Zion was never the issue. Starting Zion as a true freshman at left tackle while he was still adjusting to being 50 pounds heavier in a year was the issue. The kid was super athletic but a major project, much more so than Chris Washington coming out of high school, for example. Zion was raw clay. He honestly shouldn't have needed to see the field except in mop-up time at a program like Miami until his 3rd year as a redshirted sophomore. I expected Zion to have a shot at major playing time, just not until 2021.
My fear with Zion this season was that I saw no reason to believe he could go from the worst OT in the ACC to even middle-of-the-pack mediocre, no matter how big a step he took. I honestly don't understand how he could have gotten so much better. I want to see more film on him against other opponents.
But Cribby, if you're right and this kid is ready to play at this level for the rest of the season, I honestly don't remember a turnaround this dramatic in 30 years of following the Canes. We've had breakthrough moments before. Guys like Hankerson or Walford or Redwine went from disappointments to bigtime players. But worst-in-the-ACC to shut-down LT? That's something.