NEW YORK -- Apparently, somebody in Cincinnati believes Carson Palmer won't return to the Bengals. The surest evidence was there Friday when the Bengals made their first draft pick of the second round, and would Andy Dalton please step down?
Cincinnati did the right and necessary when it chose Dalton. Dalton is experienced, smart, talented and successful. Most important, he's ready to step in and play, which means if Palmer doesn't return -- which he told the Bengals he would not -- the club has the perfect quarterback to learn on the fly.
Of course, if Palmer pulls the upset and changes his mind, Dalton is the ideal guy to sit and wait, too, learning from one of the game's top quarterbacks.
But let's be honest: Palmer isn't likely to return. In fact, there's a better chance of the Pittsburgh Pirates winning this year's series.
So let's just assume Palmer retires, mainly because the Bengals are. Who then mentors the rookie quarterback? Answer: Maybe nobody but assistant coaches. Or maybe it's a veteran the club picks up in the future.
But that's the beauty of this pick. Dalton is a four-year starter who is smart enough, talented enough and, as I said, experienced enough to manage the offense while he grows on the job.
Naturally, that won't be easy. It wasn't for Mark Sanchez when he was a rookie learning on the job with the Jets. But he had the league's No.-1 ranked defense, the league's No.1 ranked pass defense and the league's No. 1-ranked rushing attack to cushion him. All Sanchez had to do was not screw things up, and he didn't.
But he had a safety net. Dalton may not. The Bengals weren't good at much of anything last year, and running back Cedric Benson is unsigned. That's not good.
Neither is this: Dalton plays in the same division as Pittsburgh and Baltimore, two of the toughest defenses anywhere, and look what happened last year when rookie Colt McCoy had to play them -- he lost three times, threw two touchdowns and had eight interceptions.
OK, so the Browns struggled. They still finished ahead of Cincinnati.
Nevertheless, the Dalton choice is smart, smart, smart. Not only was he the best quarterback on the board, he had a history of remarkable success at TCU -- with a 42-7 record, over twice as many touchdown passes as interceptions and a school-record 27 TD passes in one season. He could be the quarterback of the future or the quarterback for now.
But there's something he's not that I like, too: He's not Ryan Mallett.
I can only imagine the debate that was going on in Cincinnati, with the Bengals weighing one against the other. If there was one club that might take a flyer on Mallett, I figured it was Cincinnati. He has the big arm, and he's a terrific pocket passer. But he's also a jerk, with off-the-field issues that would scare off suitors but might not scare off the team that wasn't afraid to put Terrell Owens, Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson on the same roster.
Fortunately, the Bengals didn't take another risk.
"We spent a lot of time on this, no question," coach Marvin Lewis said. "It's a big, important, important pick. [It's an] important piece."
I'll second that. Now the Bengals have the best wide receiver in the draft -- and one of its best players period -- in A.J. Green, plus an intriguing quarterback who helped make TCU a national power. When the Bengals used the first pick of the 2003 draft to choose Palmer they had Jon Kitna, and it was Kitna -? not Palmer -? who played that first season, with Palmer learning from the bench.
Dalton would benefit from the same experience, but he may not have the chance. Unless the Bengals pick up a veteran quarterback -- no, let me put it another way -- unless the NFL lockout ends, allowing the Bengals to make another move you're looking at Dalton, Dan LeFevour and Palmer -- Jordan, not Carson.
Given the choice, you're looking at Andy Dalton. Good. He has the experience to handle the job.
Source: http://feeds.cbssports.com/click.phdo?i=a99ba51288abbb6b74933ddf904b2cfe
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