Ryan Finley (born December 26, 1994) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who played two seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

and

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

and was selected by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

in the fourth round of the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

Early life

Finley attended Paradise Valley High School in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. As a senior he passed for 3,442 yards with 35

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. He committed to

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has b ...

to play

College career

After redshirting his first year at Boise State in 2013, Finley played in five games in 2014, completing 12 of 27 passes for 161 yards with two

and an

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

. He was named the starting

for Boise State his redshirt sophomore year in 2015. He played in three games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. In the three games, Finley completed 46 of 70 passes for 455 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions. After the season he transferred to

NC State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina s ...

. In his first season at NC State, he completed 243 of 402 passes (60.4%) for 3,059 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions. In Finley's redshirt junior year, he completed 312 of 479 passes (65.1%) for 3,518 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He also rushed 69 times for 194 yards and 3 touchdowns and caught 2 passes for 18 yards. He was also named to the Academic All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

team for earning a 3.889 GPA.

College statistics

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Finley was selected by the

in the fourth round (104th overall) of the

. After opening the season as the backup quarterback to Andy Dalton, Finley was named the starter on October 29, 2019. Finley made his first start in Week 10 against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

. In the game, Finley threw for 167 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the 49–13 loss. In Week 12 against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, Finley threw for 192 yards and a touchdown and lost two fumbles in the 16–10 loss. On the next day, Finley was benched for Dalton after going 0–3 in his three starts. On November 22, 2020, against the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, Finley came into the game in the third quarter after starter

Joe Burrow Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes football, O ...

left the game with a left leg injury. Finley completed 3 of 10 passes for 30 yards, an interception, and a 0.0 passer rating as the Bengals lost 20–9. The following week, Bengals coach

Zac Taylor Zachary William Taylor (born May 10, 1983) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. Beginning his NFL career as an offensive assistant, Taylor was the quarterba ...

named Brandon Allen the starting quarterback over Finley. Finley was named the starter for the Week 15 matchup against the Steelers. Finley passed for 89 yards and a touchdown, and had 47 yards rushing, including a 23 yard rushing touchdown during the 27–17 win against the heavily favored Steelers, marking Finley's first win as an NFL quarterback.

Houston Texans

On March 19, 2021, the Bengals traded Finley and a seventh-round pick to the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

for a sixth-round pick. He was waived on May 24, 2021.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Finley was born and raised in

. Both of his parents were college athletes at

St. Olaf College St. Olaf College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and th ...

; his mother, Robin, played women's tennis, and his father, Pat, played football. His younger brother,

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...

, is also currently a quarterback for the

Akron Zips The Akron Zips are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, United States. The Zips compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division I, Division I level as a memb ...

References

External links

*
Sports Reference (college)NC State Wolfpack bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finley, Ryan 1994 births Living people Players of American football from Phoenix, Arizona American football quarterbacks Boise State Broncos football players NC State Wolfpack football players Cincinnati Bengals players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen