CINCINNATI (AP) — Andy Dalton isn’t surprised that the Bengals moved up in the fourth round to take a quarterback. He doesn’t feel threatened Jordan Willis Jersey White , either.New coach Zac Taylor has made it clear that Dalton is the unchallenged starter as the Bengals transition to a new offense. Cincinnati traded and moved up to take N.C. State’s Ryan Finley — a quarterback whose skills more closely resemble Dalton’s — in the fourth round on Saturday for a backup role.The Bengals hadn’t taken a quarterback so high in the draft since 2011, when they got Dalton in the second round. But Taylor made it clear to Dalton that the move doesn’t directly impact him.“Like they said, they’re trying to create some competition as a backup and that’s why you bring him in,” Dalton said Tuesday after a workout. “They obviously liked him, felt like he fit this system, and we had to get our (quarterback) numbers up.”At the outset, Finley will compete with fifth-year veteran Jeff Driskel for the No. 2 spot. Driskel started the last five games last season after Dalton tore a ligament in his passing thumb.Dalton has two years left on his contract. Owner Mike Brown has raved about his leadership and performance, even though the Bengals have yet to win a playoff game behind him. Brown has repeatedly pointed out that Dalton led the Bengals to the playoffs five straight seasons, a franchise record.Dalton hadn’t made contact with Finley as of Tuesday. He’s planning to mentor him and help him learn Taylor’s offense, which is being installed during offseason workouts.“I’m learning this offense as well,” Dalton said. “Obviously I’ll be able to help him because I was a rookie quarterback at one point. I was a rookie quarterback that started, so I had the experience of being there.”Perhaps the biggest intrigue on offense is how the line stacks up after the Bengals took left tackle Jonah Williams in the first round and guard Michael Jordan in the fourth.Current left tackle Cordy Glenn hasn’t played guard since college. It’s unlikely the Bengals would move Williams to a guard spot and put the rookie in an unaccustomed spot to start his career.The coaching staff hasn’t yet provided the linemen with any clues as to its plans. Players expect some experimentation in minicamp and training camp.“Nobody knows Jake Fisher Jersey ,” Glenn said. “I’m pretty sure they have a plan in place. They’re probably going to move a couple of guys around and see a couple of different lineups and see what they really have and what’s the best unit to put on the field.”The Bengals got Glenn in a trade with Buffalo before last season. He was limited by a back injury and started 13 games. He hasn’t played guard since he was at Georgia from 2008-11. He started 14 games at left tackle his senior year in college and has stayed at that position, so a move to guard would be a major adjustment.“It’s almost 10 years ago,” he said. “I don’t know. It will be interesting, for sure.” After a disappointing 2016 for the Cincinnati Bengals and potentially more struggles to come, what’s the outlook for Marvin Lewis?Marvin Lewis has been the head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals since the 2003 season. In that time, he’s taken a team which had become widely known as “The Bungles” and turned them into a group which has been one of the more stable franchises in the league in his overall tenure.In the years prior to Lewis taking over the team, this was a franchise unable to even find mediocrity amidst a long series of poor drafts and cheapskate moves by ownership.Following a Super Bowl loss to the San Francisco 49ers after the 1990 season, the team went on to have a terrible 55-137 record from 1991-2002. Of those 12 years, none ended with a winning record, nine ended with the team having double-digit losses, and seven of those nine years saw them go no better than 4-12.Article continues below ...Not helping matters was owner Mike Brown, who quickly moved on from Steve Wyche after one bad year (prior to 1991 Womens Andrew Billings Jersey , the team went 66-53 under Wyche, including two Super Bowl appearances), made terrible draft moves (including picking Ki-Jana Carter and Akili Smith), and both pissing off and alienating his players routinely due to his decisions from the top.With the addition of Lewis the franchise finally found stability. Under Lewis, the team has gone 118-103-2 in 14 seasons, with seven playoff appearances and four AFC Northdivision crowns.More from NFL Spin ZoneNFL Power Rankings 2017: Cowboys Drop, Patriots Stay On Top Pre-Draft32m agoHouston Texans: Rick Smith States The Obvious, Needs Quarterback1 h agoNew York Jets: 4 First-Round Options in 2017 NFL Draft2h agoGreen Bay Packers: Should Quarterback Be On Draft Radar?2h agoDallas Cowboys: Why Not Marshawn Lynch?3h agoBeyond just the record itself though, he has brought other stabilizing factors to the team in his tenure. Though there were many issues with players having run-ins with the law earlier in his tenure, this franchise has not only continued to feel comfortable taking chances on character risks, buttheir improvement at handling players who come with inherent off-field red flags and character concerns has made them take a prime destination for talented guys with issues to have a chance at success. That’s a huge credit to Lewis’ abilities as a leader.Still, despite the stability he has brought Womens John Miller Jersey , there are significant reasons that could lead to a changing of the guard at his spot in the near future.Despite the positiveshe has brought to the team,his group has never experienced the sort of postseason success which tends to keep coaches employed. He may have made the playoffs in half of his seasons to this point, but none of those groups has ever won a single game there. Of course, a fewof those have mitigating circumstances (the 2005 group immediately lost Carson Palmer to a torn ACL, A.J. Green and Marvin Jones missed the 2014 contest), but too often this has been a group which collapses when the games matter most.Even when there are factors which can’t be blamed on coaching, we’ve seen endless examples of head coaches having to suffer the brunt of the blame and receiving a pink slip because of it. Lewis lucked out to this point at least in part due to Brown’s reluctance to part ways early with his coaches even when they are doing terribly (Dave Shula went 19-52 in over fouryears, Bruce Coslet went 21-39 in about four total seasons, and Dick LeBeau went 12-33 in over two years of games), but even the most patient/change-averse guys have a limit, and another losing effort this year could put Lewis at risk.Jan 9, 2016; Cincinnati Trey Hopkins Jersey , OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis speaks during a press conference after loosing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wild Card playoff football game at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY SportsThough Brown doesn’t like to move on early from agreed-upon contracts (presumably because the accusations of him being cheap have some validity to them), he wouldn’t have that factor to worry about with Lewis right now. Lewis is on the last year of a contract extension as of this moment, and has already been sort of playing out the string; the past few offseasons have seen him get extensions, but those have been just one-year additions.This year is the third-straight time he’s facedthat circumstance, but to this point it is the first where he doesn’t have an extension set for the following year. That could still change (other extensions have come around this time in April), but until that is reported it cannot just be assumed he’ll return after this year.bengalsNFL Mocks 1 d2017 NFL mock draft: FanSided experts pick for their teamsMore headlines around FanSided:1 d – Bengals’ 2017 Regular Season Schedule Announced1 d – 2017 NFL Schedule:Biggest Game of Every Regular Season Week2d – Cincinnati Bengals: 2017 Schedule Released2d – Who Dey Notes: Bengals’ AJ McCarron Rumors, Eifert Better3d – 2017 NFL Mock Draft: Myles Garrett Remains No. 1More News at Stripe HypeAnother factor to consider: Who knows how long Lewis wants to keep coaching. There have been rumors for years of him possibly calling it quits. In2015, he himself mentioned how he’d retire if the Bengals won the Super Bowl(per CBS Sports). We saw his possible retirement mentioned last season as well (though it was later refuted) and it has been a subject of intrigue in recent seasons as the Bengals have struggled to make a deep run in the playoffs and he’s had to play out short extensions. He also apparently tried to work out a two-year succession plan with Brown to have Hue Jackson take over as head coach before the latter left for the head job in Cleveland, but Brown wouldn’t agree to it.That all points to a guy who seems close to being finished.And while the most recent news on the matter does seem to point to Lewiswanting to go on coaching beyond 2017(per Pro Football Talk), Brown could decide it is in his best interest to let him actually play out the string this time.2016 was a drastic step back after five straight years of playoff runs, and though they do have a slew of upcoming draft picks (11 to be exact) and have made some decent free agent moves (the cheap addition of linebacker Kevin Minter is great for thatgroup Cordy Glenn Jersey , and keeping Dre Kirkpatrick let them hold onto a starter at corner) which could help them return to their recent successful ways, there are inherent problems with where the organization stands today which stand as major roadblocks.This is a team that has bled homegrown talent in recent years, is reluctant to trust young players (the backbone of their roster) in important roles, doesn’t like spending money on outside free agents and quick fixes, and holds onto players well past their usefulness.Not all of that is on Lewis (Brown is still the de facto GM even after ceding some decision-making power to Lewis over the years, so his frugal nature undoubtedly plays a role in personnel choices). But he has enough control and influence to make a significant difference in mostof those areas. The fact that he hasn’t is a blemish on his resume.History shows us that the most likely outcome in this situation will be another extension at some point for Lewis. However, there are enough factors here to believe that it isn’t as much of a certain outcome as we’ve seen to this point.Next: 2017 NFL Power Rankings: Pre-Draft AssessmentShould Cincinnati struggle again in 2017 (which I believe is a distinct possibility), or should Lewis actually decide he’s really ready to hang it up, we may be seeing a whole new regime quite soon in Cincinnati.This article originally appeared on
