"If this goes into June," 2002 NFL MVP Rich Gannon said, "I've had coordinators tell me you could pretty much write off the first year for these rookies. The coaches want to install as much as they can in minicamps, see what the new players can retain, then have them come back for other minicamps and offseason workouts, so by the time they get to training camps, they have seen what they need to do a few times.
"If the first time they do any of that is in training camp, that's not going to get it done."
One of the reasons Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and offensive coordinator Jay Gruden were enamored with TCU quarterback Andy Dalton was his ability to step into the starters role, if need by, during the opening weekend of the 2011 season. Obviously this will be exponentially unlikely the longer the lockout holds, increasing the need for the team to sign a veteran free agent -- something we're largely projecting the team to do anyway.