Ken Zampese’s history of developing quarterbacks is good news for Redskins

Cincinnati Bengals: Andy Dalton

The Bengals did draft several quarterbacks in the years after they selected Palmer, but they were all late-round fliers. It wasn’t until Palmer demanded a trade away from Cincinnati in 2011 that the team was forced to find an alternative. They did a solid job of finding one with their second-round pick in 2011.

After selecting wide receiver A.J. Green with the fourth overall pick and making the smart decision not to reach for the likes of Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert, or Christian Ponder at quarterback, the Bengals were able to add their next starting quarterback in the early second. TCU’s Andy Dalton was the pick and because of the absence of Palmer, there were questions about whether or not the 35th overall pick would be the starter for Week 1 of the 2011 season.

Zampese had a decision to make about Dalton. He could opt to take a path similar to that of Palmer’s — sit Dalton for a year to let him get acclimated to the pro game while starting veteran Bruce Gradkowski — or he could throw Dalton into the fire.

Washington Commanders

Once again, Zampese and the Bengals made the right choice. They opted to start Dalton from Day 1. The primary reason that the Bengals did this was Dalton’s experience. He was a four-year starter in college and left the TCU program as their all-time leader in many passing categories, but more importantly, he had 42 wins to his name. Comparatively, Palmer was a two-year starter when he was brought in, so it’s easy to see why Zampese and Co. were comfortable rolling with Dalton despite opting to sit Palmer eight years prior.

Much like Palmer, Dalton was a solid, efficient starter to kick off his NFL career. He led the Bengals to a playoff berth in each of his first five seasons and posted a 50-26-1 record during those years. He never won a playoff game, but the fact that he was able to come in and win right away is a credit to Zampese.

As the years went along, Zampese got the most out of Dalton. He helped Dalton improve his accuracy and while interceptions were an issue for the quarterback, the duo slowly but surely made strides toward better ball security.

Dalton posted his best season in 2015, Zampese’s last as the Bengals’ quarterbacks coach. He completed a career-high 66 percent of his passes, threw for 25 touchdowns, and logged a career-low seven interceptions. Had it not been for a late-season thumb injury that held him out of the playoffs, perhaps the Bengals could’ve had enough in the tank to beat the Steelers in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs (they lost 18-16).

After Zampese became the offensive coordinator in 2016 and stopped working primarily with the quarterbacks, Dalton regressed. He wasn’t as accurate and couldn’t make as much happen as the blocking in front of him deteriorated. Though Zampese deserves some of the blame for the Bengals’ struggles, as he was an ineffective coordinator, the fact that Dalton couldn’t find success without his tutelage and regressed badly in two full seasons without him is telling that Zampese did have an impact on Dalton’s career.

So, much like he did with Palmer, Zampese made it work with Dalton. But the most impressive work he did may have come in 2018 with the Cleveland Browns.