Zac Taylor vs Marvin Lewis

[BengalChris]

(12-22-2021, 08:41 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: So one of the biggest reasons people gave for defending Marv through the years was that Marv was great at building rosters. Seeing how this team is loaded with talent and pretty much every player we've picked up (be it draft or free agency) has been a home run, do we attribute that to Zac and the current staff?

Or do we credit Tobin for rebuilding this team for a 3rd time (2001-2003, 2010-2013, 2019-2021)?

I ask because if Zac had a major role in shaping this roster, he has a much stronger case for another year, even if we go 0-3 down the stretch. If you think it was mainly Tobin, and the talented roster pretty much carried Zac to where we're at, I'd say the last 3 games should weigh heavily on whether we continue on with Zac.

Thoughts?

I haven't read through the entire thread, but here's my take.

1. The drafts have been fairly even in quality. Marvin had many excellent selections at basically every position with the exception of maybe center.


2. Free agency funds are dictated by the the front office and there's been a big change in this area.

However I really don't see how Zac has performed all that well when compared given the difference of money spent. He's spent A LOT more money on A LOT more players and has had mixed results. Three year deals to Miller, Brown, Hart and Webb were all signings that ended up released before completing their deals. Brown, Miller and Webb didn't make it to their 2nd year.

Then you add in Trae Waynes' $42M deal. I'm sorry, but Mike Brown would have never tolerated that kind of waisted money. The Waynes' waste alone would have prevented the signing of another significant outside free agent for 10 years if it had been done back in 2005.

For Marvin the front office signed a number guys who were near the end (LB Karlos Dansby, LB AJ Hawk, OT Newhouse, OT Winston, LB James Harrison). Marvin also got to sign 1st round busts as reclamation projects which gave us Reggie Nelson (trade), Adam Jones, Terence Newman, Cedric Benson. These guys were all excellent value but were done on a shoestring budget. I don't see that Zac could have done anything with reclamation projects.

Here's an interesting article covering the top outside free agents in the Marvin Lewis era. https://www.cincyjungle.com/2017/4/3/15150488/top-10-bengals-free-agents-during-marvin-lewis-era Mike Nugent is listed as the #10 best free agent, which has to tell you something as the list covers 16 years worth of free agent signings. That just shows how Froogle the front office was. Chris Crocker also made the list.

I haven't looked up the contracts, but I'm guess that the amount of money spent on outside free agents in the last 3 years is much more than they'd spent for Marvin's teams over many, many years.


3. Let's talk record, the most important thing really. Marvin took over a 2 win team and turned it into an 8 win team and after 3 seasons had a 27-21 record. Marvin Lewis' 3rd season was 11-5 with a playoff birth, the first Bengals winning season and playoff appearance since Mike Brown inherited the team and named himself GM. That was historic!

Taylor took over a 6 win team and turned it into a 2 win team and after 3 years has a 15-31-1 record with 2 games left this season. Even if the Bengals do make the playoffs, it won't be historic unless they win some playoff games.

Zac hasn't been all bad. The team will end this season with a winning record, first one since 2015.

The defense, for the money spent, has been underachieving. Let's face it, this team bought itself a defense and it's an expensive defense with above average results overall but far from top flight.

I believe Mike Brown sees his days nearing an end and he wants to go out a winner and this is the reason for the changes in spending that we've seen. Has nothing to do with Taylor other than Taylor is seen as the guy Mike Brown wants to get it done for him.

I wasn't happy with Marvin the last couple of years. I don't see that Zac is any better even though the team is spending a lot more to field a better team.