Andy Dalton Is a Must-Start for Fantasy Owners in Week 2

Time and time again, Andy Dalton delivers the fantasy goods, yet nobody cares. He'll once again satisfy owners who aren't bored enough with the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback to start him in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons.

He threw for 4,293 passing yards last year. He accumulated 33 passing touchdowns. He finished as ESPN's fifth-best fantasy quarterback under its standard scoring. He received a consensus position ranking of No. 17 on FantasyPros entering the 2014 season.

Category	Number	NFL Rank
Completion %	61.9	15
Pass YDs	4,293	7
Pass TDs	33	3
YDs/ATT.	7.33	12
INTs	20	5th worst

Dalton upstaged skeptics with a strong Week 1 outing against a tough Baltimore Ravens defense, going 25-of-38 for 301 yards and a touchdown. Last Thursday night, Ben Roethlisberger mustered just 217 passing yards with an interception against the same unit.

"We did exactly what we set out to do there today,'' Dalton told the Associated Press, via Fox Sports. ''There are a lot of tough places to play in this league and this is certainly one of the toughest. It was the only place I had not won since joining the Bengals.''

Against an Atlanta defense that ranked 28th in completion percentage allowed (66.1), Dalton is worth inserting into the starting lineup.

A perception exists that Dalton would wither away without Cincinnati's tremendous supporting cast. Well, that's probably an accurate critique, but it doesn't matter for our purposes because he's placed in the perfect situation to succeed.

Did A.J. Green save Dalton's butt with a tremendous 77-yard touchdown grab against Baltimore? You bet. That's hardly a fluke, however, coming from one of the game's elite wide receivers. Dalton has figured out that heaving it up to his star wideout and hoping for the best works quite often.

Rob Carr/Getty Images

The fourth-year quarterback receives a lot of flak for his dreadful postseason play. In three games, all of which the Bengals lost, he completed 56.9 percent of his passes for one touchdown. He also threw six interceptions. Good thing fantasy football is played in the regular season.

As Grantland's Bill Barnwell broke down during the offseason, Dalton's postseason troubles stemmed from his inability to handle pressure. Not pressure in the sense of "Everybody will hate me if I lose!"—but pressure in the pocket, which the San Diego Chargers brought all day during last year's Wild Card Round bout.

"

Among the 34 quarterbacks with 500 or more dropbacks over this three-year stretch, the average passer’s QBR was cut by more than half (52.4 percent) when he was either hassled or hit by a pass-rusher. Dalton is not so lucky. Already just a league-average quarterback when nobody’s bothering him, Dalton’s QBR under duress falls to a lowly 11.1, a drop of 81.4 percent. That leaves him as the fifth-most stressed by pressure, and the four guys in front of him don’t make for a bright future:

"

Those four guys: Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford, Brandon Weeden and Matt Hasselbeck. At least Hasselbeck wasn't too bad.

Luckily for Dalton, he plays behind one of the league's premier offensive lines. NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson delivered a noteworthy nugget about Dalton's superb line, which didn't allow a sack against the Baltimore Ravens last week.

A small sample size indeed, but the point held up throughout all of last season, when the Bengals surrendered 29 sacks. Only the Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions fared better.

Atlanta's defense, meanwhile, tied for the third-worst mark for sacks recorded with 32 last year, and the Falcons pass rush could not record a single sack against the New Orleans Saints during the Week 1 shootout. Dalton is going to have all day to throw against the Atlanta.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Now you may be thinking, "What if I also have Peyton Manning?" Well yeah, go ahead and start the guy who threw 55 touchdowns last year. Chances are Dalton himself would start the reigning MVP in that scenario. Roll with him over Cam Newton, Jay Cutler, Tony Romo and Colin Kaepernick.

With the help of his friends, Dalton will once again rack up the yards on Sunday. It may not matter for Cincinnati fans if he doesn't improve in January, but that doesn't make the slightest difference to fantasy players.