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  • Titans O-Line Positive?

    CodeBlue

    The Signing D-Hop to the roster has made for a palpable excitement. Will Tanny return to lead us into the playoffs with his new weapons? Will this free Derrick Henry up spring some big 200+ yard games? From a glance it all looks exciting. New GM, New OC, Hopkins, Burks, coupled with the return of Henry and Okonkwo. Dare you to make us spread the ball mentality.

    We can run sets that would make it impossible to stack the box. WE HAVE FUCKING TALENT.

    Which is why all offseason I have torn myself apart with the one appalling hole in the offense.

    WHO IS GOING TO BLOCK?

    Ben Jones is gone, Nate Davis is gone, Taylor Lewan is gone (some may say he was never there post 2020) Roger Saffold is gone.

    We all remember when Radunz, Levin, Kendall Lamm, Jordan Roos would come in for a few snaps right? like we are all on the same page that it was abominable?

    Yet for the start of 2023 it seems like no one in the Titans front office is remotely concerned. We draft Peter Skoronski first round out of the Hot News Northwestern University. We don’t hear a word on how he will fit, how he looks, will he be a Tackle or Guard?

    So it is with a heavy heart that now Titans fans find out that maybe there should have been more attention paid in the offseason.

    LT – Eagles Back up Andre Dillard will be taking first team reps. We are looking for starter experience. The whole point being we have so many offensive weapons yet starting at arguably the most important offensive line position is someone else’s backup. Cool. Confidence level 3.3 out of 10. And tell me it should be higher but do not forget that the eagles needed lane johnson so bad that they still put lane in injured over a healthy Andre Dillard.

    LG – Rookie Peter Skoronski. I actually am kind of happy we are not putting him out at tackle. In the past few years our offense has revolved around “Man-Reach” Blocking. Its how Derrick Henry gets his production. The last thing titans need is a rookie trying to man-reach a 7 technique for a “Welcome to the NFL baptism”. Confidence level 5.2 out of 10. Hard to prove you are good if everyone around you is bad.

    Center – The commander of the offense, the man who needs to know everyones responsibility. Aaron Brewer. He has a “meh” season under his belt at Left guard and whilst making the switch to Center he will be relied upon to know his Shit. My confidence level is 4.2 out of 10. He started at center twice last year and it was so unimpressive I pushed it out of my memory just to get a decent nights sleep (thanks therapy)

    RG – Jordan Roos. I like Jordan. He’s a hard worker, boots on the ground shovel in hand mentality. I legitimately think he might be good. Hard to tell as he is in his 30’s and has changed teams and that in of itself paired with the non-starting experience we already have makes me give this a 6.4 out of 10 confidence rating

    RT – This one has me RATTLED. Nicholas Petit-Frere decided to give himself the first six games off. First two days of camp we hear that there is a battle between Jamarco Jones (Backup RG) and Jaelyn Duncan. Then, today we sign Chris Hubbard and that is all I need to know to run to the bank and tell them the Titans are worried. Confidence level 2.3 out of 10 ( as Vrabel checks his week 7 calendar)

    TLDR: I am a firm believer in building inside to out. Going into the offseason it felt like the Titans had two options:

    1. Spend a bunch of money and get some vets in here to keep trying to push for a playoff success
    2. Blow it up. Find a way to get rid of tanny, don’t sign any big talent at WR, trade Derrick Henry and build from scratch

    and honestly I would have been fine with blowing it all up. It almost made sense. Vets are gone from Offensive line, Tanny had a balloon payment pending and the defense had Simmons and Byard but other than that it was not looking flashy.

    So we go to war with an offense anchored by a mixed bag of one rookie and a bunch of FA and undrafted FA. Does this make sense? Am I being to critical? Can you honestly say the titans put their best foot forward this offseason.

    -Phil Terhaar

  • Ceilings, Walls and Titans Defense Keeping Hopes Alive

    CodeBlue

    Wrapping up the preseason is a big HELL YEAH BROTHER

    Fall is in the air (its not but let’s imagine the air has a crisp) tailgate grills are being dusted off, jerseys ironed and brats being thawed out. It’s T minus 11 days until regular season and I am ready to gather myself and take stock of the past month

    What was accomplished this Preseason for the Titans?

    Mostly positive in my POV. Defense is incredible, the starting 11 proved that they can turn it on even in the preseason. WR competition is so good. Injuries kind of messed up who will stay and who will get cut and because of that I do not think the 53 man roster will even be set going into week 1.

    QB’s gave me the warm and fuzzies. It made us really appreciate having Tannehill at the helm. Let me delve into Malik Willis a little bit.

    Because of Will Levis lower body injury, Malik got a chance to show us a little more of his development. While most of it was good I could not help but feel that there is a definitive ceiling for him. I am ready to say he will only be AS good as we have seen which is not bad. 211 yards 2 TD and 2 INT against the Patriots but not starter material. I am a big body language guy and his tone in his press conferences have been very Faux Leadership. https://x.com/jwyattsports/status/1695277979629240786?s=42. His tone PISSES me off. I do not need this from my backup QB trying to prove he can be a starter. I want to read his mind and when I do its Malik saying “my Offensive Line sucks I am good just wait and see” well guess what we have waited and we did see and I am getting MAJOR “this is it” vibes

    Levis was not able to show us much but I look forward to him developing behind Tannehill. I loved what I saw against Chicago. He did well on 7v7 periods and team periods in practice which gives me confidence that he is eager to grind and take over command

    Take a look a look at this stud https://x.com/titans/status/1695237591367651450?s=42

    TAJAE SPEARS. My hope is that he takes 50/50 reps with Derrick Henry. He is going to get us yards, points, and most importantly hope. He was shaky starting out because of the crux of my whole being this season….

    Offensive Line. Poop on a stick. They looked God awful against the patriots. Dillard couldn’t move his feet, Brewer couldn’t adjust from the snap, Skoronski looked lost but he DID play really hard and we have some poor kid sitting in at right tackle that is laughable. Preseason told us that this is still up in the air. This is not totally on the players it is also on the front office for throwing 4 new players in together. Patriots threw no surprises at them. All night it was simple 4-5 man blitzes that require some slight adjustment and not a single blocker knew how to accomplish that. I am blue in the face but it seems camp proved not just me but many others that we can have all the million dollar talent we want but if we cannot execute up front it will be proven to be all for naught.

    As the titans cut the roster to 53 my hope is that maybe we do not risk Tannehills life unnecessarily. We need ground yards, we need the ability to spread the ball around.

    What you will see in New Orleans is something I have been afraid of. Slow offensive start, negative yards. The Saints know they only have to throw 5-6 rushers in and can cover everyone else. THis will limit Tannehill to the short pass or screen. We are cornered and the starting whistle has not even blown

    In Vrabel we trust. Pour and extra drink tonight because this is going to be interesting.

  • Windy City Opener

    CodeBlue

    5 things I know I know.

    5.

    Malik Willis is not a huge Will Levis Fan. Check out the Interview Jim Wyatt posted from Thursdays open practice https://twitter.com/philipterhaar?s=43

    Yikes. With distaste he says “Understand what you are doing and can’t be successful if this is your first time” Hey dad I can’t see real well is that Malik referencing his frustrations with the Titans taking a QB high in the draft and maybe Malik not feeling like he was given a fair shot? YEEZUS that tone of voice and chippy wording was all I needed. Hey if this motivates him to be a DAWG then competition is the tide that raises all boats and lets have at it.

    4.

    We heard from Peter Skoronski this week as well. Kind of love the guy. I am confident he is going to be the best player on the line this year.

    https://twitter.com/jwyattsports?s=43

    Taking the Offensive line out to dinner friday before the game, playing on a field he has been to many times. Hey young fella lets knock the shakiness off and have ourselves a little bit of a day.

    3.

    The new stadium was introduced by a sick video this week. https://twitter.com/fos?s=43.

    I sat in on a presentation by Burke Nihill CEO of the Titans Organization this week at Nashville Business Breakfast. Great guy, very patient and well spoken. Few take aways:

    The funding is interesting. They are using tax payers money for the initial build but after that, upkeep will be from Hotel and Liquor tax as well as titans pitching in2. So the mantra that this is going to cost taxpayers for 20+ years to come just is not true and that was a huge relief to me.

    The venue will be similar to Geodis park but on a mega scale. Great food, several concert spots within the stadium, more local options. Focusing on entertaining along with the Vrabel winning mentality

    2

    I am so Goddamn excited for this defense. We will be top 10 in the league this year. We should have been great last year and in my mind we weren’t bad (injuries killed us) but this year we have back up plans and everything in place. The Titans did an awesome job keeping Simmons, developing Tartt and bringing in some weapons from SF 49ers. Just wow!

    1.

    I am going to overreact to this First preseason game. If Malik throws one interception I will say yep thank the lord we have Levis. If Levis throws a bomb I am going to GUSH. It’s how we are wired as fans, it’s the thrill of football season, the highs, the lows. Most importantly it will give the coaching staff a marker of progress.

    Betting: Preseason is difficult. I actually like responsibly taking Titans +140. This is solely based on the defense having great depth. Definitely going to be a few fumbles and turnovers but most sites don’t offer much this time of year so keep it simple

    (bet responsibly if you have a gambling problem call 1-800-gambler)

  • Trench Drama

    CodeBlue

    Jamarco Jones was in the rotation of starting Right Tackle week 1 of camp. Week 2 he decides to make a name for himself, gets into a donnybrook with Jeff Simmons, is walked off the practice field with a warning and then two days later decides its a great idea to cheap shot Linebacker Chance Campbell with a block in the back during short yardage rehearsal. This sparked an outrage on the field with most of the defensive bench coming in to defend their own.

    I want to note: during camp it is not at all out of the ordinary to have tussles in the trenches. I remember as a pine pony rider in College that we were scolded to give 100 percent on every play. Finish the block, hold the form, play to the whistle and this was even without pads or helmets. Both sides get pissed at each other for being a try hard. Its the pressure of knowing that in film review our coaches will bring up our blemishes in front of the team plus a QB will probably get pissy his precious red jersey was touched.

    I digress, cheap shots are not without consequences and Jamarco Jones was released by the Titans Sunday night.

    While everyone else is highlighting the promising parts of camp I am bobbing and weaving looking for the holes and folks, Call me Muhammed Ali because while the spotlight is shining on guys like Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair for getting into the backfield multiple times per practice I am left holding the All-22 clicker wondering what in the hell we are going to do. Left Tackle Andre Dillard is struggling. Last week we talked about Man-Reach technique and from the film I have seen the Offensive line is struggling to come to grips with the blocking techniques needed to make Henry successful on the run and Tanny successful on the long ball.

    We do not have a Right Tackle, in fact we arent sure Aaron Brewer is a good center so we brought in “checks the news” oh yeah undrafted lineman Jimmy Murray. Hard nose gritty guy with the work ethic of Budweiser horse. I just do not see the talent from the inside. Get me something to be excited about. Pete Skoronski? very quiet. Chris Hubbard looks promising? Now Vrabel is discussing his ” back up plan.

    Folks, Confidence is key. I work in the field of construction and you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting some puffed up chest ready to serenade you with his accreditations. So call me weird for thinking it odd that Vrabel has been blatantly honest about the state of the Offensive Line. He knew what was going to happen, he knew we needed to spend money on vets, He knew that the pass protection was as good as using a strainer to stop diarrhea. This is his way of pushing it onto the front office.

    Do not go one day without assuming Vrabel was given promises by Adams-Strunk when rumors were circulating about his interest in the Ohio State head coach job. This is his way of calmly drawing the front offices attention and documenting his frustrations with the press.

    IN VRABEL WE TRUST

    -Phil Terhaar

    PS: Will Levis is a DAWWGGGGGGG