The Cincinnati Bengals took another significant step back this past season. They fell well short of the postseason for the second straight year, which marked the first time that has occurred in a decade. Much of these struggles on the field have stemmed from inconsistent play under center from former Pro Bowl quarterback Andy Dalton.

This has led to some shuffling in the organization to help breakthrough that trend that included the hiring of a new quarterbacks coach in Alex Van Pelt, who had previously held the position with the Green Bay Packers. During a recent interview with Bengals.com, Van Pelt voiced that he believes Dalton has the ability to perform like an elite quarterback in the NFL. (h/t Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk)

“I got a chance to come in and watch all the tape from the last two years,” Van Pelt said. “I wasn’t quite as in tune with Andy as I was when he came out in the draft. Obviously I evaluated him then and had a high opinion of him then. See the same exact things on tape. I think he’s a very, very good quarterback and a playoff caliber quarterback. He does a lot of really, really good things. The more tape I watched, the more excited I got. I think this guy has potential to be an elite player in the league. It’s our job to challenge him to get to that next level.”

Despite these recent struggles, Dalton has established himself as a proven quarterback in the league that has some sustained success with straight playoff appearances to start his career. However, he hasn't taken the next step toward being the game-changing player at his position that can be regarded as being one of the best under center.

Andy Dalton
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Instead, he has become stagnant over the last two years, which has led to his job security coming into question. The 30-year-old showed he can be the leading factor for a playoff team in the past, but that is no longer a certainty at this point after two straight nine-loss seasons. Through his first seven seasons, he has thrown for more than 4,000 yards twice and notched more than 30 touchdown passes once.

The Bengals are hoping that addition of Van Pelt, who has had the privilege to work directly with Aaron Rodgers over the last few season, can help Dalton find a breakthrough in the 2018 campaign.