Even though Carson Palmer had a down year by his historical standards, the Bengals still started the season 7-2 with a powerful rushing attack so awesome, that it would include six 100-yard rushing games by Cedric Benson (not including his 169-yard rushing effort against the Jets in the Wild Card game), eight games the Bengals recorded 140 yards rushing as a team and three different 100-yard rushers.
Do we need a Carson Palmer replica? Or a game manager that doesn't make mistakes and lose the football game?
Still, it doesn't lessen the importance of the question, asking "what happens if, god forbid, Carson goes down to injury."
The preseason didn't help with any relief on the question. J.T. O'Sullivan failed to record a touchdown pass and Jordan Palmer threw multiple interceptions that led directly to touchdowns.
| COMP | ATT | COMP% | YARDS | TD | INT | RATING | |
| J.T. O'Sullivan | 35 | 60 | 58.3% | 294 | 0 | 2 | 57.2 |
| Jordan Palmer | 29 | 52 | 55.8% | 354 | 3 | 3 | 72.1 |
Justifiably so, a case was raised as whether the Bengals would take two quarterbacks, rather than three.
The coaches took three, holding onto both back up quarterbacks in J.T. O'Sullivan and Jordan Palmer, while reportedly actively searching for solutions to upgrade the position. In order for them to have a run at a decent quarterback, the Bengals must have patience, observing developments on the waiver wire or in free agency.
According to Joe reedy, the Bengals are "one of five teams who are in the running for former Arizona QB Matt Leinart" with Houston, Buffalo, New Orleans and Jacksonville being the others.
| COMP | ATT | COMP% | YARDS | TD | INT | RATING | |
| Matt Leinart | 22 | 28 | 58.3% | 175 | 1 | 0 | 114.9 |