An Alternative Look at 2019

[*ochocincos*]

(01-01-2020, 04:56 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: With no coaching changes in the works, I have a new theory on what the 2019 Cincinnati Bengals were all about:

Evaluation.

In hindsight it looks to me like Zac Taylor and his coaching staff treated the entirety of the regular season as a sixteen game extended training camp.  During the season Bengals went through several iterations of offensive line personnel, tried out two quarterbacks, and ran several defensive schemes.  This isn’t quite the same as “tanking” but it falls short of the “You play to win the game!” quote made famous by Herman Edwards.  In this case it appears to be “You play to evaluate your current roster.”

If indeed that was the case then I’m fine bringing back Zac Taylor and Lou Anarumo although it might be better served to hire some better position coaches.  Also, the evaluation has to be run with significant statistics and appropriate metrics.  I’m talking detailed!  I want to know Joe Mixon’s success running through the left side A-gap against both 3-4 and 4-3 defenses, etc.

What I don’t know is how good Zac is at evaluating talent.  That’s going to take another season to find out but we may get some indication when we see how Zac handles his second draft and free agency.  Does he have the cojones to tell Mikey Boy who to draft, who to trade, and who to seek via free agency?

The Bengals would never come out and say it was a season of evaluation but it sure seems that way.
It felt like a wasted season honestly. I had never been so uninterested in football since before Marvin Lewis took over.
Hopefully the FO learned that the problem was not solely on the coaching staff now and will attempt to make bigger/moves player-wise than they did last year.
We'll see.