Is it too early to talk Jake Dolegala for the Cincinnati Bengals?
Perhaps, as fellow rookie Ryan Finley only has two starts on his resume. The Bengals have made it clear the fourth-round pick will get more time despite his recent struggles.
But those struggles have been…quite bad. That 13 of 31 line with a fumble, interception and near pick-six in the loss to Oakland needs to improve or the coaches who traded up to get Finley might not be able to justify keeping him in the lineup no matter how much the evaluation angle makes sense.
Should that happen, Dolegala makes more sense than going back to Dalton.
Dolegala might be one of the most interesting players on the Bengals roster. Alongside Finley, he was one of the only two quarterbacks to take official pre-draft visits with the team. Those arm concerns with Finley don’t exist with Dolegala, the 6’6″, 240-pound physical standout.
After landing with the team that wanted him, Dolegala flashed enough in the preseason to stick on the final 53, forcing the Bengals to roster three quarterbacks.
The backstory is incredibly interesting. Dolegala was getting notable offers before hurting himself making a tackle. He went to Milford Academy in 2014 while recovering, then spent four years at Central Connecticut State. He only threw 48 touchdowns and 20 interceptions over those four seasons with 18 rushing scores, but stats are rather limited on a team like the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils.
Dolegala was something of a question mark in the draft for obvious reasons. Could he start reading pro defenses? Would he reach for the alluring upside that other rookie had already seemingly maxed?
Hard to say, but he sure had teammates like Joe Mixon impressed in July.
Given the physical upside, going to Dolegala if Finley keeps struggling makes more sense than turning back to Dalton. It’s clear the Dalton era is over and the last thing the team needs now is to muddy that outlook by a late-season Dalton surge that picks up a few wins.
In the theme of evaluation mode, the Bengals should probably see what they have with Dolegala before spending big on a rookie in the next draft.
