The Cincinanti Bengals identified the quarterback they wanted in the 2019 NFL draft and didn’t waste any time going up to get him.
It wasn’t Dwayne Haskins. It wasn’t Drew Lock or Daniel Jones. It wasn’t even Will Grier.
For Zac Taylor and the Bengals, it was always about NC State quarterback Ryan Finley. They made a point to trade up on Day 3 of the draft to grab him in the fourth round, understandably sacrificing two of their six picks in the sixth round to do so.
Finley was the only notable passer to take an official visit to Paul Brown Stadium this offseason. Even then it wasn’t hard to see why: he could execute Taylor’s offense if asked, but won’t actually challenge Andy Dalton for the starting job.
After all, Finley is already 24 years old after an extensive college career that began at Boise State before a transfer to NC State, where he spent the last three seasons serving as the starter.
The mix of age and talent is right in line with what the Bengals always figured to want at quarterback:
The conversation surrounding Finley isn’t so much whether the pick is a good value. Dumping two picks out of 10 to move up and get a quarterback a new head coach likes isn’t a big deal.
But the overarching theme is. And right now, the Bengals spent two of their first four picks on an unproven tight end and a backup quarterback. Hindsight evaluation might be much kinder to the first four picks of the draft class, but Finely instead of a need like linebacker, offensive line or otherwise with plenty of talent on the board, knocks the grade down a bit.
Grade: B
