08-25-2019, 10:51 PM
(08-25-2019, 10:07 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: Taylor's comments made it sound like Price lost the job because of his foot injury. He stated that Hopkins was put into position and did nothing to lose it, so the job is his.
I've seen a couple comments that Price lost the job because of injury. That might be true, but not the way it sounds at first. I think the disconnect is that people see that Price appears to be physically better than Hopkins in preseason and has more upside potential. Plus he was in games, so how injured could he have been? What I suspect ZT sees is a guy (Price) who has missed a lot of reps over the past two years and therefore isn't nearly as good at recognizing defenses and making line calls as Hopkins is, YET. If Price had been healthy all spring and summer when the offense was installed, ZT might have more confidence in him; but, for now, to make sure the offense has the best chance to succeed at the beginning of his tenure he goes with the guy who will make the fewest mental mistakes. Hence, the injury (missed reps) is why he isn't starting.
I expect we will see a lot of emphasis on doing things a certain way in ZT's offense; much like the early success of the West Coast offense was only partly about the particular scheme but also about the increased attention to detail. Right now, Hopkins is better at the details than Price. That won't last forever, or even most of this year, I'd guess.
