Ryan Finley Stats Were Impressive in Preseason

News broke today that Ryan Finley, a fourth-round pick from NC State, will replace Andy Dalton as the starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. Finley hasn’t played yet through Cincinnati’s first eight games (all losses), but he did play well in the preseason.

Finley completed 70+ percent of his passes in all three of his preseason appearances and finished with a 73.4 percent completion rate, 13.4 points higher than Andy Dalton’s mark in eight regular-season games. Finley also threw three touchdown passes to one interception in the preseason.

Perhaps the most impressive stat Finley posted in the preseason was the number of sacks he took — just four in three games. By comparison, Dalton has taken 29 sacks in eight games or 3.6 per game. Finley isn’t a speedster by any stretch but his fresh legs may spark the Bengals in the second half of the season.

Finley finished the preseason with a 99.3 passer rating. In fewer snaps, Dalton posted an 88.4 passer rating in the 2019 preseason. For the regular season, he has a passer rating below 80 percent.

No one can argue with first-year head coach Zac Taylor switching things up. After all, NFL Draft expert Todd McShay was really high on the 6-foot-4 quarterback coming out of college. He even called him “the most NFL ready” in an appearance on the Will Cain Show in August of 2018.