I'm truly tired of hearing the fix the offensive line crowd!

[Whatever]

(01-28-2024, 10:03 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: It does make me question how “bad” Pollack actually is. I know that may be a controversial opinion. The offense that Cincinnati runs is tough on offensive linemen, constantly asking them to block on an island with how often they send five out into routes. None of the linemen are very good athletes which you can work with better on the interior but a guy like Orlando Brown gets exposed on the edge by himself.

Pollack is a wide zone guy. He wants good athletes, and I’m sure he has had input on the draft and FA but he hasn’t received the good athletes he covets which is why Cincinnati has switched to gap primarily. When I watch back games during the off-season, I am often seeing the running backs leaving yardage on the field. Not fast enough to turn the corner, not breaking tackles. That doesn’t mean the offensive line is always playing it perfectly, but I point to the RBs more than the line.

Pollack may end up being fired and I won’t complain about that but I also think with the offensive philosophy Cincinnati has, and RB room, I don’t see the results getting much better with a different coach. I think Burrow is consistently going to be towards the top on sacks taken and pressure due to both his play style and the offense built for him.

The issue I have with this is that the Bengals coaches also do a good amount of scouting.  As the OL coach, it's his job to scout and recommend guys that fit his scheme and the offense.  For example, I remember an interview he did where he said that Tobin asked him to look at and see if he could use Orlando Brown Jr. and he was enthusiastically all for it.  

Wide zone heavy schemes require good athletes, but everything out of the guy's mouth is "glass eaters".  I wonder if he's prioritizing that "glass eater" trait(whatever that means) over the athletic tools he needs to run his preferred scheme in evaluations.  

However, the quickest, easiest run game fix is addressing the RB position.  Our backs leave so much yardage on the field it's not even funny, especially since they constantly face light boxes as teams sit back in 2 deep zone with their S's all game.  Getting a legit RB threat that can actually make teams pay for sitting light in the box would do a lot of good for this offense as it gradually moves towards getting better athletes as contracts expire.