Now I will preface this by saying I am normally one to let any offseason hype to pass me by. I realise it is in the interest of organisations to create storylines and a buzz heading into a new season. All that aside however, put me down as someone who is now very interested.

It's now been noted by numerous sources, that McCarron is having a very good camp so far:

Beat writer Jim Owczarski on these boards noted McCarron as a early camp highlight- http://bengalsboard.net/Thread-Ask-Jim-Owczarski

Breer for NFL.com- http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000497989/article/john-harbaughs-ravens-only-know-one-speed-nflwide-notes?campaign=twitter_writers_breer

Wallace Gillbery- http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000496024/article/wallace-gilberry-aj-mccarron-awesome-for-bengals

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/bengals-believe-mccarron-can-be-a-starting-qb-062015?adbsc=social_20150621_47907206&adbid=923499867688154&adbpl=fb&adbpr=749212008450275

It's exciting because I can't remember the last time this team has had a second QB who was more than just a career backup. Even before Dalton with Palmer, QBs were mainly veteran guys who weren't ever there to create a challenge. In McCarron we have someone who is young, has experienced a lot of college success from the top programme at the time and arguably was drafted too low.

I am not suggesting that we have ourselves a QB battle at this point. However, I do think Dalton's leash is shorter this year and if McCarron continues to progress it presents an interesting situation going into the next offseason.

McCarron is Joe Namath without the fur coat and without the pantyhose.

(06-21-2015, 09:23 AM)Toy Cannon Wrote: McCarron is Joe Namath without the fur coat and without the pantyhose.

And, hopefully without the bad knee issues. Or, any desire to publicly kiss Suzy Kolber.

Spring is a great time. Hope abounds. Everyone is a rising star. All I can really hope for at this juncture is that if his number is called, he keeps us in the game. If he's more than that, only time will tell.

Yeah BB I saw Pacman giving him some praise too. I think his shoulder pushed him from the 2nd or 3rd round to the 5th. It's just nice for Andy(who I'm a fan) to have a little heat on him. Even for the other guys who have to earn their starting spots to see he isn't handed his job. It'll give him more team cred.

(06-21-2015, 10:19 AM)bonesaw Wrote: Yeah BB I saw Pacman giving him some praise too.  I think his shoulder pushed him from the 2nd or 3rd round to the 5th.  It's just nice for Andy(who I'm a fan) to have a little heat on him. Even for the other guys who have to earn their starting spots to see he isn't handed his job.  It'll give him more team cred.

I agree.  Andy was given the starting job when he got here, and has never dealt with any pressure to lose his spot.  Maybe this will light that fire.

(06-21-2015, 09:02 AM)BritishBengal Wrote: Now I will preface this by saying I am normally one to let any offseason hype to pass me by. I realise it is in the interest of organisations to create storylines and a buzz heading into a new season. All that aside however, put me down as someone who is now very interested.

It's now been noted by numerous sources, that McCarron is having a very good camp so far:

Beat writer Jim Owczarski on these boards noted McCarron as a early camp highlight- http://bengalsboard.net/Thread-Ask-Jim-Owczarski

Breer for NFL.com- http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000497989/article/john-harbaughs-ravens-only-know-one-speed-nflwide-notes?campaign=twitter_writers_breer

Wallace Gillbery- http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000496024/article/wallace-gilberry-aj-mccarron-awesome-for-bengals

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/bengals-believe-mccarron-can-be-a-starting-qb-062015?adbsc=social_20150621_47907206&adbid=923499867688154&adbpl=fb&adbpr=749212008450275

It's exciting because I can't remember the last time this team has had a second QB who was more than just a career backup. Even before Dalton with Palmer, QBs were mainly veteran guys who weren't ever there to create a challenge. In McCarron we have someone who is young, has experienced a lot of college success from the top programme at the time and arguably was drafted too low.

I am not suggesting that we have ourselves a QB battle at this point. However, I do think Dalton's leash is shorter this year and if McCarron continues to progress it presents an interesting situation going into the next offseason.

I wanted us to draft McCarron in round 4 a year ago (we got him in round 5) as I thought he could develop into a starting QB in 2 to 4 years. I knew the AD contract was more year to year after 2015 (not big deal to cap negative hit if he was cut after 2015) so I wanted a QB on the roster who was young and could eventually compete with AD.

To those who don't understand player development, please take note it takes time for most college kids to become NFL starters. The QB position and the CB position are to developmental NFL positions that need the most time. I have yet to give up on AD either for all of the same reasons I just mentioned. 4 years may seem like a long time for an NFL QB to get to his peak, but I look around at the greats and they did not start peaking in a lot of cases until years 5 to 8 or beyond. Ben R. just reached his peak recently as an example.

I love it we have some insurance being developed for the future, I love the fact maybe as early as 2015, we will not hold our breath if AD gets hurt as I did in past years with JJ and JC.

Taking this with a grain of salt personally. Not a big fan of Dalton's but he's the best option on the roster right now. Dalton may keep his head in games or he may continue with where he left off, no way to tell at this point. I like that there's an option. Josh Johnson just isn't ever going to come in a change the complexion of a game.

I am thrilled to hear the McCarron is looking good. We have been very lucky that Dalton has not missed a single game in four years. That is pretty rare in the NFL.

But McCarron's success will have no effect on Dalton. Dalton's problems have nothing to do with being lazy or unmotivated. So competition will not make him any better.

I will preface my discussion about McCarron by stating that I am a big fan of Dalton's. That being said, I remember reading something where Mike Brown stated something to the fact of how little the Seahawks were spending on the QB and how much that allowed them to sign great players around him. I recall something to the effect of him saying "maybe that is the way to go".

When I saw the details of Dalton's contract, I could see that if they are not satisfied with his performance this season, they could go with a young, inexpensive QB and focus on the defense and a running game.

While I do not subscribe to this belief, because Russell Wilson won games with his performances to get them to two Super Bowls (albeit on the cheap). I don't think you can do the Trent Dilfer thing in today's NFL, despite having a great running game and defense. Opposing offenses just put up too many points to play so conservatively.

Hopefully, it will all be a moot point, but I am excited to watch him play in the preseason and I think he is a first class guy. Who knows? Maybe he becomes the next Kirk Cousins and some QB starved team (Bills, Texans, Jets) offers the Bengals a great trade or draft pick?

Good to hear

I hate to even say this because ya never know around Bengal land. But I'd venture to say if Dalton has another yo-yo season and folds in the big games/playoffs again he may be done.

I'm not so sure McCarron is his replacement but we'll see.

(06-21-2015, 10:42 AM)BengalChris Wrote: Taking this with a grain of salt personally. Not a big fan of Dalton's but he's the best option on the roster right now. Dalton may keep his head in games or he may continue with where he left off, no way to tell at this point. I like that there's an option. Josh Johnson just isn't ever going to come in a change the complexion of a game.

Not a Josh Johnson fan, but i dont agree with that anytime you have a QB that can run it changes everything or you get burned. Now can he win said game i dunno but changing the game he will do that im just not confident in him winning it.

(06-21-2015, 10:56 AM)fredtoast Wrote: I am thrilled to hear the McCarron is looking good.  We have been very lucky that Dalton has not missed a single game in four years.  That is pretty rare in the NFL.

But McCarron's success will have no effect on Dalton.  Dalton's problems have nothing to do with being lazy or unmotivated.  So competition will not make him any better.

No, Dalton is not lazy or unmotivated, but his game does need work. He loses his head in games when things go wrong, panics, then makes more mistakes. I believe a better coaching staff would have helped him with this, but I kind of see the same problem with the coaches as I see with Andy.

If Dalton has one of his bad Andy days, then a rising McCarron at least gives the team an option to try and save the day.

But don't take it as if I put everything on Dalton. When Dalton as a bad day you can see the receivers are also having problems getting open. But that's no excuse to panic and throw picks either. A fresh QB being put in isn't just a message to the benched QB, it's a message to the whole team.

Gotta love the the postseason-preseason hype............

(06-21-2015, 09:23 AM)Toy Cannon Wrote: McCarron is Joe Namath without the fur coat and without the pantyhose.

Please tell me that you did not just make a comparison between Joe Namath and AJ McCarron.

(06-21-2015, 10:29 AM)Tiger Teeth Wrote: I agree.  Andy was given the starting job when he got here, and has never dealt with any pressure to lose his spot.  Maybe this will light that fire.

Andy is a tireless worker and an extremely motivated young man so not sure why you think he needs a "fire lit". I am pretty sure Andy knows a thing or two about pressure unless you are saying that the position of QB in the NFL comes without pressure.

This just makes me feel a little better in the event AD gets hurt...we had nothing with Campbell.

(06-21-2015, 10:56 AM)fredtoast Wrote: I am thrilled to hear the McCarron is looking good.  We have been very lucky that Dalton has not missed a single game in four years.  That is pretty rare in the NFL.

But McCarron's success will have no effect on Dalton.  Dalton's problems have nothing to do with being lazy or unmotivated.  So competition will not make him any better.

Well that would suck.

What I like about a lot of the articles is their source. These aren't re-hashed statements that originally came from Hobson, these are the views of journalists who are a whole lot more impartial. Think about it this way, the Bengals FO would much rather a lot of noise be made about their 100 mill man in Dalton. This makes me think that this hype may well have some substance to it, makes me excited for the preseason.

(06-21-2015, 11:00 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: I will preface my discussion about McCarron by stating that I am a big fan of Dalton's.  That being said, I remember reading something where Mike Brown stated something to the fact of how little the Seahawks were spending on the QB and how much that allowed them to sign great players around him.  I recall something to the effect of him saying "maybe that is the way to go".  

When I saw the details of Dalton's contract, I could see that if they are not satisfied with his performance this season, they could go with a young, inexpensive QB and focus on the defense and a running game.  

While I do not subscribe to this belief, because Russell Wilson won games with his performances to get them to two Super Bowls (albeit on the cheap).  I don't think you can do the Trent Dilfer thing in today's NFL, despite having a great running game and defense.  Opposing offenses just put up too many points to play so conservatively.  

Hopefully, it will all be a moot point, but I am excited to watch him play in the preseason and I think he is a first class guy.   Who knows?  Maybe he becomes the next Kirk Cousins and some QB starved team (Bills, Texans, Jets) offers the Bengals a great trade or draft pick?

As usual I disagree a good bit with some of your conclusions, though not the information you present.  First, we should stop using Trent Dilfer as the example any QB can win in the right situation because Andy's playoff numbers are not even up to Trent Dilfer-level yet.

And all Kirk Cousins did was generate some buzz before being named the starter, committed a slew of turnovers, and sunk his own trade value.  We shall see, but I honestly think phasing out Dalton (for good or ill) is more likely than getting a good trade for McCarron.

(06-21-2015, 11:39 AM)OSUfan Wrote: Please tell me that you did not just make a comparison between Joe Namath and AJ McCarron.


Andy is a tireless worker and an extremely motivated young man so not sure why you think he needs a "fire lit". I am pretty sure Andy knows a thing or two about pressure unless you are saying that the position of QB in the NFL comes without pressure.

Yeah, but McCarron played at Alabama. Dalton is just an NFL starter.




This whole story feels manufactured to me. Dalton isn't going anywhere, and any news about McCarron is just being put out there to pretend he wasn't a wasted pick. We have a glorified game manager from an overrated college team that barely needed managing. Best case scenario, he's a backup that might not cost us a game if Dalton goes down. He's not "pushing" Dalton for anything.

(06-21-2015, 11:29 AM)BengalChris Wrote: No, Dalton is not lazy or unmotivated, but his game does need work. He loses his head in games when things go wrong, panics, then makes more mistakes. I believe a better coaching staff would have helped him with this, but I kind of see the same problem with the coaches as I see with Andy.

Sorry, I do not see Dalton "losing" his head in most cases...especially the playoff games....

1st Houston game....Houston ran all over our defense...Dalton had the pick (a great play by Watt) right before half time...Coaches panicked and Dalton threw 24 times in the 2nd half for 42 attempts total...His picks in the second half were because of him having to throw too many times when we got behind because our defense  could not stop Foster...I do not recall any panic or Dalton "losing his head"

2nd Houston game...Dalton played OK in this game nothing spectacular but we did have a chance to take the lead late in the game...He missed Green in the end zone by about a foot and also had one that Green should have caught that could have lead to a TD...I do not recall Dalton "losing his head" in this game either...I do remember a certain coach that decided not to throw a pass to AJ Green in the first half..INTENTIONALLY!!!

Chargers game...This the one that I did not understand...undefeated at home all season..home playoff game...just beat this team at their place a few weeks earlier...the entire team crapped down their legs on game day...we got outplayed in every aspect...Dalton had a decent game and he had costly mistakes in 3 series in the second half.... I am still not sure what happened in the 2nd half of this game...we took the lead at halftime...come out in the 2nd half...abandoned BJGE running the ball (he was averaging over 5 YPC in the game)...had Andy throwing the ball all over the place (51 attempts) even though we never got down by 2 scores until the end of the 3rdQ... SDs running game thrashed us in the 2nd half....This loss should have never taken place...I do not put this one on Dalton though...he did not play great but he played well enough to win....

Indy game...Not even a discussion here...Burkhead and Bernard were our leading receivers...nothing more to be said...If anyone puts the blame on Dalton for this one is just a pure hater....

These are just my opinions...I am not a homer or a hater when it comes to Dalton..I am in the "he is our best option right now" crowd....