down on Dalton after his 2014 season where he clearly couldn't develop any report with the backup receivers even though he had the entire year to do so.

All that said, I do believe he's turned the corner. I think he'll work well with LaFell and Boyd and Kroft. If Dalton can spread the ball around in the first few games, teams won't be able to constantly double Green.

If Hill can get back on track, this offense will not only have high scoring potential, but will be able to put games away by running out the clock.