Quote:I think Carr got sacked 21 times total when Olsen was there.   I remember hearing that one of the reasons we hired Olsen was because he was great at teaching young QBs how to get into the right protections, how to read pressure pre-snap, and how to get the ball out on time.   So isn't it entirely possible that Olsen might deserve a lot more credit for the reduction in sacks than Marrone?  

 

I'm sure Marrone is a decent coach, but there are a lot of decent coaches out there.  Marrone leaving doesn't worry me one bit.   We might lose our offensive line coach.   People act like we're losing Vince Lombardi or something. 

To answer your opening question, of course it's entirely possible Olson might deserve more credit than Marrone.  But I won't say Marrone deserves NO credit, either.  I'd say there are several factors accounting for the drop in sacks.  In no particular order

 

1.  Olson-as you illustrate, getting Bortles better equipped to identify blitzes, fronts, etc., is huge

 

2.  Marrone-last season, because George Yarno had the misfortune of having a cancer diagnosis, an inexperienced OL coach in Luke Butkus took over.  I'm sure his inexperience had to play a role in the poor performance of the OL.  Marrone is more experienced.

 

3.  Better talent in the line-Parnell is an upgrade at RT.  Wiz-bad shotgun snaps and all-was an upgrade over Bowanko.  Cann played pretty decently in Linder's place...Joeckel, while inconsistent, still had the benefit of an offseason, and had his best year.

 

4.  Bortles-in addition to Olson's coaching, just having another year's experience under his belt helped.

 

5.  AR15, Hurns, and Julius Thomas-having guys that can get open and catch the ball helps a QB avoid sacks.

 

6.  Yeldon-a very good pass protector for a rookie RB.

 

7.  Playing with more leads.

 

I don't compare Marrone to Lombardi, but I think he has been a positive factor in the drop in sacks.

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