5 reasons Andy Dalton shouldn’t rush back

Evaluating AJ McCarron will prove useful

Too many times NFL franchises really don’t know what they have in their backup quarterbacks. Millions of dollars are spent in an effort to protect the franchise QB, mostly because teams have no confidence in their other options. Being forced to play AJ McCarron would really show the Bengals whether or not they have any depth at their most important position.

McCarron, for the record, is really confident that he’s a good NFL quarterback. Everyone in the Bengals organization knows about his supreme confidence in his own abilities. While it’s great for McCarron that he thinks he’s a good player, it’s way more important that he show it on the field in a meaningful game. The three remaining regular season games for the Bengals would be a great test for him.

While it seems impossible that Dalton isn’t the Bengals franchise quarterback at the moment, the history of sport is littered with examples of a backup taking over for an injured player and becoming a star himself. I don’t really expect AJ McCarron to become the Tom Brady to Andy Dalton’s Drew Bledsoe but stranger things have happened.

The much more probable scenario is that McCarron acquits himself well enough to either solidify himself as a top-level NFL backup or shows enough talent to tempt a team to want him as their starter. Either of these possibilities would be great for the Bengals. They either know they have insurance against a significant Dalton injury or have a valuable trade asset they can flip for something else they need.

Either way, playing McCarron in meaningful football games is going to be a solid evaluation tool for the Bengals organization.