If you're Andy Dalton...how pissed are you?

[Fan_in_Kettering]

If I could do a "Vulcan mind meld" with Andy Dalton, my initial reaction to Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler leaving would be positive. He would be happy for them personally and excited that the Front Office is transitioning to new offensive line personnel and a new mindset up front. Andy might be excited to see Jake Fisher get some playing time, happy to see Cedric Ogbuehi work in the offseason to improve, and for the Front Office to bring in some quality free agents like Nick Mangold, Breno Giacomini, Ryan Clady, or Jake Long as short term solutions to the nagging problems on the Bengals' offensive line. It would also be acceptable for Andy to get some assurance from the Front Office that they might draft good linemen; this too would be acceptable.

On maybe the majority of teams in the NFL this would be the case, but we're in Cincinnati.

So, in reality, I think Andy Dalton would feel betrayed and angry. Heck, he was mad as crap last season every time the linemen missed blocks, allowed an unnecessary sack, or didn't open a gap for Jeremy Hill! You could see it on his face, too, but he is too much of a gentleman to chew those guys out in public. I do miss that with Carson Palmer: If someone blew a a blocking assignment he was on them like flies on poop.

There are still excellent free agent linemen to be had and, at this point, had for cheap. Bringing Andre Smith back was a good move, not the best move, but a good one. He immediately makes the run game better.

Andy Dalton has a quick release but that does no good on deep routes which take four to five seconds to develop. The Bengals' running game is near the bottom of the league in yards per carry. These are glaring errors the Front Office seems unable to address or even admit exist.