Joe Burrow's stats from last year...

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(08-07-2021, 01:36 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: I agree with that, and that's probably how i was. But there was no point where i felt that Dalton was better than Palmer. Dalton clearly had better surroundings but it was clear from the beginning on that he simply wasn't able to get over that hump to become a playoff-winning caliber QB. (EDIT: in hindsight it was clear that from the beginning...)

I was on the Dalton train all the way until around 2016ish and then i was a major poo-poo'er of him from that point on because, like Marv, it was clear he wasn't going to get over the hump but he kept being run out there season after season. A lot of my vitriol for him was due more to MB and Marv than it was him.

Did he though? Palmer's situation was good enough that they were able to sit him his entire rookie year and the team still went 8-8 with Jon Kitna at QB. By the time Carson made his first NFL pass, Chad Johnson was already a Pro Bowler.

2004 Bengals vs 2011 Bengals

Chad > AJ
Housh > Simpson
Washington = Caldwell
Kelly < Gresham
Rudi > Benson

Levi < Whit
Steinbach > Livings
Braham = Cook
Bobbie > Bobbie (28 y/o Bobbie vs 35 y/o Bobbie)
Willie > Andre

Of the 10 guys around them on offense, I would argue that 6 of them were better for Palmer, 2 were a wash, and only TE and LT were better for Dalton.


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(Now I will fully agree that the defense was better for Dalton than Palmer, but that doesn't change the fact that Dalton somehow being put into a better position as a rookie just doesn't really add up.)