The Tennessee Titans were back on the practice field on Tuesday for an open portion of OTAs practice in front of media, and that means I have more thoughts!
Here are the things that stuck with me most from speaking with Head Coach Brian Callahan, watching practice, and talking to players afterwards:
Wide Receiver Versatility
It sometimes feels like the NFL is going the way of the NBA at wide receiver: positionless ball. Gone are the days of type-casting a receiver and sticking them full-time into one of the three traditional roles… right?
I asked Titans WR coach Tyke Tolbert about the trend of cross-training and versatility in the league, and you can listen to his answer here:
So what does that mean for the path to legitimacy for players like Xavier Restrepo? Well, it generally makes it more difficult to roster a guy who has positional limitations. But if you ask Brian Callahan, players who have a slot skillset can be more useful than that may lead you to think:
“There's definitely a route tree inside that takes a particular skill set to do. There's teams I think you're finding more and more have more of slot receivers because formations are condensed and so a lot of things are inside the numbers and you're kind of working with two or three different versions of slot players. I think the Rams are a good example of that style of offense, but there's a lot different ways you can use players and there's a lot of different body types that you can use inside and but there is a certain skill set you have to have, there's a recognition you have to have and a feel because everything inside is different than it is just going one-on-one with a corner or just being able to see a corner and a safety. That part is a lot more challenging for those guys inside.”
This will be an ongoing discussion throughout the offseason, especially when it comes to Restrepo’s candidacy for a roster spot. The bottom line: each offense is different and requires different skill sets. The way the Titans want to run theirs—and the types of players they want in it—may be more of a determining factor for a player like Restrepo making the team than how he performs.
Not Messing Around On Reps
This time of year, everybody wants to know who is playing where in the rotation, and how much. And, full disclosure, it doesn’t exactly seem to matter that much yet for the Titans. It’s early in the offseason process, and they’re heavily rotating players in and out of the lineup throughout practice to get guys in as many different positions as possible. So it’s more useful to look inter-positionally at who is playing more than others right now. Once August comes, playing with the 1st/2nd/3rd team will be both much clearer and much more important.
That being said… at quarterback, the Titans aren’t messing around. Despite this being a “QB competition” publicly, everybody in the whole world knows Cam Ward is the starter. And the Titans aren’t messing around. They’re saying one thing about the status of their starting job, but they’re doing a different thing when it comes to getting Ward’s feet wet at practice. He’s far out-pacing the pack when it comes to reps. If Ward is getting half the pie, Levis is getting a fourth, and the remainder is being split.
Handicapping The Linebacker Battle
The Titans signed linebacker Cody Barton to a 3yr contract this offseason, and he’s locked into one of their starting ILB slots. But what about the guy playing alongside him?
The Titans have set up a heated battle for that seat at the table. The contestants: Cedric Gray, James Williams, Otis Reese, David Gbenda, Amari Burney, Curtis Jacobs, and Anfernee Orji. And it feels like the top of the leaderboard has been set internally.
We spoke with LB coach Frank Bush for the first time this offseason before practice, and he didn’t shy away from setting the expectations for 2nd year draft picks Cedric Gray and James Williams.
He said that the team expects them to be ahead, in part because they know the system. They’re the guys running with the 1’s most often at this point. And it makes sense that these are the two who are being asked the most of this year: it’s time for the guys who have the most invested in them to show us something. The Titans are going to give them every opportunity this summer to do so.
Early UDFA Surprise Contender
One final thing: I haven’t watched the defense super intensely at either of the two practices we’ve been to. I’ve paid attention to who is getting the most reps, sized guys up, etc. But frankly, I find it more useful to watch defense when the pads come on. Offense tends to shine in shorts.
That being said, a couple guys have still managed to catch my eye. And the one I kept finding myself drawn to at both practices is UDFA cornerback Jermari Harris.
I wrote about him as one of the more promising UDFA signing to keep an eye on in the week following the draft. He was a very good player at Iowa, one of the best defensive programs in the country. It was a bit surprising he wasn’t drafted, and I won’t be shocked one bit if he carves out a role as depth that the Titans may (very) realistically need to lean on this season. My colleague Travis May wrote a good feature on him that you should read right here.
