08-07-2016, 05:58 PM
With the exception of losing Nelson, I think the defense is the biggest reason to be at least as confident as last year. Unfortunately, I think the reasons to be less confident outweigh the positives.
I agree with Wes that the hiring of Zampese was "lazy". Like it or not, there is a reason the guy was in the NFL for 18 years before getting a coordinator position. There is a reason that the Bengals passed him over not once, but twice. A big part of being the coordinator is knowing what to call and when to call it. It's not all about just keeping the same system that Hue ran. Andy lost his number two and three wide receivers. That hurts... he is not going to have the same chemistry with the new people as he had with Jones and Sanu. Add in the Eifert injury and the fact that the guy does not seem to heal very quickly and I think there are a lot of reason to be concerned about the offense, especially at the start of the year.
There are a lot of new players and coaches on this team. Only time will tell how well everything "gels".
I agree with Wes that the hiring of Zampese was "lazy". Like it or not, there is a reason the guy was in the NFL for 18 years before getting a coordinator position. There is a reason that the Bengals passed him over not once, but twice. A big part of being the coordinator is knowing what to call and when to call it. It's not all about just keeping the same system that Hue ran. Andy lost his number two and three wide receivers. That hurts... he is not going to have the same chemistry with the new people as he had with Jones and Sanu. Add in the Eifert injury and the fact that the guy does not seem to heal very quickly and I think there are a lot of reason to be concerned about the offense, especially at the start of the year.
There are a lot of new players and coaches on this team. Only time will tell how well everything "gels".
