As the NFL contemplates decreasing the amount of preseason games from four to two, in light of COVID-19, I think it is important to talk about the effect that this might have on the Bengals. This a young and rebuilt team from 2019. A rookie QB with no seasoned veteran mentoring him, an entire new linebacker group and a revamped backfield all must be taken into consideration. How will the Bengals evaluate rookies and bubble talent?
Let’s talk about with the most important guy in the franchise. A lot of people hate the preseason and think that the risk is too great to the player’s health to be worthwhile. The counter argument is that it gives rookies a chance to learn and execute the playbook against real talent instead of their own team. My biggest question was if it even mattered for rookie QBs. I ran the numbers on Dalton, Palmer, Brady and Mahomes in their rookie seasons. People, it is hard to find old preseason stats. Here is what I found:
| Dalton | Yards | Cmp% | TD | INT | Sacks |
| P1 | 69 | 73.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| P2 | 50 | 42.8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| P3 | 130 | 64.7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| P4 | 43 | 66.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Palmer | Yards | Cmp% | TD | INT | Sacks |
| P1 | 140 | 54.5 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| P2 | 97 | 100 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| P3 | 22 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| P4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Brady | Yards | Cmp% | TD | INT | Sacks |
| P1 | 28 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mahomes | Yards | Cmp% | TD | INT | Sacks |
| P1 | 49 | 77.7 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| P2 | 88 | 71.4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| P3 | 70 | 53.3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| P4 | 183 | 56.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
If the QB is good in the preseason he generally carried that into the regular season. Mahomes lit up his preseason when given the opportunity. Brady’s first regular season was lackluster and that seemed to work out just fine for him long-term. Does passing an average of 80 yards per week really matter? Are they getting real game speed and facing quality pass rushers?
My conclusion is that preseason does not matter. Preseason games are nice because it builds anticipation but Carson Palmer had the best regular season debut game of all of those guys. Did his 4 INTs teach him where to throw the ball and not to? He threw 20 INTs his first year, so “how about no Scotty” -Dr Evil. The preseason is a glimpse on how good or bad a guy can be but it doesn’t compel me to believe that it aids in development. I think in the modern NFL that these guys coming out of college are more ready to play in a real game than ever.
