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CINCINNATI -- On Wednesday morning, Ryan Finley experienced a taste of what the rest of his rookie year will look like. The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback stepped out of the tunnel of Paul Brown Stadium and onto the field to lead the offense through a cool and rainy practice. For the first time since Cincinnati drafted him with a fourth-round pick in April, Finley was at the helm.
This is what the offense will look like for the foreseeable future. One day earlier, Bengals coach Zac Taylor let the team know Finley will be the starting quarterback against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 10 (1 p.m. ET, CBS). The implications couldn’t be any clearer. Finley will have an opportunity to show the Bengals he can replace Dalton as the long-term starter. If he succeeds, that could alter the usage of their potential top-five pick in the upcoming draft. Finley is embracing the opportunity and Cincinnati’s week off ahead of his NFL debut. “Going into a bye week, that’s huge for me,” Finley said. “Just kind of a chance to get a fresh start. Zac is kind of preaching a new season, so that’s kind of the mindset. It’s kind of a fresh start.” Figuring out what the Bengals have in the former North Carolina State standout becomes one of the most important items on the agenda for Cincinnati (0-8), one of two winless teams in the NFL. Nine-year veteran Andy Dalton, who held down the top spot on the chart from 2011 until Tuesday, knows the team's future is now driving Taylor's decisions.
“[Taylor] said he has to think about the future with the draft and we have to see what we have in Ryan,” Dalton said Wednesday. “That's what it came down to. It's been voiced to me I wasn't the reason for the way the season has gone.” The switch wasn’t easy for either quarterback to talk about. Dalton said he didn’t have any hard feelings toward Finley, who simply did what was asked since the Bengals drafted him. Finley said Dalton texted him with a vote of support, an act that meant a lot to the 24-year-old rookie. “Andy has been unbelievable to me,” Finley said. “He’s a really good dude. He’s a class act and he’s special to me. I look up to him a ton. I can’t imagine how hard this is for him.” Finley has been a pleasant surprise since arriving in Cincinnati. After a strong start to the preseason, he supplanted Jeff Driskel as the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart. During the preseason, Finley completed 73.4% of his passes for 414 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Finley’s tenure as a backup didn’t dull his competitive edge. Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green said Finley has been calling out plays, asking Green about what he’s looking at.
“I'm like, ‘Ryan, I don’t really know what I got right now, I wasn’t out there,’” Green said. “But he’s going through the whole thing. It’s fun just being on the sideline with him and building that connection.” On Wednesday, Green participated in team drills for the first time since his injury. He caught a pass from Finley, a connection that could help the rookie quarterback as he adjusts to his starting role. Eleven days after Finley's first practice as QB1, he’ll again be on this field against the Ravens, this time with a chance to show what he can do as a starter. “It’ll be fun,” Finley said. “It’s part of the game, so it’s something that I just got to get thrown in there and I’ll figure it out. I got a lot of guys around me that know what they are doing. I feel confident about that.”
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