Narrator: "They wasted him."
Arthur Smith has already said he's sticking with Ridder.
Personally, I'd argue Arthur Smith ain't the guy. He had one good season calling plays for the Titans, that's it. But Blank brought him and their new GM in a few years back to do a complete rebuild. They jettisoned Matty Ice cause he was old and done, which is fine but their plan was to use Mariota and not get back into cap hell by drafting a QB/paying one big money in FA. Except they immediately tried to go and pull Deshaun Watson. Luckily for them, that fell through. Still, Mariota was their guy, but he sucks and instead of pulling the plug on his ass early last year they waited until they were completely mathematically eliminated from the playoffs before putting in Ridder. So their 3rd round guy got four games of experience. A couple of which weren't really true tests because it was end of the season, nobody gives a fuck games with backups and shit.
Then they go out and buy a ton of guys in FA to fix their defense. Then they draft Bijan @ #8. The drafts before that were a 1st rounder on a WR and a 1st rounder on a TE. They spent a ton of money on the O-line, too. So, all the pieces are in place for a playoff run. Except you've got a 3rd round dude who has never impressed anyone at QB. In a league which entirely revolves around having a top tier QB if you want to succeed. And they bring in a decent backup in Heinicke for $7 mill a year but then the owner, GM, and coach publicly go on the record before the season as saying Ridder is their guy. So they've hitched their wagon to this no-name, unproven guy out of Cincy of all places because who the fuck knows. Then they decide to hardly fucking play him in the preseason.
Now you're kinda behind the 8-ball because this isn't a "tank-the-season to draft Caleb Williams" type team. This team is good. They could potentially win 10-12 games. But your "I know best" stubborn HC is going to continue to trot this kid out at QB who is panicking and is currently dead last in QB rating in the league. But your team is good. And your schedule isn't that tough. And Bijan is the fuckin' man. So you're going to win games. Just not enough to matter. You're going to continue to be stuck in mediocrity hell which doesn't get you into the QB-of-the-future sweepstakes. Meanwhile, you're completely wasting your 1st round offensive talent and they're going to be looking to jump ship. And those FAs you picked up on defense are on short-term contracts and might not want to hang around just to have to eat shit on a 6-8 win football team. Calais Campbell is still playing well but he's in year fucking 16, so how long is he going to be around? This team is kinda set up to win now or within the next year or two.
Which is why some folks thought they might try and grab a Kirk Cousins type dude in FA. I've heard Justin Fields' name being bandied about as a dude they might want to get since he'd fit better into their offense and he actually has some talent, even if he isn't phenomenal either.
Knowing how stupid most NFL teams are run, I fully expect they will continue to stick with Ridder for the foreseeable future. They'll win a game here and there, but it will be a lot of losing. Then, late in the season when they've already basically fucked their chance at the playoffs, they'll make the switch. Heinicke will come in and ball out and then you're 7-10 for the third season in a row. And what are you doing then? Maybe Penix drops low enough for you to snag him up?
The hilarious part is how awesome Bijan has been even playing on an offense that can't throw the ball whatsoever. He's tied for 3rd in rushing yards. Is 1st in receptions for RBs. He's averaging 6 YPC on the ground and 7.1 through the air. Already has multiple highlight reel plays through four games. If he was playing on a great team with a great offense like the 49ers or the Dolphins? He'd be breaking every record in the book. Still, if he keeps up his current pace he's close to 2k total yards from scrimmage. Unreal considering his QB is a fuckin' dope and he's still splitting time with Allgeier.