I don’t see very much reason for optimism over the rest of the year. The offensive line being so bad is problematic not only for pass protection, but also because it undermines the threat of playaction — particularly with such an underwhelming stable of RBs.
So Tua is coming back to a likely 1-4 team, with some winnable games in front of him. But I can’t imagine he’ll be operating at peak confidence, and he’s going to get blitzed into the ground. Probably realizes that he’s playing to keep ahold of his job next season too, fair or not.
Unfortunately, I have little faith the rest of this year that they can beat anyone but the bottom of the barrel.
The offense is one of, if not, the worst in the league by almost every metric. This falls on everyone.
Grier for his talent evaluation and selecting what looks like a terrible core of offensive linemen. Grier again for passing on every running back in the draft and trying to be the smartest guy in the room by going with and undersized RB as your workhorse and supplementing him with retreaded veterans.
The 2020 draft looks like a colossal mistake. I still think Tua has the ability to be a good starter in this league, but there is no denying Herbert looks like a better pro than he ever looked at Oregon, and looks to be either the best or second best QB in that draft, depending on how you view Burrow. Jackson is an abject failure, and Noah Igbinoghene has been a healthy scratch for 3 of the first 4 weeks this year.
In my opinion, Grier should lose his job over this. He was given a clean slate the likes of which have rarely been seen in the NFL and was given near unlimited resources in terms of cap and draft capital, and this team has taken a large step backwards.
Flores isn’t absolved of blame. This team is built in his image, the way he wanted it to be. He has input on personnel. He has yet to make a good hire on the offensive side of the ball. That being said, I think he’s a good coach, the team has played hard for him, and they have won games they had no business winning the last two years.
I’m not sure where this leaves them as a franchise. If you can Grier, do you keep Flores, or do you go full clean slate and reevaluate the entire roster?