06-25-2024, 10:39 PM
(06-25-2024, 07:25 PM)Lucius Cincinnatus Wrote: Thanks for sharing. So Burrow has played 4 years. In 3/4 years, he was in a shotgun heavy offense, 2 of those seasons being the most recent. With no public comments or reports about incorporating under center, folks are essentially using 1-2 games, games in which Burrow was still well above the average in shotgun snaps (83%), and games a backup played, to come to a conclusion that the O-line will be better because we will be in shotgun less.
Technically, we probably will be in shotgun a bit less than last year given the injury, but nothing shows me that it will be different from our general approach under Taylor.
I posted a link earlier in the thread from a credible reporter at Bengals mini-camp discussing how the Bengals intend to go more under center. It isn't a direct quote from a coach, though, so I assume you're not going to put much weight into it. I think it is possible they change it up because they entered the 2022 season with a heavier UC split but moved away from it when they stopped running OZ. It seems to me they wanted a continuation and evolution of the 2021 offense, but the run game was so bad they had to make a more drastic in-season shift. In 2023, it's hard to say what they wanted to do due to Burrow's injury.
In short, what will determine their usage of each depth will be what kind of rush offense they want to implement. Both depths are completely fine and I am not advocating for either one of them specifically, but being under center does provide some more flexibility for your run game and some extra options that I would like the Bengals to utilize.
