Cincinnati Bengals: Rookie QB Ryan Finley struggling early

The Cincinnati Bengals waited until the fourth round to take a quarterback in Ryan Finley, who is not exactly drawing rave reviews early in his career.

The Cincinnati Bengals had the chance to draft a new franchise quarterback in the 2019 NFL Draft, but instead waited until the fourth round to make Ryan Finley a backup to Andy Dalton in a move that can already be considered questionable if reports from practice are to be believed.

Dwayne Haskins and Drew Lock were still on the board when the Bengals were on the clock with the 11th pick in the first round, which they decided to use on Alabama tackle Jonah Williams.

Cincinnati then traded up in the fourth round to take Finley 104th overall. Though he does not have the biggest arm, Finley was praised for his accuracy and his poise in the pre-draft process and completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 10,501 yards, 60 touchdowns and 25 interceptions for NC State after transferring from Boise State.

But at this early stage in his NFL career he already has his critics, namely The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr, who wrote of Finley:

"“Ryan Finley looks bad. There’s just no way around it. Two ugly passes Tuesday that should have been intercepted by seventh-round pick CB Jordan Brown. It’s still early, but not so early that we can’t begin to wonder what the hell is going on.”"

It isn’t that much of a surprise to hear about a mid-round rookie quarterback enduring some early struggles. However, for a player backing up Dalton — who was limited to 11 games last season with torn ligaments in his thumb — Finley’s performances at this stage will not inspire confidence he can fill the void capably should Dalton go down again.

With Jeff Driskel having performed to a decent standard in Dalton’s stead last year, Finley could well be relegated to the third-string option if he continues to struggle in minicamp and training camp.

Nobody will write off Finley on the basis of a few practices and the logic behind taking Williams, who should help provide better protection for Dalton and help him avoid further injury, is sound.

Yet if he continues to struggle and is unable to beat out Driskel for the second-string role, then there will be plenty of talk of him being a wasted pick and continued questions over whether the Bengals should have taken a shot on Haskins or Lock.