Associated Press

CINCINNATI -- Carson Palmer was made the Cincinnati Bengals starting quarterback on Monday over Jon Kitna, who won the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award last season.

 

 

Coach Marvin Lewis announced the switch, giving Palmer's teammates time to get used to the idea that someone else will be leading them.

 

 

Palmer, who never got into a game last season, was the first overall pick in last year's draft after winning the Heisman Trophy at Southern California. Kitna led the Bengals' transformation into a playoff contender but doesn't have the arm strength or the huge contract of his main competitor.

 

 

"I just feel it's the best thing for us to do right now," Lewis said.

 

 

Palmer signed a contract that included $14 million in bonuses, and was expected to replace Kitna as soon as he learned the offense.

 

 

Instead, Kitna had a career year, leading a perennial loser into playoff contention for the first time since 1990. The Bengals went 8-8 and stayed in contention until the final game of the season.

 

 

Kitna wound up as the only quarterback in the league to take every snap last season. Palmer was promoted to No. 2, but never came close to getting into a game.

 

 

The quarterback decision was Lewis' biggest of the offseason. Palmer will get most of the snaps in minicamp and training camp, giving him an opportunity to make up for lost time and meld with the receiving corps.

palmer wouldve been better off starting last year

well now this is his team

palmer wouldve been better off starting last year

well now this is his team

That's why Palmer said all last year he wasn't ready yet and was still adjusting to the speed of the game. Besides, I don't think not starting him was a bad idea. Let him call plays and learn what he can from Kitna and Shane Mathews. I think he'll be more mature and ready for the game this season than just starting him.

 

Besides, did you SEE any of Carson's pre-season? He had a couple of good passes, but a lot of bad picks.

 

And this comes as no surprise to me as a Bengals fan. I've known Carson was going to start since the season ended. I can't WAIT to see him next year. I'll be at every home game.

Dumb idea....The team will regressed now in the w/l column.

 

Too bad Fins alreay traded for A.J becaus Kitna would hve been a real upgrade over Fiedler.

They dont want to trade Kitna from what I've heard. The Bengals want to have a good backup QB in case Palmer goes down with injury since his a free agent next year anyways.

Sitting Palmer was the right decision. I'm sure he learned a lot last year and is ready to have a breakout season like Pennington did in his 2nd year after he sat the first one behind Vinny.

Where's BigHugg? I like the move. The Bengals are turning it around, time to bring in the kid & find out if he can lead the team to big things the next few years.

 

Who-dey?!

They have to see what the kids got they didnt give him a 14 million signing bonus to sit him on the bench.

I rather go with Jon Kitna.

Jon Kitna played as well as he's ever going to play last season. Carson Palmer could be better, so you have to give him the nod. As said before, we're not paying the guy what we're paying him to ride the pine, he's gotta play. He can't just sit on the bench and rot. This is the right move for this team, end of story. With the recievers he has and Rudi Johnson behind him, he's going to do quite well.

my problem with this decision is the fact that its still march. why not wait until training camp is over, or at least the mini camps are done

my problem with this decision is the fact that its still march. why not wait until training camp is over, or at least the mini camps are done

That's stupid. Period. These guys have got to know who's going to lead them into the future and with Carson and Kitna it had been close before. Now, and especially after the Cleveland game it's Carson time. Period. Kitna made two rookie mistakes during that game and I'd rather see a rookie make those mistakes than Jon Kitna, a veteran.

 

Kitna was solid last season, but he seems to me to not be able to make the high pressure decision. I attribute a lot of his success to his talented reciever-corps.

These guys have got to know who's going to lead them into the future

Exactly. They want the starting QB to be getting the majority of the snaps in mini-camps, training camps, etc. Now they know who the guy is, a QB controversy is the last thing this team needs.

 

Plus, Kitna's been Carson's mentor, I don't think Lewis wanted to pit them against each other.

my problem with this decision is the fact that its still march. why not wait until training camp is over, or at least the mini camps are done

That's stupid. Period. why the f*** is it stupid? its f***ing march. all i suggested was to give the guy a chance to try to actually keep the job, but i didnt actually say to keep kitna as the starter like some people said, yet your calling me out. whats up with that? you all make valid points also, i was just stating my opinion

my problem with this decision is the fact that its still march. why not wait until training camp is over, or at least the mini camps are done

That's stupid. Period. These guys have got to know who's going to lead them into the future and with Carson and Kitna it had been close before. Now, and especially after the Cleveland game it's Carson time. Period. Kitna made two rookie mistakes during that game and I'd rather see a rookie make those mistakes than Jon Kitna, a veteran.

 

Kitna was solid last season, but he seems to me to not be able to make the high pressure decision. I attribute a lot of his success to his talented reciever-corps. why the f*** is it stupid? its f***ing march. all i suggested was to give the guy a chance to try to actually keep the job, but i didnt actually say to keep kitna as the starter like some people said, yet your calling me out. whats up with that? you all make valid points also, i was just stating my opinion How much do you follow the Bengals?

 

I have more jerseys (4, with a Boomer Esiason and two undecided Authentics on the way) and spent more time watching this team when anyone. Hell, I remember watching this team be crappy as hell three seasons ago in my apartment in Dayton.

 

And I most certainly remember being at the Cleveland Clowns game last year, last game of the season. Kitna made two vital mistakes that cost the team the game. Kitna is a decent QB at best (an 8-8 QB at his very best).

 

Carson Palmer has been groomed as the starter since being signed. Period. He's gotten paid the money and last pre-season showed sparks of promise. All last season he was groomed to be this year's starter. He had time to learn the playbook while Jon did his thing all season long. Carson has learned the inner and outer workings of this football team.

 

Marvin Lewis has made it so that Kitna and Palmer knew the score months in advance. Always. Last year he walked out of an interview after three early Kitna losses and the questions of "Why not start Carson?"

 

Clearly you don't know as much about this team as you think you know. That'd be like me sounding off on what's wrong with the Dolphins when I don't know a darn thing about them. I'm not hating, but I'm a Bengals fan and I follow this team night and day. It's been this way since the beginning, Carson was being groomed, it was Kitna's team last season. Carson's the one they've invested the money and time into. Kitna's had his chance. It's time.

 

Carson time.

your right, i dont follow the bengals and i didnt go off on the bengals. i just gave my opinion, i didnt say s*** about whats wrong with the bengals or anything like that and i sure didnt say it was an idiotic move like some people said yet your going off on me.

Jon Kitna played as well as he's ever going to play last season. Carson Palmer could be better, so you have to give him the nod. As said before, we're not paying the guy what we're paying him to ride the pine, he's gotta play. He can't just sit on the bench and rot. This is the right move for this team, end of story. With the recievers he has and Rudi Johnson behind him, he's going to do quite well.

Now many QB play at high level when they first see action.Kitna has grown to a very good QB and I don't see why the need to rush Palmer before even training camp.Kitna deserve a shot to start again.You should expect a down year.

your right, i dont follow the bengals and i didnt go off on the bengals. i just gave my opinion, i didnt say s*** about whats wrong with the bengals or anything like that and i sure didnt say it was an idiotic move like some people said yet your going off on me.

Yeah, you just tried to cuss me out for no reason then. Thanks, dood. You gave your opinion, it was wrong (IMHO) from a Bengals stand-point. Besides, it takes pressure off of Carson's shoulders, which is a good thing.

 

 

Score one for me and Coach Marvin. :thumbup

im sorry, i just have a problem with people when they flat out call my opinion stupid because they dont agree with it and single me out when it wasnt as extreme as a couple of other people's opinions.

Jon Kitna played as well as he's ever going to play last season. Carson Palmer could be better, so you have to give him the nod. As said before, we're not paying the guy what we're paying him to ride the pine, he's gotta play. He can't just sit on the bench and rot. This is the right move for this team, end of story. With the recievers he has and Rudi Johnson behind him, he's going to do quite well.

Now many QB play at high level when they first see action.Kitna has grown to a very good QB and I don't see why the need to rush Palmer before even training camp.Kitna deserve a shot to start again.You should expect a down year. So, what are we supposed to do then? Never play him? If he's not going to play at a high level when he first sees action, I guess we should just never let him first see action so he doesn't struggle. We went 8-8 last year, it's not like we we're gangbusters, winning championships. We went 1-4 down the stretch, that's not exactly stellar. I'm not saying we can't win with Kitna, because we can, but I see now reason we can't win with Carson. Our offense is going to be good with either of them, the defense is the question mark.

 

And how many first year starters step into an offense with an All-Pro WR who is still getting better, a gamebreaker on the other side of him, and a second year guy who made plays all season? He's going to be throwing to Chad Johnson, Peter Warrick, and Kelley Washington, they're going to help him out. He's also got a tight end trio that was one of the most productive at the position in Tony Stewart, Matt Schobel, and Reggie Kelly. Plus, he's got a very good running game behind him. It's not like Carson is going to have to go out and win us games for this team to have a chance. All he has to do is play within himself, which he can certainly do.

 

Let me put it like this, the Bengals are a team on the rise. They're going to get better and better for the next 3 years or so. So, you start Palmer's learning curve sooner. The kid's learned about as much as he can learn by watching, you have to let him play. You say you don't see the need to rush him, we didn't give him one snap in his rookie season, I hardly say we're rushing him.

 

And naming him the starter now, when he can get the majority of the snaps in mini-camp and training camp is beneficial to him. I don't expect a down year at all, because there's no reason to. I mean, Jon was good last year, but he still cost us no less than 5 games, we're not talking about the greatest quarterback of all-time.

im sorry, i just have a problem with people when they flat out call my opinion stupid because they dont agree with it and single me out when it wasnt as extreme as a couple of other people's opinions.

I singled you out only because I disagreed with you. It's not like I came in here and threw down with you. You're the one with the "f***" in your posts, not me. I'm not mad, I'm not angry. I don't even care. But, you went off on a tangent with your little expletives and so I took it in the other direction. Period.

 

It's not like I'm getting in a fight with you here. It's beneath both you and me. I don't see what the big deal is. It seems to me you're throwing a fit. It was a minor heated exchange. Who cares? It's just a messageboard. They're for opinions.

Jon Kitna played as well as he's ever going to play last season. Carson Palmer could be better, so you have to give him the nod. As said before, we're not paying the guy what we're paying him to ride the pine, he's gotta play. He can't just sit on the bench and rot. This is the right move for this team, end of story. With the recievers he has and Rudi Johnson behind him, he's going to do quite well.

Now many QB play at high level when they first see action.Kitna has grown to a very good QB and I don't see why the need to rush Palmer before even training camp.Kitna deserve a shot to start again.You should expect a down year. So, what are we supposed to do then? Never play him? If he's not going to play at a high level when he first sees action, I guess we should just never let him first see action so he doesn't struggle. We went 8-8 last year, it's not like we we're gangbusters, winning championships. We went 1-4 down the stretch, that's not exactly stellar. I'm not saying we can't win with Kitna, because we can, but I see now reason we can't win with Carson. Our offense is going to be good with either of them, the defense is the question mark.

 

And how many first year starters step into an offense with an All-Pro WR who is still getting better, a gamebreaker on the other side of him, and a second year guy who made plays all season? He's going to be throwing to Chad Johnson, Peter Warrick, and Kelley Washington, they're going to help him out. He's also got a tight end trio that was one of the most productive at the position in Tony Stewart, Matt Schobel, and Reggie Kelly. Plus, he's got a very good running game behind him. It's not like Carson is going to have to go out and win us games for this team to have a chance. All he has to do is play within himself, which he can certainly do.

 

Let me put it like this, the Bengals are a team on the rise. They're going to get better and better for the next 3 years or so. So, you start Palmer's learning curve sooner. The kid's learned about as much as he can learn by watching, you have to let him play. You say you don't see the need to rush him, we didn't give him one snap in his rookie season, I hardly say we're rushing him.

 

And naming him the starter now, when he can get the majority of the snaps in mini-camp and training camp is beneficial to him. I don't expect a down year at all, because there's no reason to. I mean, Jon was good last year, but he still cost us no less than 5 games, we're not talking about the greatest quarterback of all-time. Your telling me Kitna was the reason why you went 1-4?Kitna was a big reason why the Bengals were winning last year.Bengals should be more worry about upgrading their D than benching Kitna.I'm sorry but you don't name a starter now period before training camp.You have to see Palmer progression through training camp and preaseaon.I bet this move had more to do with Brown than Lewis.Brown wouldn't want to see his high price second year QB on the bench.The Bengals had a good thing going with Kitna and Kitna has cetainly grown as a QB.I don't care how much talent around Palmer because a first year QB will struggle.Only a few QB have had much success as first year starter and those guy are special.I'm not saying Palmer aint and really no way of telling without seeing him play but what would have been better thing to do is make Palmer earn it by showing he is ready after watching him at training camp and preseason.

Jon Kitna played as well as he's ever going to play last season. Carson Palmer could be better, so you have to give him the nod. As said before, we're not paying the guy what we're paying him to ride the pine, he's gotta play. He can't just sit on the bench and rot. This is the right move for this team, end of story. With the recievers he has and Rudi Johnson behind him, he's going to do quite well.

Now many QB play at high level when they first see action.Kitna has grown to a very good QB and I don't see why the need to rush Palmer before even training camp.Kitna deserve a shot to start again.You should expect a down year. So, what are we supposed to do then? Never play him? If he's not going to play at a high level when he first sees action, I guess we should just never let him first see action so he doesn't struggle. We went 8-8 last year, it's not like we we're gangbusters, winning championships. We went 1-4 down the stretch, that's not exactly stellar. I'm not saying we can't win with Kitna, because we can, but I see now reason we can't win with Carson. Our offense is going to be good with either of them, the defense is the question mark.

 

And how many first year starters step into an offense with an All-Pro WR who is still getting better, a gamebreaker on the other side of him, and a second year guy who made plays all season? He's going to be throwing to Chad Johnson, Peter Warrick, and Kelley Washington, they're going to help him out. He's also got a tight end trio that was one of the most productive at the position in Tony Stewart, Matt Schobel, and Reggie Kelly. Plus, he's got a very good running game behind him. It's not like Carson is going to have to go out and win us games for this team to have a chance. All he has to do is play within himself, which he can certainly do.

 

Let me put it like this, the Bengals are a team on the rise. They're going to get better and better for the next 3 years or so. So, you start Palmer's learning curve sooner. The kid's learned about as much as he can learn by watching, you have to let him play. You say you don't see the need to rush him, we didn't give him one snap in his rookie season, I hardly say we're rushing him.

 

And naming him the starter now, when he can get the majority of the snaps in mini-camp and training camp is beneficial to him. I don't expect a down year at all, because there's no reason to. I mean, Jon was good last year, but he still cost us no less than 5 games, we're not talking about the greatest quarterback of all-time. Your telling me Kitna was the reason why you went 1-4?Kitna was a big reason why the Bengals were winning last year.Bengals should be more worry about upgrading their D than benching Kitna.I'm sorry but you don't name a starter now period before training camp to see Palmer progression.I bet this move had more to do with Brown than Lewis.Brown wouldn't want to see his high price second year QB on the bench.The Bengals had a good thing going with Kitna and Kitna has cetainly gown as a QB.I don't care how much talent around Palmer because a first year QB will struggle.Only a few QB have had much success as first year starter and those guy asre special.I'm not saying Palmer aint and really no way of telling without seeing him play but it would have been better thing to do is make Palmer earn it by showing he is ready after watching him at training camp and preseason. Did you see the games I'm talking about? The ones where Kitna threw interceptions on crucial drives that were COMPLETELY his fault. Or the awesome play against Cleveland where we could have put 3 on the board at the end of the half and dude takes a sack after scrambling around for no reason when he should have thrown it out of the end zone?

 

Kitna's not the only reason we went 1-4, but he's not the only reason we won 8 games either. We're not talking about an all-pro quarterback here.

 

You need to understand something here and this is a serious comparison, Jon Kitna is the Jay Fiedler of the Bengals. Seriously. He's good enough to win, but he still makes boneheaded plays and he's not going to take us as far as we want to go.

 

So, if the Dolphins had Carson Palmer, would you want Jay Fiedler starting this year?

Jon Kitna played as well as he's ever going to play last season. Carson Palmer could be better, so you have to give him the nod. As said before, we're not paying the guy what we're paying him to ride the pine, he's gotta play. He can't just sit on the bench and rot. This is the right move for this team, end of story. With the recievers he has and Rudi Johnson behind him, he's going to do quite well.

Now many QB play at high level when they first see action.Kitna has grown to a very good QB and I don't see why the need to rush Palmer before even training camp.Kitna deserve a shot to start again.You should expect a down year. So, what are we supposed to do then? Never play him? If he's not going to play at a high level when he first sees action, I guess we should just never let him first see action so he doesn't struggle. We went 8-8 last year, it's not like we we're gangbusters, winning championships. We went 1-4 down the stretch, that's not exactly stellar. I'm not saying we can't win with Kitna, because we can, but I see now reason we can't win with Carson. Our offense is going to be good with either of them, the defense is the question mark.

 

And how many first year starters step into an offense with an All-Pro WR who is still getting better, a gamebreaker on the other side of him, and a second year guy who made plays all season? He's going to be throwing to Chad Johnson, Peter Warrick, and Kelley Washington, they're going to help him out. He's also got a tight end trio that was one of the most productive at the position in Tony Stewart, Matt Schobel, and Reggie Kelly. Plus, he's got a very good running game behind him. It's not like Carson is going to have to go out and win us games for this team to have a chance. All he has to do is play within himself, which he can certainly do.

 

Let me put it like this, the Bengals are a team on the rise. They're going to get better and better for the next 3 years or so. So, you start Palmer's learning curve sooner. The kid's learned about as much as he can learn by watching, you have to let him play. You say you don't see the need to rush him, we didn't give him one snap in his rookie season, I hardly say we're rushing him.

 

And naming him the starter now, when he can get the majority of the snaps in mini-camp and training camp is beneficial to him. I don't expect a down year at all, because there's no reason to. I mean, Jon was good last year, but he still cost us no less than 5 games, we're not talking about the greatest quarterback of all-time. Your telling me Kitna was the reason why you went 1-4?Kitna was a big reason why the Bengals were winning last year.Bengals should be more worry about upgrading their D than benching Kitna.I'm sorry but you don't name a starter now period before training camp to see Palmer progression.I bet this move had more to do with Brown than Lewis.Brown wouldn't want to see his high price second year QB on the bench.The Bengals had a good thing going with Kitna and Kitna has cetainly gown as a QB.I don't care how much talent around Palmer because a first year QB will struggle.Only a few QB have had much success as first year starter and those guy asre special.I'm not saying Palmer aint and really no way of telling without seeing him play but it would have been better thing to do is make Palmer earn it by showing he is ready after watching him at training camp and preseason. Did you see the games I'm talking about? The ones where Kitna threw interceptions on crucial drives that were COMPLETELY his fault. Or the awesome play against Cleveland where we could have put 3 on the board at the end of the half and dude takes a sack after scrambling around for no reason when he should have thrown it out of the end zone?

 

Kitna's not the only reason we went 1-4, but he's not the only reason we won 8 games either. We're not talking about an all-pro quarterback here.

 

You need to understand something here and this is a serious comparison, Jon Kitna is the Jay Fiedler of the Bengals. Seriously. He's good enough to win, but he still makes boneheaded plays and he's not going to take us as far as we want to go.

 

So, if the Dolphins had Carson Palmer, would you want Jay Fiedler starting this year? Every QB makes bone head plays .... :confused

 

Kitna made a strong argument at one point of the season for MVP votes.I'm sorry but your opinion on Kitna is wrong.

I guess we'll see this season who should be starting. It doesn't matter to me, I paid for season tickets to see Carson, not Kitna. Cincinnati fans want Carson and not Kitna. I don't blame them.

 

And anyone who says this is a Brown move rather than a Lewis move hasn't been following this team...