08-03-2015, 05:43 PM
(08-03-2015, 05:13 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: If he were as great a coach as some think, he should've been able to work through some adversity and develop some guys who weren't top picks. It's not like the cupboard was bare, especially in recent years. From 2011-13, the team finished 27th, 20th and 28th in yards per carry.
They've been solid in pass protection with the exception of 2012, when coaches were pressuring Dalton to hold the ball longer and make more "unscripted plays". That resulted in 46 sacks for the year, which makes you wonder if the quick snap-to-throw times really do reduce the sacks and pressures.
I think most o-line coaches could "rebuild" a line with a pair of 1st round picks, a 2nd rounder, and multiple mid-round choices. Even with all that top talent, they've struggled running the ball with the exception of last year. I agree with you about other coaches (Hayes, Zampese) being more worthy of criticism, but there's plenty of arguments to be made against Paul despite last year's success.
He's a good coach. Sure he could find a few good guys who weren't top picks but he isn't going to find 5 at the same time. Almost a statistical impossibility.
Who were the RBs? That played a factor in 11-13 as well as Gruden wanting to work without a FB while having an OL that wasn't built to block 2nd level like they were asked.
So what did they do? Andre and Whit slimmed down a bit. Transformed themselves as blockers.
