Esiason defends Dalton: Calm down, everyone

Boomer Esiason has Andy Dalton's back. (USATSI)

More NFL offseason: Mock Drafts | Prospect Rankings | Pro Days | Top free agents

Andy Dalton has become something of a lightning rod in Cincinnati. The former second-round pick started as a rookie and immediately had success. In fact, he's helped lead the Bengals to back-to-back-to-back playoff appearances, which was welcome news for a franchise that won four games before Dalton arrived in 2011.

But the Bengals are 0-3 in those postseason appearances with Dalton throwing one touchdown and six interceptions. Still, former Cincy quarterback Boomer Esiason thinks everybody needs to take a deep breath because, on the whole, Dalton has been very good.

"I never had a season like he had this year," Esiason told Bengals.com. "He'll be fine. The trajectory is like this, 9-7, 10-6, 11-5, 22 touchdowns, 27 touchdowns, 33 touchdowns. The guy is a really good player. Everyone just has to calm down.”

In 2013, Dalton completed 62 percent of his throws for 4,293 yards, 33 TDs and 20 INTs. He ranked 16th in Football Outsiders' QB efficiency metric, ahead of Cam Newton and Jay Cutler. Not bad, especially for a young quarterback, but Esiason is being modest about his own success.

By way of comparison, in 1989 (the earliest Football Outsiders has data), Esiason ranked third in QB efficiency, behind only Joe Montana and Jim Everett. That season, he completed 57 percent of his passes for 3,525 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Four seasons later, Esiason, then with the Jets, ranked fifth in QB efficiency behind names like Elway, Young, Aikman and Montana.

It's also worth pointing out that Esiason was a four-time Pro Bowler, and the NFL MVP in 1988, the same season he led the Bengals to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the 49ers.

So while Dalton, in general, has been a good, the problem is that he has an uncanny knack for shrinking in big games. Now he's entering the final year of his rookie contract and it's reasonable to think that if he doesn't show vast improvement in that area, the Bengals will seriously consider letting him walk next offseason. For now, though, Dalton remains the unquestioned starter.

NFL Hot News

Saints looking to unload offensive weapons?



ESPN's Adam Schefter has cited his "sources" as reporting that the New Orleans Saints are shopping WR Lance Moore and RB Pierre Thomas, and could even be open to deals involving RB Darren Sproles.Sproles has been one of the focal points of the Saints offense since coming to New Orleans in 2011. Thomas emerged as another receiving threat out of the backfield for Brees this season, joining Sproles in the 70+ reception club. Moore took a step back in production in 2013 after having his first 1000 yard season for the Saints in 2012.



Sproles was a bit of a letdown in 2013. He did manage to eclipse the 70 catch mark for the third straight year since coming to New Orleans. However, he only found the end zone three times, as opposed to nine and eight TD's the previous two years.Thomas, while not having an amazing season, was a pleasant surprise in PPR formats in 2013. He compiled over 1,000 yards, hauled in 77 passes, and found the end zone five times. Again, not RB1 numbers, by any means, but still a top 20 back in PPR scoring.Moore has been a Saint his entire nine year career and has had marginal success, largely due to decent chemistry with QB Drew Brees. 2013 was the first season of the past four in which he didn't exceed 50 receptions.Odds are they'll try to move Moore and either Thomas or Sproles.Ultimately, these are all "good" players who have benefitted from having Drew Brees as their QB. Moore and Sproles are both slight of build, at 5'9", and will both be 31 when the 2014 season opens. Thomas will be 29... not old, but all of them are definitely playing the back 9 of their career. If they end up anywhere besides New Orleans, from a fantasy perspective, buyer beware!! Losing Moore won't affect much, as he wasn't much of a contributor. If Sproles or Thomas is traded, the remaining between the two and RB Mark Ingram would be in line to get a boost over their 2013 numbers.