PFF ranks Zac Taylor #22 of 26 NFL head coaches

[fredtoast]

It is all based on math, Tries to measure the talent on the roter then give the coach credit (or blame) for winning more (or less) with an "average" roster. The 6 new coaches for 2022 are not ranked so only 26 total.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-head-coach-rankings-2022-bill-belichick-andy-reid-john-harbaugh

22. ZAC TAYLOR, CINCINNATI BENGALS (8.4 – 8.6 RECORD WITH AVERAGE ROSTER)

Offensive Rank: 21/26 (+7 points scored a season)
Defensive Rank: 24/26 (+13 points allowed a season)

By the data, it is difficult to call Taylor’s regime in Cincinnati a success despite his postseason resume. The estimate suggests that Taylor is riding off the high of the tremendous amount of talent the Bengals have amassed in recent years.

[fredtoast]

Zac is a bit over rated by some Bengal fans, but he is a lot better than 22 out of 26.

[*bengalfan74*]

Lets see what happens this season ?

[Rubekahn29]

If he can prove last season was not a fluke and finish with another post season berth, I’ll believe in him. I’m content with him now, but still not sure of him. Being content with him is good enough at this point.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

I am fine with Zac as a HC, I do wonder if we'd be better off with a real OC who would take over play calling. I guess we'll see this season what happens with the offense. There's no more room for excuses with some OL talent being brought in to go with Joe Burrow, the best WR trio in the NFL, and Joe Mixon (who also has no more room for excuses to not improve YPC).

I also am pretty sure that the Bengals D is being held back by Anarumo. He got a lot of love because of a good postseason run, but all that FA $ bringing in all that talent over the last couple years shouldn't lead to a below average defense like they had in 2021.

Need to win now while you can still afford all the talent. 3 year window where Burrow and Chase won't be combining for somewhere around $100m/yr in cap hits.

[NATI BENGALS]

What is left from when he took the team over? It was a bad team getting good at losing. He had his say in personnel decisions and helped build the roster. Churned basically the entire roster.

Getting this team to the super bowl in year three then being ranked 22 out of 26 is a slap in the face imo

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(06-07-2022, 05:53 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: What is left from when he took the team over? It was a bad team getting good at losing. He had his say in personnel decisions and helped build the roster. Churned basically the entire roster.

Getting this team to the super bowl in year three then being ranked 22 out of 26 is a slap in the face imo

Do the Bengals make it to the Super Bowl if they have Derek Carr and Hollywood Brown instead of Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase? Do they even make the playoffs? They only beat the Steelers for division lead by 0.5 games and they had the bloated corpse of Ben Roethlisberger.

This is a ranking of the coach attempting to separate them from the talent of the roster. I am not sure 22 out of 26 is dead on, but it's probably not far off, it's certainly not slap-in-the-face territory.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

I think I'd have him around 16 to 14....and climbing if he proves last year wasn't a fluke. As for the defense, it went from breaking records in futility to mid pack in one year. I also saw a lot of nice adjustments during games from that unit. More so than the offense, if I'm being honest.

[*bengalfan74*]

(06-07-2022, 08:21 PM)Wyche Wrote: I think I'd have him around 16 to 14....and climbing if he proves last year wasn't a fluke. As for the defense, it went from breaking records in futility to mid pack in one year. I also saw a lot of nice adjustments during games from that unit. More so than the offense, if I'm being honest.

Right

I believe the Bengal bias has him a bit low. However he has to prove it with another strong season.

[ezekiel23]

Zac Taylor obviously isn’t one of the top ranked coaches in the league,we know that.But hey,they made it all the way to the Super Bowl,and that’s a phenomenal accomplishment in itself.Zac may not get much credit for them getting to the Super Bowl,but he didn’t do anything to keep them from getting there either.He obviously wasn’t Head Coach material when he first came here.But,he is improving,and he’s a dedicated hard worker,and that’s about all you can ask for.I think he’ll continue to improve because he’s dedicated to his job.

[EatonFan]

I'd take a lot of coaches over Zac. Give me Frank Reich right now.

[BengalRed]

More bulletin board material. Bring it on.

[sandwedge]

(06-07-2022, 10:03 PM)ezekiel23 Wrote: Zac Taylor obviously isn’t one of the top ranked coaches in the league,we know that.But hey,they made it all the way to the Super Bowl,and that’s a phenomenal accomplishment in itself.Zac may not get much credit for them getting to the Super Bowl,but he didn’t do anything to keep them from getting there either.He obviously wasn’t Head Coach material when he first came here.But,he is improving,and he’s a dedicated hard worker,and that’s about all you can ask for.I think he’ll continue to improve because he’s dedicated to his job.

Very spot on! 

[Soonerpeace]

Judging Zac on the first 2 years is just as unreliable as his third. But this year should give us a much better gauge. I wouldn’t bet against him. The Brown’s are very conservative and to double his salary plus another 5 years means they are sold. What they did from December on can’t be debated.

[*Synric*]

Seeing the schemes and the coaches tendencies Im alot more worried about the offense than defense.

People hate on Captain Lou because they can google rankings but if understand the multiple defenses he runs especially on the back end you would feel more comfortable. The offense on the other hand whlie "ranks higher" is alot more up in the air even with the talent they have.... Are they a spread offense that Joey B likes with his passing game? or are they a compact wide zone stretch team?

[Whatever]

(06-07-2022, 05:12 PM)fredtoast Wrote: It is all based on math,  Tries to measure the talent on the roter then give the coach credit (or blame) for winning more (or less) with an "average" roster.  The 6 new coaches for 2022 are not ranked so only 26 total.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-head-coach-rankings-2022-bill-belichick-andy-reid-john-harbaugh

22. ZAC TAYLOR, CINCINNATI BENGALS (8.4 – 8.6 RECORD WITH AVERAGE ROSTER)

Offensive Rank: 21/26 (+7 points scored a season)
Defensive Rank: 24/26 (+13 points allowed a season)

By the data, it is difficult to call Taylor’s regime in Cincinnati a success despite his postseason resume. The estimate suggests that Taylor is riding off the high of the tremendous amount of talent the Bengals have amassed in recent years.

It's a pretty strange methodology.  Starter salary isn't exactly a great way to determine roster quality in a salary cap league where most teams are spending close to the cap.  It also fails to properly take injuries into account.  They say starter salary is based on the player who took the majority of the snaps at a position.  So, if the starting QB misses 8 games his salary still counts in full towards the formula.  It also fails to take into account important things like Challenges, penalties, ability to develop players, and his influence on the roster.  They also don't factor in things like strength of schedule.

It's even stranger that the .500 point for a HC in this study is 21st out of 26.  Todd Bowles is rated at 8.5-8.5, meaning he should get exactly the right amount wins out of talent.  If it was that easy to find a decent coach, there wouldn't be so many coaching openings every year.

[*bfine32*]

That is some stupid shit. The coach that took a team picked to pick last in their division to with 5 seconds of winning the Superbowl is 22 of 26?

I suppose he would have bumped up to the teens if we'd won the Superbowl...

[Daddy-O]

(06-07-2022, 11:10 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote: Judging Zac on the first 2 years is just as unreliable as his third. But this year should give us a much better gauge. I wouldn’t bet against him. The Brown’s are very conservative and to double his salary plus another 5 years means they are sold. What they did from December on can’t be debated.

I'd take this ranking with a grain of salt.  It's true ZT benefited from some very talented players, but he is also still learning as a young head coach. 

He's admittedly made many mistakes through his the first 3 years.  If he learns from those mistakes and gets better each year the Bengals too will benefit.

The Bengals organization is patient and they are banking on his continued growth.

[XenoMorph]

Had to Anoint him Higher when we saw his first 2 years... You cant just write those off and only look at 2021.... 2022 and forward will help clear the picture up

[Bengalfan4life27c]

He manages the game better than Marvin though some of the 4th down decisions are irritating. Week1 and the SB are 2 I disagree with. He managed the Chief game in the regular season perfect we won that game because of him.