FanPost

Dalton.

Andy Dalton. Words that strike fear into the heart of the majority of CJ members, it seems. Everything is on his shoulders. When he plays well, it's a fluke. When he plays poorly, it's entirely his fault-- who cares if he was hurried, or sacked, or the receiver tipped the ball to the defense or ran the wrong route.

But this is my question. Even if Andy will only ever be the below average QB you seem to think he is-- what do we do about it?

In 2011, when we drafted Andy, it was him, or pass on AJ and draft Gabbert. Or take Mallett I suppose, but he hasn't exactly lit up the preseason.

In 2012, the only QB we could have drafted would have been Weeden. Or yes, Russell Wilson, but no one, and I mean NO ONE, predicted the success he would have. You can't draft by hindsight.

In 2013, we could have drafted Geno Smith, Mike Glennon or Matt Barkley. Do you really think any of them are better options than Andy Dalton?

So, Dalton haters, who would you replace him with? Would you call New Orleans and ask them to pretty please give us Drew Brees? Pray to the football gods for us to happen upon a Tom Brady in the 6th round? Pull a "Suck for Luck" campaign or trade away our future for the next RGIII (How's that worked out for the Redskins again)?

It's so easy to say "Dalton sucks", or "Dalton isn't the answer". But who IS the answer? What would you, as a real-life non-Madden GM do about the Quarterback position? You would do exactly what Mikey/Marvin are doing-- try to account for Dalton's weaknesses and build around him while trusting your badass defense.

What you would NOT do is constantly harp on Dalton for not being more talented than he is. What you would NOT do is rant and rave about things he has no ability to improve on. Because all that does is destroy his confidence for no purpose. So don't pull that shit as fans.

Dalton is not an elite QB. No one is saying he is. He is a flukey QB who can be both very good and very bad, sometimes within the same game. But he is OUR QB. So SUPPORT YOUR TEAM. Be a FAN, for christ's sake.

The outrage on this site, and on Twitter, and in the papers, and on the radio-- all that shit trickles down to the team. They know when fans are supporting them and when they are not. Everyone is so quick to give AJ a hard time about showing a negative attitude-- but what about your negative attitudes? Oh, boo hoo, our QB happens to be one of the best 20 quarterbacks in the world instead of one of the best 5. Woe is us. SUPPORT YOUR TEAM.


This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.