While Tennessee Titans fans were excited to see the offense at training camp, the team's defense is winning the early battles... for now.
The offense had a pair of rough outings on Wednesday and Thursday, prompting Jim Wyatt to open Thursday's "observations" article with this note: "From start to finish, I thought the defense set the tone in today's session. Defenders were consistently in the face of the quarterbacks, and they picked off two passes on the day. I heard the defense chirping all day, and for good reason."
Offensive players like Calvin Ridley, Chig Okonkwo, and Tony Pollard have talked about how nice it is to have continuity in the offense, but so far, those results aren't showing up. It seems like there are some growing pains with the changes (six new starters), and if fans aren't careful, they could start to get concerned that this is going to be another year where the offense spends the whole summer getting crushed by the defense.
Luckily, Cam Ward is a quarterback with a history of turning things around after slow starts, and this is a great test of his ability to lead and to develop in real time. On Saturday, the Titans held their third training camp practice, this time at Nissan Stadium. Ward already looked significantly better compared to the first two sessions.
Offenses generally start training camp slower than defenses, and having a rookie quarterback made that almost a certainty for the Titans this year. However, the playbook will expand, skill players start to move up and down the depth chart, and Ward's work ethic and leadership will lead to bounce-back days for the offense before July is over.
Go and watch what Ward did last year at Miami against Louisville, Duke, Cal, and Virginia Tech. The operation wasn't always clean in those games, whether it was terrible defensive performance, or dumb decision leading to a punishing turnover by Ward himself, but when it mattered, Ward walked away with the win.
You shouldn't judge a quarterback on wins and losses, but those games forced Ward to drag his team to victory despite their best efforts to lose. That is the quarterback the Titans drafted, and that is the guy that this fan base is excited to see for the next decade.
Ward is off to a slow start at training camp, but Saturday showed real progress, and the best is yet to come.
This Titans roster prediction will make rookie quarterback Cam Ward happy
The Tennessee Titans are predicted to make a move that will delight their rookie quarterback Cam Ward.
Rookie quarterback Cam Ward has officially been handed the keys to the Tennessee Titans, and now he has to deliver for the franchise. While he may be the driver of a turnaround, he won’t be able to do it all by himself. The Titans know they need to surround him with adequate help in order to return to contender status and they’ve been working on that. Surrounding a young quarterback with familiar faces also helps their transition to the NFL, and Tennessee has done that as well.
After drafting Ward with the No. 1 overall pick, the Titans signed his top receiver from Miami, Xavier Restrepo, as an undrafted player. However, the move wasn’t just viewed as a sentimental move; experts believe Restrepo has a chance to actually contribute to the wide receiver room. In a recent Bleacher Report piece, Brent Sobleski named one undrafted rookie from all 32 teams most likely to make their respective 53-man rosters. For Tennessee, Restrepo was the guy listed.
Xavier Restrepo named as the undrafted rookie most likely to make Titans roster
Sobleski explained hat Restrepo has an advantage since he already has chemistry with Ward. However, the reason the receiver emerged as the quarterback’s No. 1 target at Miami last year is because he knows how to get open. Ward called him one of the best route runners in college football, and praised him for never losing in man coverage. Those skills should show up for Restrepo in training camp, helping him to make the active roster.
"When the quarterback is already on your side, things are going well. But it's not just Restrepo's relationship with Ward, which derives from one year playing together. Restrepo may lack top-end speed, yet he still left the Miami Hurricanes program as its all-time leading receiver for a reason and Ward mentioned a few reasons why."Brent Sobleski (Bleacher Report)
Ward, of course, is a lock for the roster, but if his guy Restrepo can also make it, the rookie quarterback would be overjoyed. Beyond their connection, there is definitely room for Restrepo to contribute in the wide receiver room, this year and seasons beyond.
