Tennessee Titans - Over/Under 5 Wins

[The Captains Wench]

Titans, taking lumps this offseason, have plenty of rebuilding

By Eric Edholm

March 17, 2005

 

These are not the days of wine and roses in Tennessee. The core of the Titans' team that had been a consistent threat in the playoffs the past six years has been torn apart by fiduciary ills. Its star quarterback remains in limbo, deciding between playing for the Titans and playing full time with his kids. And players, come and gone, are getting in trouble with the law.

 

Ever since Kevin Carter, Derrick Mason, Samari Rolle and Co. departed by salary purgation last month, the Titans’ soul has kind of swirled in the breeze. It was compounded by the fact that the bloodletting had begun last year with Eddie George, and Jevon Kearse left via free agency. Remember when Tennessee fans thought it was bad when Randal Godfrey left? Those were the days.

 

Getting George back won’t help either. Rumors have floated that George might be willing to come back to the Titans as a backup, but his presence will mean far more to the fans and the community at large than it will to the team's win total.

It would be one thing, too, if the team could hold up a model group to the fans, but recent incidents with Steve McNair, Brad Hopkins, Tank Williams and Rolle (even if he is now a former Titan) have scarred the face of the team.

It likely will go down as the ugliest offseason in Titans/Oilers franchise history. And it might not get better anytime soon.

 

How could a team fall so hard and fast, hitting every stair on the way down? How can this rock of a franchise, for many teams a model until recently, be fossilized so much that it’s nearly unrecognizable from its previous form?

 

Consider:

• The team currently lists just two wide receivers with NFL experience — Drew Bennett and Tyrone Calico, all of 15 career games worth — on the roster. The No. 3 receiver is none other than Kevin Wolcott.

• At cornerback, the team has four men on the roster: Andre Woolfolk, Tony Beckham, Rich Gardner and Michael Waddell. They have 11 starts and five interceptions combined in their career.

• The team boasts four starters currently with more than five years of starting experience — none on defense and one of them is McNair.

• McNair, of course, is on vacation — and he could remain there. Though sources up and down have insisted that McNair will not leave the game, it remains a possibility. Of course, the Titans are not in the situation that Green Bay was with Brett Favre before he told people he would come back to the Packers. The Titans won’t spend a dime on any free agents this spring or summer.

The next player the team adds likely will be at about 12:30 p.m. CT on April 23 when the Titans will use their sixth pick in the draft. It could be a cornerback, perhaps West Virginia’s Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, who doubles as a returner — guess what … another huge area of need — as has widely been rumored.

 

That would be big. But then what? If this year’s bounty is like last year’s draft class, the team will be better, but how much? Two of last year's second-rounders, Ben Troupe and Travis LaBoy, had their moments — though far too few — and look like decent players, but neither appear headed to the Pro Bowl anytime soon. And the problem with drafting five D-linemen is that the chances are that maybe only two of them project to be full-time starters. Randy Starks was a find in Round Three; Antwan Odom, the team’s third second-rounder, looks like he needs work.

And if we are to take most scouts’ view of things as the best opinion, this is not the kind of draft where you can just load up. It’s a “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” lot with depth at some positions — such as running back — that aren’t on the Titans’ list of primary needs.

 

But things will get better. They have to with Jeff Fisher as coach. If there is a guy in the league that Titans fans should trust to get this group in some kind of playing shape by the end of the season, even if it is painfully thin at some key spots.

 

Keith Bulluck is a monster. Haynesworth and Starks make a pretty interesting DT combo. Williams and Lamont Thompson could be a decent playmaking duo at safety. McNair was the league’s MVP not too long ago, and his backup — Billy Volek — proved he could play as well or better than some league starters. The tight ends could be a nice group. Bennett and Calico are a promising pair with size and great athleticism. … Have I picked up your spirits at all yet?

 

It’s going to be a tough couple years, but this is the right group of people — led by Fisher and coordinators Norm Chow, who should be just fine making the transition from the college game, and Jim Schwartz — to be leading the young and underskilled Titans. It’s just hard to picture this team doing that well next year

[Duchess Jack]

Over , if only for Jeff Fisher.

[Meat Face]

Titans will win more than 5.

[Clubfoothead]

They'll have more players arrested than wins.

[Yukon Cornelius]

They'll have more players arrested than wins.

 

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hmmm that will be the vikes for sure

[TitansFan]

Looking at who they face this season, I'm gonna predict 7-8 wins.

[Rovers]

I think 5 to 6 wins is realistic. Teams in that division have to be licking thier chops.

[The Irish Doggy]

Looking at who they face this season, I'm gonna predict 7-8 wins.

 

738902[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

 

What are you smoking? They'll go 1-5 in the division and playing the AFC North, other than Cleveland, will be big trouble - 1-3. NFC West is a split at best - 2-2. They could beat Miami but probablly not Oakland 1-1. 5-11 sounds right to me. They could get a 6th just because Fisher is a good coach, but I doubt it.

[TitansFan]

What are you smoking?  They'll go 1-5 in the division and playing the AFC North, other than Cleveland, will be big trouble - 1-3.  NFC West is a split at best - 2-2. They could beat Miami but probablly not Oakland 1-1. 5-11 sounds right to me.  They could get a 6th just because Fisher is a good coach, but I doubt it.

 

738921[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

 

Here's how I see it. I see them beating Arizona, Miami, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Seattle. Indy will beat them twice, along with Baltimore and Pittsburgh. I think out of Houston (x2), Jacksonville (x2), Cincinnati, Oakland, and St. Louis, they can get 3 wins. They always play Jacksonville tough, and if things go their way (young guys progressing), they can get 2 or 3 wins out of the others.

[Rovers]

No way on God's green earth do they beat Seattle or Arizona. They MIGHT beat Miami, SF, Cleveland. After that, I give them 2 to 3 more upset wins. Face it, they have to rebuild, and the sooner the better. Get the cap fixed (any idea how long that will take?) and get it turned around. Fischer is one of the best, and the reason they will win more than 3 games.

[Jackass]

I think the titans will do a bit better than people think. they had a ton of injuries last year, and despite Volek's impressive stats, they are undoubtedy a better team with mcnair. If Brown can stay healthy, they can go back to a more ball controlled style of offense

[The Irish Doggy]

No Mason and an injury-prone Brown... not even McNair can keep that offense alive over a season by himself - especially since it seems he isn't bouncing back from injuries like he did a couple years ago. Don't fool yourself. Its a rebuilding year.

[Big Red]

The Titan homers always think their redneck nascar wanna be coach is worthy of his job instead of the loser he is.

 

Let's see how he fares this year compared to Billick the year the Ravens gutted their team (7-9) and DelRio his 2nd year with the Jags.

 

Fisher blow, McNair is the Titans and sadly, he's all but done.

[Duchess Jack]

The Titan homers always think their redneck nascar wanna be coach is worthy of his job instead of the loser he is.

 

Let's see how he fares this year compared to Billick the year the Ravens gutted their team (7-9) and DelRio his 2nd year with the Jags.

 

Fisher blow, McNair is the Titans and sadly, he's all but done.

739896[/snapback]

You have denial issues there Red.

[spain]

The Titans are in salary cap purgatory and are definitely in rebuilding mode. they will lose both starting corners, the #1 wr, their starting RT, and some other complimentary pieces. Floyd Reese decided to bite the bullet this year and blow up the team. I personally believe that it was the correct decision based on the the salary cap issues the titans faced. Realistically, this will be a long year for the Titans.

[NAUgrad]

San Fran won 4 games with almost no talent. Tenn. at least has some talent on their team. The should win at least 6 games I think. Sure there are some holes they need to fill, but even San Diego made things work last year when everyone thought they were going to be bad again.