Mike Tomlin means no disrespect to Noah Fant, Will Dissly, or Colby Parkinson. But when it’s a choice between those three or defending the trio of D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the choice is clear. Throw the ball the tight ends’ way.
On the latest episode of The Mike Tomlin show airing Saturday night, Tomlin said he’ll take any Seahawks’ gameplan that doesn’t get the ball to their top targets lining out wide.
“I got a lot of respect for their tight ends,” Tomlin told host Bob Pompeani, as aired on KDKA and the team’s YouTube channel. “But I’m not going to hate if they’re throwing them the ball. That just means they’re not throwing it to Metcalf and Lockett and Smith. Because those guys are really talented. We’re talking about top-round draft picks.”
Unsurprisingly, QB Geno Smith and Seattle’s offense have peppered those top-three wideouts with the football. Lockett leads the team in receptions, Metcalf in yards and touchdowns, while Smith-Njigba is first on the team in third-down grabs. Lockett has been one of the league’s most underrated receivers in football, as consistent as anyone, and needs 187 yards to record his fifth-straight 1,000-yard season.
Metcalf is one of the game’s freakiest players, an NBA small forward playing wideout, and he can make big plays downfield. He’s averaging a career-best 16.6 yards per reception this year, third of anyone in the NFL with at least 60 catches this year. And Smith-Njigba has picked up his game in recent weeks, catching the game-winning score two weeks ago against Philadelphia. Overall, it’s a tough and deep group, and Pittsburgh’s corners will be tested.
Still, Seattle uses its tight ends about as much as any team in football. They use 13 personnel, three tight end sets, at the second-highest rate in the NFL, and they come with different skill sets. Fant is an athletic and seam-stretching threat who got hot early in the year before cooling off the last two months. Dissly has been seldom used in the passing game this season but has three touchdowns in two career games against the Steelers (two in 2019, one in last year’s matchup), while Parkinson caught the game-winning touchdown last weekend to beat the Tennessee Titans and has two scores over his last three games.
Undeniably, and to Tomlin’s point, the Seahawks have better receivers than tight ends. But the latter is a strong group going up against a Steelers’ weakness, thin down the middle with a slew of inside linebacker and safety injuries. Expect Fant to be targeted down the middle while Dissly and Parkinson could see looks off play-action and in short-yardage.
Even if Pittsburgh can limit the damage of the “Big Three” at wide receiver, Seattle has as many talented eligibles to throw to as nearly any team in football.
