Not as sexy as the battle for a starting quarterback, the team's focus on a competition battle for the final spot at quarterback will come down to Dan LeFevour and Jordan Palmer; two quarterbacks grandfathered from the previous season.
Quarterback Jordan Palmer has played in four regular season games with the Bengals, all during major blowouts against the Bengals by an average score differential of 27.3 points. So perhaps judging his success through regular season games isn't necessarily fair; entering the game late in the fourth quarter with teammates that may have packed it in already doesn't give one the greatest chance to succeed. During those four games, Palmer completed 10 of 15 passes for 59 yards passing and two interceptions for a career quarterback rating of 34.4.
LeFevour was claimed off waivers in early September last season, designated the emergency quarterback, though inactive, during all 16 games last season. Completed 19 of 41 passes for 204 yards passing, a touchdown and interception during last year's preseason with the Chicago Bears.
Rookie Andy Dalton is expected to start the season, provided he doesn't struggle through the preseason with veteran free agent signing Bruce Gradkowski backing him up.