After quarterback, running back, fullback, wide receiver, tight end, and offensive tackle, the next stop on our trip around the Tennessee Titans position by position as we head into the 2016 offseason is a look at the guards.
On a different team, questions at guard might be one of the focal points of the offseason, at least for the offensive line. The top-10 pick is heading into the final season of his rookie deal, the Titans have a big decision to make on his fifth-year option and whether he should be part of their plans going forward. The other guard spot could be a competition between the undrafted free agent who started at the end of the season and the other second-year player, who started earlier in the season at tackle. But that the Titans have an answer and a couple plausible answers makes guard the biggest strength on the offensive line.
I still fantasize at times about how the 2013 draft could have unfolded, with the Titans taking Star Lotulelei in the first round and Larry Warford in the second. But that didn’t happen, and Chance Warmack has been and will be the Titans’ starting right guard. The preseason “take” on him was slightly optimistic, seeing signs of an improved body and fewer questions than past years (though perhaps those were just directed elsewhere). And we got … another season of Chance Warmack-like play. Again, the non-technical evaluation of offensive line play prevents me from going into depth on the evaluation, plus I didn’t watch nearly enough NFL as a whole in anywhere near enough detail to say with any degree of precision where Warmack ranks leaguewide among guards. But I think was he was okay but not anywhere near great, still isn’t nearly the player the Titans thought they were getting when they had him ranked second overall among prospects in the 2013 draft, and was probably about an average starter.
He’s now heading into the final base season of his rookie deal. The Titans have a decision to make on whether to exercise his fifth-year option. As a top ten pick, that number is at the transition tag for his position for his fourth year in the league (so, 2016). For tag purposes, all offensive linemen are grouped together, so Warmack’s fifth-year option would be based on the top offensive tackle contracts. We’re still waiting for finalization of the 2016 cap, but projections indicate it could be around $11.7 million. Based on that number, the answer for whether the Titans should exercise the fifth-year option on Warmack is NO. But he’ll be the starting right guard again in 2016 and play every snap he’s healthy (knee injury against Browns in Week 2 caused him to miss Weeks 3 and 5, 833 snaps in 2015, 80.3% of total).
Undrafted free agent rookie Quinton Spain not only made the team, he started the final six games (383 snaps, 36.9% of total). I didn’t have a strong enough feel for his play, so I just went ahead and watched his play specifically in the season finale against the Colts. He played both tackle and guard at West Virginia, and tackle is where he played (mostly?) in the preseason, but I’ve consistently considered him a guard because he’s a phone booth player who benefits from being able to work in confined spaces. He doesn’t have great foot quickness and can use his length (6’4″, 33 3/4″ arms, or just 1/8″ shorter than Taylor Lewan) to help recover. He may be a bit top-heavy, and I’m not sure he’s the puller the Titans would see as ideal at left guard if they’re going to running as much Power and man-blocking as I think they will (he pulled twice against the Colts, once as part of the fake on a throwback screen and the other one David Cobb took backside). I’m listing him before the next player because he’s the incumbent, but they’re both projects for Russ Grimm (and Mike Sullivan) and the winner probably gets the left guard starting job.
Quitting blogging will probably spare you this rant in its full form, but Jeremiah Poutasi was one of a number of Ruston Webster draft picks of recent vintage on whom there was a wide divergence between their scouting reports (Bishop Sankey, Marqueston Huff also come immediately to mind), whom the Titans took at the top of that range, and who then proceeded to perform like players on the other end of that range. Of his 400 snaps (38.5% of total), 396 came as the Titans’ starting right tackle. He was mercifully benched when Ken Whisenhunt was fired, because yanking a player in-game two times in three weeks is awful on a number of levels. A different Titans staff cross-trains him at guard beginning in early May, so they have a fallback potion if he’s too slow-footed to be a good tackle prospect like a bunch of the people I listen to thought. I’m excited to see how he does under Grimm and in a position that should be a much better fit for where he wins as a player. He should compete with Spain for the starting left guard spot, and I don’t have a strong feeling for whether there is or is not a favorite.
Byron Bell and Jamon Meredith both played guard at times; I covered them in yesterday’s tackles analysis. Both are free agents and I don’t expect them to be re-signed. Joe Looney also played some guard; I’ll cover him in the upcoming center positional analysis, since he finished the season there. Josue Matias was a part of the undrafted free agent class with Spain and like Spain received a draftable grade from some non-NFL scouts; he spent the season on the practice squad and was signed to a futures contract after the season. 2015 says he’s probably behind Spain and Poutasi and do the Titans really want three non-center interior linemen entering their second season removed from college?
Conclusion-Type Thoughts
One set starter, two young and possibly interesting options for the other spot. Given what Jon Robinson has said about how many non-starters are starting on offensive lines in the NFL, my guess is the Titans will be relatively content with what they have here and look to direct their major energies on the offensive line elsewhere, like finding a starting tackle and solidifying center.
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