12-12-2020, 02:38 PM
(12-12-2020, 01:31 PM)THE Bigzoman Wrote: It comes down to what you think of the roster.
If you think Green, Dunlap, our draft picks, and others are at least average, then it’s on Taylor.
I think Green has more on the tank. D coordinators still pay attention to him. Dunlaps stats in Seattle are much better than they were here. Tee Higgins is good. Etc.
I think it’s more on the coaching
I agree with your perspective in the sense that it depends on what you think of the roster.
I just disagree with what you think of the roster. I disagree about AJ and Dunlap but i'll leave that for another thread.
I look at the fact that we have guys like Xavier Williams and Christian Covington playing starter snaps on the DL. They aren't even backups on most competitive NFL defenses, let alone starters. I look at how frequently whatever starter we've had in opposite WJII has been routinely exploited. I look at the fact that our best linebackers really are rookies - I think Wilson and ADG will be studs next year, but that's next year.
I do place the blame for our comically bad OL somewhat on the coaches. At least in the sense of Turner's inability to develop Jordan, and then refusal to remove him from the lineup until now. But in general we have very few OL who would start anywhere else in the league (Jonah maybe but he's in and out of the lineup w/ injuries, and Hopkins might start for some other teams but he has taken a step backward since signing his deal). I do want Turner fired.
Yes, Tee has worked out. But that's the thing - your top outside WR is a rookie. We went into the season thinking our #1 was AJ, and tried to force feed him the ball those first two weeks. We quickly pivoted out of that stance in favor of Tee. Good move, and done quickly which was nice to see, but might it have changed some of those early games if we'd known AJ was washed up? Maybe. And now we know, hence it's a correctable error.
I think we're transitioning out of the "old core" Marvin-era guys and building a whole "new core" around Burrow, Tee, Bates, Logan Wilson, etc, and it's bound to be a painful transition. The biggest mistake we've made is trying to hold onto the old while transitioning to the new, and that is on both the coaches and front office. But it need not be a permanent error.
