Bill Lazor returns as offensive coordinator on two-year deal
Despite owning the 32nd-ranked offense in 2017, the Bengals have retained offensive coordinator Bill Lazor on a two-year deal.
One day after Marvin Lewis was awarded a controversial two-year extension, the Bengals answered one question surrounding their assistant coaches.
Bill Lazor was retained as offensive coordinator on a two-year deal. The move was announced on Wednesday during a joint press conference between Lewis and Lazor.
Lazor spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator in Miami before joining the Bengals in Jan. 2016. He was quarterbacks coach in 2016 before taking over as offensive coordinator when Ken Zampese was relieved of his duties early last season.
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Zampese, one of the original coaches on Lewis’ 2003 staff, failed to get the Bengals offense into the end zone through the first two weeks of this season.
The change
Under Lazor, Cincinnati’s offense was a bit better. In 14 games, the unit averaged 18.6 points per contest. But the inability to feature Joe Mixon at times and second-half woes led Cincinnati to the 32nd ranked offense (280.5 ypg) for the year.
"“Certainly there are things I would’ve done differently,” Lazor said in the press conference. “But now I think where we can go forward and we can start in the beginning with building it the way we think takes full advantage of the talent that we have.”"
Although the Bengals finished as the last-ranked offense in the NFL, it’s hard to avoid what Lazor was dealt when he took over the job after a 13-9 loss to Houston. Zampese was the OC for the entire offseason, and everything was run through his eyes. Now, Lazor gets a full offseason to shift the offense to his way of running it.
Bill’s need for speed
Perhaps the biggest question for Lazor is how John Ross will be involved. The first-round pick did not record a single catch during his rookie season and fumbled his only touch. Ross was consistently in Lewis’ doghouse, leading to multiple healthy inactive tags before being placed on the season-ending IR.
If the Bengals want a more vertical offense, which was discussed Wednesday, it would help for “Mr. 4.22” to play a key role.