Things Zac Taylor knew

[CJD]

(11-23-2020, 12:35 PM)wildcatnku24 Wrote: Hard to disagree with your first paragraph, so I won't.  

But as to the rest, I have to say there's two sides to even that coin as well.  We don't know how much of Burrow's success was due to Zac unleashing him, per se.  The one thing you don't wanna do is limit progress, just like you said as far as wanting to see Burrow progress.  For all we know, Burrow told Zac that he wants to grow up quick, learn quick, make mistakes quick and bounce back from them.  If we only passed 20 times a game, something tells me that takes much longer.  

Also,I would be willing to bet that Burrow has been responsible for his number of passes more than even Zac, given that Burrow changes plays at the line based on looks.  And for all we know, perhaps Zac wasn't crazy about Burrow always passing all the time, but the fact of the matter is when you're playing from behind, you pass more.  And when you have a true passer in Burrow, you likely pass more as well.  

There's no magic number for how many attempts will make a player safe vs unsafe. There is also no magic number that progresses development vs hindering it. The key, at least to me, is at what point is the risk outweighing the progress. I think Zac played jump rope with that line all season and, as we saw, it ended up biting him in the ass.

You make a good point about Joe wanting to pass more. I think he's a winner and he's got a winner's mentality. I think continuing to lose, often due to the defense (which he would never say, but it's true) really drove him crazy, so I wouldn't discount the possibility that he was demanding the ball 40 to 50 times a game because he felt like he was the team's only chance to win.

But I think people like that, especially young men like that, do need to be reigned in a little bit. It's a fine line between being relentless and being reckless. I think it's the coaches' job to walk that fine line. And if Burrow was dictating this more so than Zac, then I would say that's another strike on Zac for not really controlling (that's a negative connotation word, but let's say "directing") his players appropriately. There were articles written every week about how it was only a matter of time before Burrow, throwing 40 to 50 times a game, was going to get in some trouble behind this oline. But every interview, Joe said it was his idea. I respect that, I truly do. But part of being a coach is protecting your players, even if they don't want you to. 

Besides, if Burrow was directing the play calling to that extent, what do we even need ZT for?