Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Jackson to the Bengals makes too much sense.


There have been lots of rumblings lately about Hue Jackson coming back to Cincinnati to replace Bob "Couldn't out coach a pee-wee team coach" Bratkowski as the offensive coordinator for the Bengals.

To quote Lex Luthor in Superman Returns, "WRONGGGGGGGGGGGG!"

Let me give you a quick run down of why it can't happen.
  1. Bob is still under contract. Mike Brown will not pay two men to do a job that only one man is doing. I am sure that Hue is going to command more money than Bob is making now, which means Mike would be paying more than double for at least a year for Hue to come in and run this offense. We all know that would make Mike's head spin.
  2. Bob is about to coach the senior bowl with Marvin and crew. If there was really a possibility that Bob was on his way out wouldn't it make sense to do it BEFORE a major scouting trip? If Bob is really on the chopping block why would you have him evaluate players and talent at a place where there are a projected 11-15 first rounders? Why have him coaching kids on the basics of an offense that Bob might not be around to implement?
  3. I hate to say this, but the poor offense this year might not be Bob's fault. Now before anyone grabs torches and pitchforks and heads to my house, hear me out. In 2005 we witnessed one of the greatest offenses in Bengals history and it was with Bob at the helm. Now lets look at what we have lost since then; Rich Brahm, the anchor of that offensive line, Eric Steinbach, an athletic guard that allowed us to pull, Willie Anderson, the only real pro bowl lineman we have had in 10 years, Rudi Johnson, when healthy was a great bell cow that could run inside the tackles as good as anyone, Jermi Johnson, fullback that was able to pick up the blitz and block those linebackers. Also, lets not forget that Levi Jones who was a pro bowl alternate that year is a shell of himself and looks like he is on roller skates on the field. That is allot right? Mike and Marvin (more Mike) are in charge of bringing in personnel to fill those gaps and Stacy Andrews, Dan Coats, Eric Ghuicuc, Chris Perry/Kenny Watson/Kenny Irons have all been pretty bad for whatever reason. Let's say for a second that I was in charge of building a house. Now instead of hiring Bob Villa and crew, my boss decides to hire the cast from "The Hills." Why would he do that you ask, well the cast from "The Hills" look good and are cheaper, exactly the philosophy that Mike Brown subscribes to.
Can Bob steer this offense back to the form it was in 2005? I kind of doubt it, at least not this year. Carson has to prove to be healthy, TJ HAS to be brought back, Chad has to remember that he is Chad Johnson, they need to sign a veteran GOOD center and probably draft one as well, they need to draft a blue chip left tackle, and they will need to draft a blocking fullback. But that is all in the hands of Mike, Marvin and a very little scouting department.

My opinion is that Offensive coordinators are like priests, they should never stay in one place too long. While this might not really be Bob's fault he has become a little predictable and stale and if he will not change his philosophy then perhaps it is time to move on? I would love to see Hue here, I would love to see if he can get some more miles out of Chad and TJ, but for the reasons I listed above it will NOT happen, sorry Bengals fans.

2 comments:

Hoopes said...

I have to love the comparison of The Hills cast to Bob Villa... Either way, no work would get done, we all know construction workers don't do crap... None the less, great to see you on the writing block again...

George Herron said...

Thank you sir, and thank you for reading, pass it on!