Do they? They're 9-3 with a run first OC. We're doing just fine without this mythical #2. I agree an injury to Pickens would hurt certainly but there were more pressing needs like DB, OL, etc.
I'm not writing off Roman Wilson next year or Mike Williams as the year progresses either.
This was one take I never understood with our fanbase.
I've been wrong to some degree on Wilson (thought the OL wouldn't hold up and he'd get killed/pressured into a lot of mistakes) and honestly, can't believe I'm saying this, pleased with how Tomlin has handled this year, for the most part.
But in the end, the only thing that matters is playoff football. Until we win in that arena, I'm not pulling my critiques of MT.
For this franchise, you win in the playoffs within a reasonable timeframe or you should be gone. Going on a decade has been too long a drought. I've given up on them moving on at any point from Tomlin, but I'll never back down on his regular season accolades being overrated, outside of a few years when the QB play was atrocious.
They are doing fine, but a WR2 would be huge IMO. Although, Austin has been better than I was expecting with being a deep threat. Just don't think he's built for to be a WR2, though.
I agree Williams could be the answer. He fits the bill pretty well for what they are trying to do and would love to see him get some action. I don't understand why it's taking so long to get him in there.
Wilson, I dunno. I think he could be a decent WR, but given Tomlin's, Russ', and maybe Smith's aversion to throwing the ball over the middle, I'm not sure he's a fit. Doesn't strike me as a guy who can succeed on the outside.
In today's edition of Peat overthinking things, that feels like a really weaselly way of saying it. He's not saying he's heard that teams like the looks of him or have him on their shortlists. He's saying that his conjecture from Smith's response to Pittsburgh about the Tar Heels job suggests his chances of becoming an NFL HC are good, and that he was the Tar Heels' biggest target (but they're a kinda second tier NCAA team, right, not exactly attracting the best of the best and obviously having a dad who could be super booster makes him even more appealing) so obviously people love him...
And none of that seems super solid. None of it's "I'm hearing from my sources around the league that a lot of teams are looking at Smith".
And if journos have fluff pieces on Smith as a HC candidate that don't really seem to come from anywhere, then it feels like the agent is the most obvious source. Which would be worrying if true.
I'll wait for more rumours if they come but if Smith really wants to be a HC again asap, that's not ideal.
Of course, but that was obvious from the moment they hired him.
I don't know how I became this board's biggest Artie Smith fan, but it's just painfully obvious to me that he's a great coach. What he got out of Tannehill, winning that many games with the mess of QB's in Atlanta, and now revitalizing Wilson and Fields...it's not a matter of if he leaves for a HC gig, it's when he leaves for a HC gig. If I was a team looking for a new HC, he'd be near the top of my list, too.
I do think he should be a bit careful with the situation he walks into, though. If he doesn't have more success the next time, he might get put into that "great coordinator, terrible HC" box.