SELF-PUBLICITY NOTE: Football Outsiders Almanac 2015, the annual tome previewing all 32 NFL teams, plus the college football season put out by Football Outsiders, is now available. I was a contributor for the sixth consecutive season, writing the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and, yes, once again, Tennessee Titans chapters. The PDF is currently available from the Football Outsiders website, while the dead tree version is now on Amazon. Buy it, buy it, buy it! /end plug
The Tennessee Titans being the 2015 preseason tonight at the Georgia Dome against the Atlanta Falcons. The game begins at 6 PM CT and will be aired by the Titans and Falcons local preseason affiliates and nationally on NFL Network. Yes, being bad enough to earn the second overall pick does come with the occasional benefit.
I note this every year at this time, but that the Titans are playing the Falcons instead of some other team doesn’t matter that much. The Titans aren’t going to prepare for the Falcons the way they do for a regular season opponent, or even the way they will for the Chiefs in Week 3 of the preseason. What the Titans will do tonight will be a function of what the Titans want to see and do rather than gameplanned responses to particular things the Falcons do.
Here are the things I’ll be focusing my attention on as I watch tonight’s game:
1. Marcus Mariota. Like everybody else. He probably won’t play that much more than any other starting quarterback, 12-15 plays, 20 at most, and preseason is vanilla and conservative. That makes what to look for mostly process rather than results. Is the offensive execution crisp? Does the game look too fast for him? Can he do the basics well? If he gets to throw downfield, I’d love to see that, but I’m not counting on it.
2. First-team offensive line. I just covered them in the tackles, guards, and center positional analyses, but there are big questions about each of the five likely starters. Today we’ll get our first answers.
3. Wide receiver depth. I don’t have questions about Harry Douglas and Kendall Wright. It’s the next four guys who are the great unknowns. Is Hakeem Nicks really that high in the pecking order? Will Justin Hunter finally be a good NFL receiver, and has he learned to catch? What the heck does Dorial Green-Beckham look like now, since he hasn’t played a game since January 2014? Is Tre McBride really as good as draft scouts think?
4. Outside linebacker depth. Beyond Derrick Morgan and Brian Orakpo, the Titans have absolutely zero known quantities, just a bunch of unknowns and possibilities. Jonathan Massaquoi in his return to a Falcons team that cut him, Josh Norris binky sixth-round pick Deiontrez Mount, UDFAs like Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil and J.R. Tavai… can any of these players do enough to make me not immediately press the panic button if Morgan or Orakpo ever has a headache or chips his fingernail?
5. Zach Brown. Four snaps last year, so if you discount the preseason he hasn’t played a real game in nearly as long as Dorial Green-Beckham. Okay, that’s a bit much, but when we last saw Zach Brown he was coming off a disappointing sophomore season where I believe I compared the Titans handling of the weakside linebacker position to throwing cheese at a wall just to see if it sticks. He has the physical ability to be pretty good. Will he be? Does he play to his speed? Does he play physical? Does he find his depth on pass drops?
6. Cornerback depth. Plenty of questions here, as uncertainty at multiple levels after Jason McCourty (who probably won’t play). With Blidi Wreh-Wilson out, I’d expect Coty Sensabaugh to get the start. What does nickel look like, Cox or Sensabaugh in the slot or the third corner there? How good is Cody Riggs, really? What’s the depth chart look like after him? Does Khalid Wooten play outside at all, or is he just a safety under Dick LeBeau? There’s a lot of opportunity for playing time here and maybe a job or two available.
7. Returners. Preseason kickoffs, especially in domes, tend to go for touchbacks, so we may not see many actual returns. But we can at least see who goes out there. Is it Dexter McCluster on both punts and kickoffs, followed by Jacoby Ford? If not, who else?
8. Special teams snap totals. Hugely important area for roster bubble players. Riffing off yesterday’s post, which backs and receivers are out there? Do any of the depth linebackers stand out? A depth defensive back like Riggs or Wooten earns their job here probably about as much as they do on defense. The lack of experience both individually and together means preseason special teams play is often ragged, but individual players can still flash and disappoint.
9. Everybody else. I do at least mention everybody on the roster in my positional analyses, so I could go on and on here. It’s at least semi-real football and the start of a new sesason, time to get rid of the dismal taste of 2-14.
10. No injuries. First, foremost, and most important.
Like I do every first preseason game, I’ll be yapping entirely too much about it on Twitter, so follow and yell at me there if you so desire. Recap up after the game, and next week an in-depth post looking at the questions I bring up here and whatever else catches my eye during the game.
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