09-11-2023, 12:30 PM
I have the same opinion of preseason prep. To be fair, though, there are always individual factors large and small that contribute to how they approach practices and games in August. Burrow looked ready to go full bore when camp began. He was in better shape than we've ever seen him and reportedly looked next-level in practices until the calf put him on the sidelines.
Taylor takes heat, and yes I'm one who's given it to him, but it's probably not quite that simple. If Burrow remained healthy, would the preseason have been so lackluster? Might he have played a series in the preseason? Probably not, but no idea. He absolutely would have done a lot more work with the first team offense and presumably would not have had the embarrassing performance we saw yesterday.
The offensive line is another issue. Major changes have taken place in personnel for the last two years, yet next to no live reps are given in preseason games. I'm so down on Pollack's approach that I'm not sure whether to blame it on his ineptitude or lack of continuity/familiarity. It's becoming a thing. Two and three years ago, the personnel was laughable and everyone knew it. The team just needed to get some plug and play guys in FA to improve the overall quality of personnel.
Fast forward to early last season and today, and this team has multiple high end signings along the line. This isn't a bunch of draft picks that need development and seasoning. It's not dealing with the unknown of guys coming from pass-happy pop-gun college offenses playing trash defenses for half the games of the season being thrust into the league to get destroyed by grown man d-linemen. Karras, Cappa, Brown, Collins (when healthy), even Jonah; these guys have been around and established. Almost all of them have been on teams through deep playoff runs and long seasons. Almost every starter has played in a Super Bowl and 3/5 of them have won one.
Guys with this kind of league experience shouldn't be that difficult to coach into a viable line. Still, both this year and last, they come out flat. I have no doubt that this group will eventually be just fine. I just feel like we can safely say that the talent is no longer the problem. If they stay healthy, this line should be able to allow the offense to run as expected. When it doesn't, the blame falls on the coaching. Idk how entrenched Frank Pollack is with the organization, but replacing him is the next logical step.
Taylor takes heat, and yes I'm one who's given it to him, but it's probably not quite that simple. If Burrow remained healthy, would the preseason have been so lackluster? Might he have played a series in the preseason? Probably not, but no idea. He absolutely would have done a lot more work with the first team offense and presumably would not have had the embarrassing performance we saw yesterday.
The offensive line is another issue. Major changes have taken place in personnel for the last two years, yet next to no live reps are given in preseason games. I'm so down on Pollack's approach that I'm not sure whether to blame it on his ineptitude or lack of continuity/familiarity. It's becoming a thing. Two and three years ago, the personnel was laughable and everyone knew it. The team just needed to get some plug and play guys in FA to improve the overall quality of personnel.
Fast forward to early last season and today, and this team has multiple high end signings along the line. This isn't a bunch of draft picks that need development and seasoning. It's not dealing with the unknown of guys coming from pass-happy pop-gun college offenses playing trash defenses for half the games of the season being thrust into the league to get destroyed by grown man d-linemen. Karras, Cappa, Brown, Collins (when healthy), even Jonah; these guys have been around and established. Almost all of them have been on teams through deep playoff runs and long seasons. Almost every starter has played in a Super Bowl and 3/5 of them have won one.
Guys with this kind of league experience shouldn't be that difficult to coach into a viable line. Still, both this year and last, they come out flat. I have no doubt that this group will eventually be just fine. I just feel like we can safely say that the talent is no longer the problem. If they stay healthy, this line should be able to allow the offense to run as expected. When it doesn't, the blame falls on the coaching. Idk how entrenched Frank Pollack is with the organization, but replacing him is the next logical step.
