Starting to Think We Go QB Early

[Whatever]

(04-20-2019, 01:02 PM)Atomic Orange Wrote: "The Bengals didn't have a decent QB when Palmer was drafted"

Actually and especially by Bengals standards they did. Kitna was a micro revelation after the misery of Akili Smith and put up pretty decent numbers in 03, built a nice connection with Chad himself - and led the team to 8-8, which again by Bengals standards was pretty great.

He then led the team to 2-1 in 2004 before being replaced by Golden boy who i wasn't really that excited about until 2005 due to the  Klingler and Akili busts. I even remember thinking it may be a mistake when they pulled Kitna in 04 for Palmer because he was winning.

Here's the numbers:
Kitna
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/K/KitnJo00.htm
Palmer
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PalmCa00.htm
Chad:
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JohnCh01.htm

Again, mostly talking about 03/04 here

Kitna was the starter for the disastrous 2-14 campaign that led to the #1 overall pick and posted a 79 QBR.  He had a career year in '03 while Palmer rode the pine, but he was a journeyman at best.