Bennett's biggest problem is that he puts too much pressure on himself. And his confidence is completely shot now.
What he needs is for the game to slow down for him. And that will happen one day. But not while he is being handled the way he currently is. If I were the coach, I would try to get him to stop thinking so much - just go out and play.
And I do think there is something to the argument that Gulutzan hasn't handled him well. No coach handles every player correctly. And no coach screws them all up. Every coach is going to get most players more or less right, but mess up with a few. It is the nature of the human condition.
And I think Gulutzan has gotten Bennett's head screwed up. It started when he neutered him last year for taking too many penalties. Ever since then, Bennett has spiraled downwards and his confidence has eroded to the point that we see today.
I think the best way to salvage Bennett is to give him better offensive opportunities and tell him to stop worrying about systems or positioning or anything else. Just go play.
As for the people that fret over his draft position - get over it. It's irrelevant now, as it's water under the bridge. The only thing that matters is going forward. And as far as I am concerned there are three reasons why it makes sense to be patient:
1) potential - due to his his age, determination, and occasional flashes of brilliance
2) salary - it's not like it hurts us cap-wise to keep him
3) return - we probably wouldn't get much for him
|