One must wonder if they expected Taco to man the RDE or platoon with DLaw at LDE because the run stopping would be more important at LDE than at RDE, the traditional speed pass rushing position. One has to wonder if they feared Watt was just a 3-4 OLB who couldn’t play with his hand in the dirt.
For me, there’s nothing in Taco’s game that says RDE going against the best LTs in the NFL. He is built as the traditional LDE stopping the run first and maybe getting 7-8 sacks per year. However, DLaw is the absolute stud LDE, bringing much more pass rush than other guys at that position.
We’ve heard “soft” and “entitled” to describe Taco. “Entitled” was probably the final straw. He thought he was better than he was showing. He didn’t think he needed to work or earn it, and he was disgusted that lesser players and lower draft picks played ahead of him, yet he refused to work on his craft and do the dirty work. Coaches soured on that very quickly.