Andy Dalton Fantasy News and Statistics

Andy Dalton occupies a spot in a tier of quarterbacks most would consider mediocre. He’s a valuable starter who could conceivably lead a team to a Super Bowl, but he’s not going to carry a team there by himself. Dalton went to the Pro Bowl three times and could be considered a success as a former second-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Dalton was redshirted in 2006 as a freshman at TCU and was named the starter as a redshirt freshman, holding the position for four years. He broke many of Sammy Baugh’s passing records, though his place in the record book has since been mostly replaced by Trevone Boykin. Nonetheless, Dalton could be considered one of the greatest TCU athletes of all time.

He struggled a bit in his first two seasons as a starter in Fort Worth. He completed 59.5 percent of his passes and averaged 2,350.5 yards, 10.5 touchdowns and eight interceptions per year. However, he did manage to lead the Horned Frogs to victory in the Texas Bowl as a redshirt freshman and the Poinsettia Bowl as a redshirt sophomore. He was the MVP of both games.

Dalton was much better in the second half of his college career, particularly in his final season. He completed 66 percent of his passes, threw 27 touchdown passes and just six interceptions. On top of that, he was only sacked six times. Dalton, Andrew Luck and Kellen Moore were the only quarterbacks to have as few sacks and interceptions among quarterbacks with over 300 attempts.

Dalton capped off his TCU career with an undefeated season and a Rose Bowl win over a Wisconsin team led by J.J. Watt and Scott Tolzien. Because this was during the pre-College Football Playoff era, the Horned Frogs finished second in the AP poll behind Cam Newton’s undefeated Auburn Tigers—unable to play for a shot at a national title.

The Bengals selected Dalton No. 35 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. He was the fifth quarterback selected after Newton, Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder. Colin Kaepernick went one pick later.

Cincinnati named Dalton the starter from day one. He competed with Bruce Gradkowski for the right to replace Carson Palmer and has been the Bengals starter ever since. He has started every game at quarterback except three games in 2015 due to a broken thumb.

Dalton has thrown for 4,000 yards twice (2013 and 2016) and surpassed 25 touchdowns three times (2012, 2013 and 2015). Unfortunately, the lack of turnovers his senior year at TCU was not a sign of things to come as a pro. In his first four seasons (64 games) he threw 66 interceptions. He has cooled off in that area recently, throwing just 15 picks in the last two seasons combined. Considering his season-low before 2015 was 13, that’s quite an improvement.

The biggest mark against Dalton is his playoff performance. He’s 0-4 in the postseason and wasn’t particularly effective in those games. He threw one touchdown and six interceptions while completing 55.7 percent of his passes, averaging 218.25 yards per game.

While the Bengals don’t have the most glorious quarterback history, Dalton is making his way toward the top of the list. He set franchise records in 2013 with 4,293 yards and 33 touchdowns, and he needs just over 10,000 yards and 56 scores to surpass Ken Anderson as the franchise’s all-time leader.

Dalton enters 2017 after missing the playoffs for the first time in his career. The healthy return of A.J. Green and the addition of Joe Mixon could lead to a resurgence for the Bengals offense. Cincy will likely challenge for the AFC North title or a Wild Card spot, as it has for most of this decade.