Cook’s Top 5: Cincinnati Bengals Quarterbacks

Steve Cook’s QB deep dive takes him home to his personal favorite team: The Cincinnati Bengals! Who does he see as their Top 5 Quarterbacks of all time?

We all know that most of the Cincinnati Bengals’ existence has been a bit of a struggle. After fifty-four seasons, they have zero Super Bowl Championships to their credit, are nearly ninety games below .500 & are more thought of as a punchline than a legitimate football team. I can’t deny any of these things.

However, it has to be said that the Bengals have done a good job of filling the quarterback position. With a few notable draft busts like David Klingler & Akili Smith, the Bengals have mostly had competent men playing quarterback that have been overshadowed in their division by men on more successful teams.

Cincinnati hopes that Joe Burrow will play as well as the people on this list while getting more attention than they did.

5. Jeff Blake

Shake n’ Blake was a popular trend in Cincinnati during the mid 1990s, a time where people had gotten annoyed with watching the likes of David Klingler quarterbacking the Bengals. The team had sunk to the bottom of the NFL standings. The QB play was terrible. Anything was welcomed as an improvement, and here came Jeff Blake after an injury to Klingler.

Blake came up a little short against the Cowboys, which would mean nothing now, but this was back when the Cowboys were constantly winning Super Bowls. Blake getting the Bengals within 3 points of the Cowboys was a pretty monumental feat.This was pretty much the high point. Blake, along with Corey Dillon, made a pretty bad era of Bengals football somewhat easier to stomach.

4. Carson Palmer

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more prototypical NFL quarterback than Carson Palmer. When the Bengals got the chance to draft him with the #1 pick, it was easy to be excited. He looked like the perfect NFL quarterback, and he delivered on that promise when he got the chance. Bengals fans remember what happened in that 2005 playoff game, and things were never really the same afterward. Even if Palmer’s best statistical season with the Bengals was in 2007, it’s easy to disconnect Carson’s best years from his team’s best years.

It’s also easy to disconnect from Carson for Bengals fans like me since he tapped out on the team. As much as it’s tough to blame him, he also gave up on accumulating stats that could have made him the best Bengals quarterback of all time.

3. Andy Dalton

The Red Rifle holds the record for the highest passing yards and most touchdowns in a single season for the Bengals. 4,293 yards & 33 touchdowns in 2013. How far did the Bengals go in the playoffs in that season? Well, they got their butts kicked by the San Diego Chargers in the Wild Card round. That’s the knock against Andy, and it’s a fair one. Dalton’s teams went to the playoffs for most of his tenure with the Bengals, and they never won a single game. It’s nice to go to the playoffs, but when you’re not winning any games it’s a waste of time & resources.

Andy was in the right place at the right time. Carson Palmer was sick & tired of the Bengals experience and was ready to go somewhere else. Dalton filled that void. He didn’t really improve on it, as the Marvin Lewis era continued on without a single playoff victory, but he did keep the Bengals in the mix. Dalton has the most touchdowns in franchise history, was selected to three Pro Bowls & lived up to wearing the number 14 for the Bengals.

2. Boomer Esiason

Boomer was my first favorite NFL player, which shouldn’t come as a surprise since my first football memories involve the Cincinnati Bengals of the late 1980s & early 1990s. Since I was a blond haired youngster, people wanted to compare my look to that of Boomer’s. Nobody would do that in 2021, but I did get an autograph back in the day, I did have a kid’s NFL kit to match Boomer’s, and I will never have anything bad to say about the man, no matter what take he gives on sports radio or NFL kickoff shows that you might disagree with. Or even if he was the only guy that Al Michaels completely buried in his autobiography, which seemed pretty random.

I can tell you that Boomer was a four-time Pro Bowler, and that he was the 1988 MVP that led the Bengals to their second Super Bowl loss at the hands of the 49ers. I can also tell you that he ended up back with the Bengals in 1997 after four seasons bouncing around with the Jets & Cardinals, and had a renaissance with a 4-1 record, & 13 touchdowns versus only 2 interceptions that made us all wonder if he had a lot left in the tank. You know, like Mark Henry in that immortal segment with John Cena. This was Boomer Esiason in 1997.

Whatever the offer Mike Brown made wasn’t enough for Boomer, who chose to embrace a sports media career instead. He’s done pretty well there, so it’s tough to knock that choice.

1. Ken Anderson

If you want to get an old school Bengals fan all hot & bothered, mention how Ken Anderson isn’t in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His stats definitely indicate that he deserves consideration. All these years later, he still leads the franchise in passing yards & wins. He led the NFL in passing yards in 1974 & 1975, in passer rating in 1974, 75, 81 & 82, and was the first Bengal to win the MVP award, doing so in 1981. That season saw the Bengals’ first run to the Super Bowl, where Anderson ran into a fellow by the name of Joe Montana.

Pro Football Reference compares Anderson’s career to legends like Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Bob Griese & Dan Fouts. The main difference between Anderson & the likes of Montana & Bradshaw? They won four Super Bowls, while Anderson only made it to one. Sports writers embracing the RINGZ culture is nothing new.

Had Ken Anderson won that one game in Pontiac, he’d be in the Hall of Fame. As things stand, he has to settle for being the greatest quarterback in Bengals history.

Thanks for reading! Join us next time when we look at the…Cleveland Browns? That should be interesting.