Tennessee Titans Week 1 Snap Report

By the NFL's official numbers, here is how the Titans lined up in Week 1 against the Steelers.

Offense (67 total)
QB: Jake Locker 67
RB/FB: Chris Johnson 43, Jackie Battle 19, Collin Mooney 17, Shonn Greene 4
TE: Delanie Walker 51, Craig Stevens 49, Taylor Thompson 25
WR: Kenny Britt 43, Nate Washington 38, Damian Williams 27, Kendall Wright 19
OL: Andy Levitre 67, Michael Roos 67, David Stewart 67, Rob Turner 67, Chance Warmack 67

Defense (53 total)
DE: Derrick Morgan 49, Kamerion Wimbley 27, Karl Klug 23, Ropati Pitoitua 19
DT: Jurrell Casey 45, Sammie Lee Hill 17, Mike Martin 17, Antonio Johnson 3
LB: Zach Brown 53, Moise Fokou 53, Akeem Ayers 29
CB: Jason McCourty 53, Alterraun Verner 52, Coty Sensabaugh 36
S: Michael Griffin 53, Bernard Pollard 51, George Wilson 3

Patrick Bailey, Beau Brinkley, Tommie Campbell, Colin McCarthy, Mike Otto, Darius Reynaud, Chris Spencer, Daimion Stafford, and Blidi Wreh-Wilson each only appeared on special teams. Ryan Fitzpatrick did not appear in the game.

Comments: 

1. I did not for the first game initial viewing keep anything like formal track of what the Titans did personnel-wise on either offense or defense. My casual impressions were the Titans played a lot of 2-TE sets, which was what I think we all expected them to do, and a lot of nickel on defense in response to the Steelers playing a lot of 3-WR sets. The above numbers support both of these observations.

2. Chris Johnson averaged playing 82% of the time last year. His 43 snaps were 64% of the Week 1 total. My guess is he will likely play anywhere from 60 to 85% of the snaps in a given game, depending on what the Ttians are able and need to do offensively.

3. Shonn Greene carried the ball every snap he was in the game on offense.

4. Kendall Wright did not appear on the official injury report. Was his snap total still reduced because he was recovering from his injury, or is this the kind of role we should expect from him going forward? My suspicion is the latter, as the Titans may view him as a slot receiver only.

5. I expect the precise defensive line snap mix will be pretty variable from game to game aside from Morgan and Casey playing a lot. With how much 3-WR the Steelers played and how ineffectively they ran the ball, that meant few snaps for Pitoitua, Hill, and Mookie. I expect all three to play more next week against the Texans, who should play with a fullback and/or second tight end on the field a lot more.

6. Once again, I'll pay attention to personnel groupings on defense on a re-watch, but only 3 snaps for George Wilson means not many dime looks, whether 3-2-6 Ruby or the 4-1-6 they showed in the season finale against the Jaguars.

7. Barring injury, does any of Tommie Campbell, Colin McCarthy, or Darius Reynaud have a role other than on special teams? I know, Jerry Gray has talked about switching up corners on a weekly basis, but like Verner in the slot that is something I will only believe when I see it actually happen in a game that counts. I think the answer is pretty much no for all three players, to the point where I might even guess Bailey plays in the rare 4-LB packages over McCarthy. Obviously I could easily be wrong about this.