Five Titans to watch in preseason game #1

The Titans, like all 31 other teams in the NFL, have a ton of questions going into their preseason schedule. Here are five players for Titan fans to keep an eye on:

1. QB Vince Young – Sure, he won’t play long – but everyone’s going to want to see where his accuracy is. Let’s see if the coaches work in some intermediate routes and see where Vince is against some live competition. I wouldn’t expect to see him on the field for more than two series, but in Vince’s case – even the fifth-year pro needs as much work as possible.

2. WR Damian Williams – The Titans injury report lists Williams as questionable (hamstring) and he probably won’t play, but as long as there’s a chance you have to be interested to see what this guy can do. Williams is the hopeful savior of an AWFUL return game, and missing chances in the preseason would be quite a (minor) disaster for both the player and the team. They need to see where the return game is, and they need to see it before the regular season starts. You’d also love to get Williams out there for some offensive snaps to begin to develop a rapport with Vince Young.

3. RB LeGarrette Blount – Blount and Stafon Johnson figure to get a lot of reps in the next couple of weeks. The Titans would LOVE for either of these guys to step up and snatch the #3 RB job away from Alvin Pearman, but nobody’s counting on that. Physically, you’d love for Blount to lay claim to the “bruiser” role. His measurables are ridiculous (6-0, 247) but he has to get the mental side of the game under control. One of the five RBs is likely to get cut so the competition should be fierce.

4. TE Jared Cook – This is a very important time for Cook. The team currently has him at third on the depth chart, and he needs to start turning some heads. The guy can be a tremendous weapon if he can put all elements of the game together. With a knucklehead-ish guy like Bo Scaife at the top of the depth chart, Cook should have his sights set on moving up and doing it right now. There’s no reason Cook should come out of the preseason any lower than #2 on the depth chart. Craig Stevens is only listed ahead of Cook because of his excellent blocking, but Cook is the kind of athlete that should shine against second-teamers if he is the guy he was drafted to be.

5. LB Rennie Curran – Curran is a guy who I think can make an immediate impact on this team if he shines in the preseason. He has all the intangibles, all the character, and if he can put it all together on the field – it could go a long way to a bounce back season for the Titans. He’ll of course be running with the second team tonight, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Titans gave him a couple of reps with the ones just to see how it goes.

Five reasons why the Titans WILL make the playoffs in 2010

Here are five things that could lead to a playoff run for the Titans in 2010, soon to be followed by an entry of five reasons they will NOT make the playoffs:

1. Strong lines on both sides of the ball
The Titans have had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL for a while now, and last year’s 2000+ yard performance certainly did a lot to solidify their place. While the defensive line obviously suffered a bit of a backslide losing Albert Haynesworth, they are still a strong unit against the run, and have some good young talent. The defense was tied for 10th in the league against the run in 2009, but slid to 18th in the league in sacks with 32 compared to the 44 they had in 2008, which was good for 5th in the league.

2. Chris Johnson
Obviously, Johnson goes hand in hand with the offensive line, but it shouldn’t be understated that Johnson is a phenomenal talent. He’s not just fast, he’s enough of a grinder to go after the tough yards, despite his smaller frame. Johnson is one of the few talents in the NFL that can take over a game, and the Titans will be tough to beat if they can build a lead. Tennessee is the type of team that can milk the clock in the fourth quarter, and for a tired defense Johnson can be a lethal nightmare.

3. Jeff Fisher
You don’t have as much tenure as Jeff Fisher has as an NFL coach for no reason. Because of the awful start the Titans got off to in 2009, you can bet Fisher will have his guys ready to get off to a fast start. Key players are gone and replaced with newer, younger faces, but as long as Fisher is on the sidelines in Nashville, his team will be tough, hard-nosed, and prepared. Looking at his body of work as a coach, you have to believe that the start to 2009 was an aberration. There was nobody more embarrassed about how last year started than Jeff Fisher.

4. Vince Young coming into his own
Entering his fifth year, Vince Young absolutely must be the player the Titans were hoping for when they drafted him. He couldn’t be in a better position – he’s got the best RB in the game behind one of the best offensive lines in the game. All he needs to do is not lose games, CJ and the line will take care of the rest. With all that talent in the run game, Vince has the luxury of being able to break out and use his legs. He’s not going to have to constantly be making plays with his arms, which is most definitely a good thing. By all accounts, Vince is 100% back in the good graces of his teammates, and they respect him as a leader and a winner. Now that he’s going to be starting the year from day one, he has to put it all together and be SMART about what he can best do to help this team win.

5. Badly-needed improvements in the return game
It’s all speculation at this point, but the Titans have done a lot to address their glaring deficiencies in the return game. Third round pick WR Damian Williams figures to give a shot of adrenaline to a part of the Titans’ répertoire that is dire need. The Titans were 25th and 29th in punt returns and kickoff returns, respectively, in 2009. A slight improvement in the return game isn’t going to be the difference in making the playoffs or not – but the Titans were SO bad in this area last year that if Williams works out the way they hope, they could make a very significant improvement. Injuries were a big part of what went wrong last year, so if Williams can stay on the field and continue to get reps, don’t be surprised to see the Titans’ special teams make a big jump.

Tags: chris johnson, Damian Williams, jeff fisher, titans, vince young

Everyone is mad at Lane Kiffin… does anyone want to hold Kennedy Pola accountable?

Another entity that is getting off without much criticism here – Karma.

You know, I don’t believe in Karma – but after the Titans unceremoniously dumped running backs coach Earnest Byner (after his star RB rushed for 2006 yards!!) you have to think that the big K came into play. That, and, when Bud Adams is in charge, there’s always going to be a chance that comeuppance is lurking just around the next corner.

So, Lane Kiffin went Lane Kiffin. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Yeah, he’s an a-hole who uses questionable tactics, to put it lightly… that’s why he’s a perfect fit at USCheat. The Titans, Jeff Fisher, and their fans are livid that Kennedy Pola – who was signed to replace Byner in January – has now jumped ship to join Kiffin and his band of evildoers at Southern Cal.

Damn that Kiffin! Everyone in Tennessee hates this guy already for his botched handling of… EVERYTHING while he was at the other UT, and now his name is spoken in the same breath as the Union Army in the Volunteer State. Get a rope!

Okay, so how about a little bit of accountability from the guy who, by all accounts, was not dragged out of Nashville with a gun to his head – Kennedy Pola? This guy has an NFL job as running backs coach with one of the best head coaches in the NFL, and arguably THE best player in the NFL at the position he’s coaching – and he walks a week before the start of training camp?

Let’s back off the little boy in the visor a bit here. Sure, he’s a demon only sixteen fathoms above the level of Bud Adams, but Pola is just as much the villain here.

Pola had spent five years as the running backs coach in Jacksonville, and made a lateral move to take the same position with the Titans. Taking the offensive coordinator job with his alma mater USC is certainly an upgrade, being that it’s a big-time program – but it’s not so stunning of an upgrade that it would justify his behavior in all of this. He signed the contract, and while there’s always room for coaches and players to wiggle out of those contracts – to do so right before the start of camp – especially in this case where Jeff Fisher let a good backs coach go mainly because of how badly he specifically wanted Pola – yeah, bad move.

I guess for Pola, it was all about being back at USC at any cost, but if he wants to return to coaching in the NFL one day, I would expect teams would be a lot more hesitant about hiring him on after the way he treated this situation.

Tags: Bud "The Literal Satan on Earth" Adams, chris johnson, Earnest Byner, jeff fisher, Kennedy Pola, Lane Kiffin, titans

2010 Fantasy Football Debate: Chris Johnson vs. Adrian Peterson

Like many of you, I play a lot of fantasy football. Like many of you, I’m in a stupid amount of leagues every year, and the number gets bigger every season… so it may not surprise you to know that I’ve already done a couple of online mock drafts.

One thing that shocks me, is that I’ve see Adrian Peterson go ahead of Chris Johnson in some of these mocks. As to who is the best running back in the NFL – that’s open to debate. Personally I think Peterson’s inability to get his fumbling under control puts him slightly behind CJ, but again – you could make a coherent case for both.

In the world of fantasy football, though, they have a name for people who would pick Peterson over Johnson, and that name is “cracksmokah.”

Look, take the real world away from things for a minute. Does your league penalize for lost fumbles? Mine does. Are you in a PPR (points per reception) league? I am. Non-PPR leagues seem to be going the way of the uh… extinct bird that I can’t recall the name of. Dodo? Is that a real thing? Yes, it’s the dodo.

Here’s where people are getting confused, I think. Adrian Peterson is a great running back, no doubt. People figure Johnson can’t replicate what he did last year, so Peterson should be the guy in fantasy football in 2010. What people aren’t getting, though, is that Johnson could not come CLOSE to what he did in 2009 and still have a stellar, even great fantasy year. Just because CJ might not run for 2000+ again doesn’t mean he won’t be in the 1500-1700 range. Plus, again – you get much more from him in a PPR league than you will from Peterson, and though Peterson hasn’t been injury prone, per se, Johnson has certainly been more durable to this point.

See, now, I don’t know anything about having the first overall pick. I’ve won my (most important) league three years in a row, and four of the last six – so I’m always picking low – but you guys who get a sniff at number one, it should be a no-brainer. CJ is the guy. Pick him, run, and don’t look back.

As expected, Titans and Chris Johnson reach a temporary compromise

Rather than go over what we’ve already discussed, just check out Paul Kuharsky’s blog entry for the details. It’s pretty much the same deal that was previously outlined.

This is great deal for both sides. The Titans should be glad that a budding superstar of Johnson’s level was willing to settle for a short-term fix. They avoid signing him to a huge deal before what everyone seems to agree is an inevitable player lockout in 2011, and Johnson himself should be glad that the Titans agreed to give him five times the amount he was originally slated to earn in 2010.

I see no reason that Johnson won’t have another big year in 2010. I’m sure he’s dead set on being the first RB ever to have two 2000+ yard rushing seasons, and obviously the first to do it in back-to-back years. So far I’ve found nobody (excluding uber-homers) who thinks that’s a possibility.

Johnson’s 2009 season was so incredible, that it sets him up to be a disappointment in 2010. I’ll never say that CJ can’t take a hit or avoids contact, because that’s ridiculous. He kind of reminds me of Allen Iverson in the way that he’s got small stature for the position he plays, shows a lot of public signs of selfishness, and is tough as nails. That said – I’ve never seen CJ take a monster hit. That’s partially because of his incredible elusiveness, but also just dumb luck. Eventually the guy’s gonna get his face caved in and I wonder how he will react. My gut tells me it will have no effect at all, but you never know. It’s bound to happen eventually.

Tags: chris johnson, titans

Chris Johnson thanks Twitter and U-Stream for his success. His offensive line? Meh.

I’ve never seen the ESPYs. I think they’re ridiculous, especially since professional athletes seem to take themselves way too seriously most of the time. Come on, guys – it’s just sports. I did just check CJ’s ESPY speech out on YouTube though. Anyway – even though Chris Johnson was dressed like he just did a line of coke with Max Headroom, he’s a guy that is quickly becoming one of the most familiar and celebrated faces in the NFL. So, I’m sure everyone was ready to laugh when he took the podium. He does, in fact, boast a little bit of an amusing history on Twitter, even if sometimes it’s not for the right reasons.

So Johnson swagged his way up, accepted his award, and basically thanked God and the Internet (what’s the difference, really?) and left out some important names. That would be the guys who made his career 2009 season possible – his offensive line. Is this a big deal? No, not at all. Some will make it a bigger deal than it is, but that’s just the nature of God– uh, I mean, the Internet, and the sports media. The recent LeBron debacle shows us how ridiculously over the top ESPN and other sports media outlets can be at times.

If I recall correctly, Johnson took care of his offensive linemen by buying them all expensive watches, or something similar. He loves his teammates like any other guy – he’s just not the smartest guy in the world when it comes to public speaking, Tweeting, and whatnot. I’m sure the guy just forgot… or he figured he’d already thanked them enough in public.

Besides, you have to remember the important stuff – like U-stream and Twitter. Without those, where would any of us be? We’d all be sitting around waiting for Stephen Hawking to invent the wheel, wouldn’t we?

Tags: chris johnson, Chris Johnson looks like he did coke with Max Headroom, titans

Should the Titans be looking for a new backup QB?

Sports in the 615 mentions that the Titans are on the hook for $5.5 million in 2010 for the services of Kerry Collins. With Vince Young making $7.5 million this season, that’s a total of $13 million tied up in one position, or roughly – a dollar for every ounce of uncertainty the Titans have about their QB situation.

Kerry Collins was good for what he was a couple of seasons ago – a game manager who just had to hand the ball off and not cost the Titans games with stupid mistakes. Last year, however, the 37 year old lost a lot of games and looked bad doing it. So bad, in fact, that the coaches saw fit to reinsert Vince into the lineup, not knowing if he was mentally stable enough of prepared enough to do so.

Should the Titans stick with Collins? At that price tag, I would say HELL no. If he wasn’t coming off his awful 2009 performance, then maybe an expensive insurance policy would be worth it – but after what happened last year, I can’t imagine that the team couldn’t find someone else who is at least 75% as effective as Collins for a small fraction of the cost.

Tags: kerry collins, titans, vince young

The Madden 2011 Tennessee Titans rankings are here!

That is, if you care about such things. I was a voracious Madden player in the late-90s/early 2000s, and have only gotten back into it in the last two or three years.

Special thanks to Jay from MaddenPreview.com for making me aware of this link…

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here are the 2011 Titans Madden Rankings in their entirety.

Some of the highlights:

WR Kenny Britt is an overall 82. He comes in with a shocking 89 swagger rating. I didn’t realize swagger included getting out of shape in the offseason and completely sucking in OTAs.

RB Chris Johnson is a sick, sick overall 99, including 99 in both speed and acceleration. That’s about as good as it gets, right there.

TE Bo Scaife is an overall 81, but there’s no rating for the audacity it took for him to pull off that ridiculous mini-holdout.

Rookie WR Damon Williams checks in with an overall 71, with 88 speed.

QB Vince Young posts an overall 79, which seems about right. His swagger is up to 92 now, which was probably helped by that ticklefight he had with a dude in a Dallas nightclub.

QB Chris Simms is only a 68. Now I know he’s been much higher than that – even recently.

LT Michael Roos gets a 95 overall, wow!

LB Will Witherspoon was the highest overall-rated Titan linebacker, at 82. Interesting.

CB Cortland Finnegan pulls down a nice 92 overall, which clearly isn’t evaluated while he’s facing Andre Johnson.

The game clearly recognizes safties Michael Griffin and Chris Hope as a formidable duo, marking them at 86 and 84, respectively.

I didn’t slog through every single rating, but those are some of the highlights. Titan fans (and non-Titan fans alike) will enjoy playing as Chris Johnson when Madden 2011 hits, presumably sometime in August.

Tags: Bo Scaife, chris johnson, It's never Vince Young's fault, Madden 2010, titans, vince young, Vince Young is an emotional infant

Chris Johnson and the Titans working on a compromise?

In the ongoing “saga” that is Chris Johnson’s contract situation, The Tennessean brings some welcome news for Titan fans.

It seems that whatever tensions that may have existed between player and team are slowly diminishing, if for no other reason than a CJ holdout would be a disaster for both sides. In other words – I’m sure the tensions are still there, but the closer we get to the season, the more both sides understand that they need to bury this thing, even if it’s just temporary… and a temporary solution seems to be exactly what they are headed for.

This is how the team is reportedly going to take care of Johnson in the short term, from Jim Wyatt in the above-linked article:

Under the terms of the five-year, $12 million contract he signed prior to his rookie season, Johnson has reached escalators in the deal that could pay him up to an additional $2.5 million in salary in 2012. The Titans could turn that money into a signing bonus in 2010 and combine it with his scheduled base salary of $550,000 for this fall.

Sounds like a good deal for both sides. CJ would get a big boost in pay like he deserves, and the Titans wouldn’t have to put up a huge amount of guaranteed money for a long-term contract right before Labor Armageddon destroys the entire universe.

Tags: chris johnson, titans

Catching up on the Titans: Ringer, Blount, Britt

Real life has really gotten in the way the last few weeks, but let’s catch up a little bit, shall we? We shall.

The battle for backup RB
One way or another, Chris Johnson will be the starter for the Titans come opening weekend 2010. There’s just no way things will get so bad that he doesn’t play… uh, right?

In the meantime, getting the starter reps in practice is Javon Ringer, who has impressed this summer. Ringer has shown some ability in spurts, but there’s just no way to know how he’ll respond to game action and NFL speed until he can get consistent reps. If the season started today, he’d be the backup to CJ and I think a lot of Titan fans would take Ringer’s uncertainty 99 times out of 100 over LenDale White’s “twinkie splat” style of running. (I just made that up and have no idea what it means.)

LeGarrette Blount has been turning some heads as well (and this time, not by punching people in the face). I have to agree with Jimmy over at MCM… the “punch” is not what caused Blount to slide down the boards on draft day – he’s just not that great, period. Sure, he could become something with more discipline and NFL coaching, but come on. Let’s get real.

Kenny Britt is still utterly unimpressive
An article in the Tennessean explains that Britt has not at all rebounded from a rough start to his offseason. First he was out of shape, and seriously sounded like a guy who deserves the tag of a guy who doesn’t “want it” as much as others… and he’s continued to have issues with drops.

One positive for Titan fans (I guess) is that Kenny is owning his issues:

“I am disappointed in myself. I know I have to get better. They expect me to get better. And that’s what I plan on doing,” Britt said in the above-linked article.

Well, great – you’re taking responsibility (unlike Vince Young who pretty much blamed his friend(s) for his “assault” in a Dallas nightspot recently…) but responsibility is just step one. Step two should be, well, don’t suck.

Tags: chris johnson, It's never Vince Young's fault, Javon Ringer, Kenny Britt, Kenny Britt wants to take a nap now please, LeGarrette Blount, LenDale says FEED ME, lendale white, LenDale White wants a refrigerator in every room of his house, titans, vince young