10-13-2020, 02:11 PM
(10-13-2020, 12:59 PM)Fullrock Wrote: Those of you that are in the "fire Zac" camp, I'm wondering, exactly what your expectations have been in a season and 5 games?
In terms of the offensive line, the man inherited a team that had John Jerry and Andre Smith playing LT last year. Cordy Glenn (who he did not trade for) turned out to be a turd who just really didn't want to play football. Clint Boling decided for health reasons to retire. Jonah Williams got injured. First round pick Billy Price (who he did not draft) is a complete bust. They sign XSF who has played all of one game.
He inherited a team with one starting caliber WR in Tyler Boyd. First round pick John Ross is a complete bust. We all know the story with AJ.
He inherited a team with the worst LB corps in the NFL, and it wasn't even close.
They go out and spend the most they have ever spent in free agency. Trae Waynes has yet to play a snap. Mackensie Alexander is out. XSF is out. Now Reader is out for the season as Geno finally is able to play. And speaking of the defensive line, which should have been an absolute strength on this team, aside from Reader now being out and Geno being injured, Tupou opted out of the season, Glasgow failed his physical and was released, and Mike Daniels has been placed on IR.
Let's not forget, this season he has a rookie QB, and yes Joe Burrow is going to be great, but the fact of the matter is it takes some time to learn how to play QB in the NFL, to adjust to the speed of the game, and to develop that internal clock in your head where you know you have to get rid of the football. Yes, the O-line is not good, but some of the hits and sacks Joe has taken are directly attributed to himself. He's a rookie, and that was never more apparent than it was Sunday.
Look I know the mantra in the NFL is next man up. Every team suffers injuries, and the good teams figure out how to overcome them. The fact of the matter is this team has zero depth behind their starters. What Zac inherited last year was a pile of shit. Those of you who expected this team to make the playoffs this year were kidding yourselves, and that's if they stayed relatively healthy. Given that they haven't, temper your expectations.
I remember much of the media at the time he was hired saying considering everything Bengals was a pretty good spot for such an inexperienced HC.
-Low expectations
-inherited a very stable locker room and culture from Marv
- got to pick pretty much his entire staff (simmons excluded)
- as an offensive coach he had Andy Dalton / Mixon / Green (injured admittedly).
Even when they had such a putrid year in 2019 he managed to get a #1 pick when there was a consensus franchise QB option on the board and the FO backed him up even more by investing in FA to a level never done before.
We are very quick to throw stones at the front office but they have backed Taylor completely and currently we have 3 wins in the Taylor era to show for it and when we lose it seems to be in continually the same ways (e.g. poor pass protection, gashed in run Defense).
Is it really unrealistic to hope to see more than that?
