Is it all ZT?

[THE PISTONS]

(12-12-2020, 04:56 PM)Geno_Can_Dunk Wrote: I'm mostly talking about those three guys plus Shawn Williams, but the point is that they're the cap space hogs. So minus them you're looking at a lot of players who haven't yet earned big second contracts. The number of them is less important their cap hits. 

We did NOT bring in 8 new starters who stayed healthy. Let's count them. Josh Bynes. Vonn Bell. Ok, I'm done. You might say Mackenzie Alexander, but he's in in and out of the lineup. Even if I grant him it's 3. If you're talking about rookies, well all of our opponents have a rookie class too. And the point is a competitive roster doesn't have to rely on rookies to contribute right away. That fact that we had to stick our rookies in there reflects the dire state of the roster, not how much talent we've added to it. 

Sure Geno and AJ are in their early 30s, but some guys hit the wall at that age. You never know when it'll happen. I'll be shocked if they go on to other clubs and return to their old forms. If there was any way to prove it i'd wager that AJ being moved down the pecking order after week 2 had more to do with those GPS speed tracking thingies they wear in practice. Didn't have that data in camp because of his hammy. Two weeks into the season we had enough data to say he's lost a step. Then they make Tee the #1 (along w/ Boyd). 

Dunlap is complicated. Suffice it to say, he loafed so much he could've started a bakery. What would you have said if we kept in a veteran who was clearly loafing during a losing streak? Everybody would've said the coaches won't play young players in deference to vets even if they loaf. So they benched him to light a fire under his ass, and he moped about it and forced a trade. That is the *opposite* of responding to adversity that they preach all the time. Maybe the trade lit a fire under his ass. Maybe he plays harder for Seattle because they're winning (some players may not put it all on the line for a losing team because then losing hurts worse). Or maybe, as I suspect, he was "the man" under Marvin, and when the coaches told him hey, we're changing the defense and you need to play a new role, he just didn't like not being the man anymore. He quit on us. I mean Carl Lawson is having a career year, so how is it the coaches? You can lead a horse to water but you can't always make them drink. 

Burrow is new from last year. Jonah. Green. Higgins. Spain.

Then, Bynes, Alexander, Bell. That's 8! Only 22 starters. And I'm not even counting guys like Reader that played some.

Reader played and didnt really make a difference.

Lawaons career year...you credit the coaches? He has 4.5 sacks and we have the worst pass rush in the NFL. Way to go coaches!

It's amazing how the 2-3 Zac fanboys spin things!