After quarterback, running back, fullback, wide receiver, and tight end, the next stop on our trip around the Tennessee Titans position by position as we head into the 2015 offseason is a look at offensive tackle.
For years, offensive tackle was the easiest, least interesting positional analysis to write. From 2007 through 2013, the names of the starters at left tackle and right tackle that season could be written in pen with no need for even the possibility of correction fluid barring injury. Now, offensive tackle will be going through an extreme transition. Of the two starters when I wrote the preseason positional analysis, we already know neither will be suiting up for the Titans in 2015. Michael Roos has already retired, and Michael Oher was released in early February and has already signed with the Carolina Panthers.
Losing both of last season’s primary starters makes the current tackle depth chart very, very interesting, for certain values of interesting that include “it’s March, and we don’t currently have two starting tackles, which makes that it’s March good because we have free agency and the draft to add somebody.”
Here’s the one thing we do know: barring injury or something shocking happening, Taylor Lewan will be your starter at left tackle. He started there for six games after Roos went down before going down with an injury himself in Week 12 against the Eagles. In his 353 total snaps, he was on the whole the sort of solid player you’d expect from the 11th overall pick. He had some positive moments, and some “welcome to the NFL moments”-getting hurt the game he did was adding injury to insult, since he fared quite poorly. Still, he’ll be locked in as the starter and hopefully will not follow the Matt Kalil Development Curve.
If the Titans want their starting right tackle in 2015 to be someone who was on the team in 2014, Byron Stingily should be that player. Bumped to fourth tackle with the drafting of Lewan, injuries meant he got a chance to play 242 snaps and start four of the final five games, all at right tackle. Given the need for tackle depth and the problems around the league at the position, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the Titans bring him back and let him compete for the right tackle spot with another player and let him be the swing backup.
As with tight end, the Titans’ injury issues at offensive tackle meant they spent some time on 2014 with a couple replacement-level players I do not expect to see action in 2015. Will Svitek was signed after Roos went to injured reserve and started Weeks 13, 14, and 15 at left tackle. J.J. Watt was AFC Defensive Player of the Week after his first start, and the rest of Svitek’s 187 snaps went just about as swimmingly. He spent Weeks 16 and 17 as the swing tackle, and my expectation is his NFL career is over. Svitek’s struggles, plus Stingily’s Week 14 injury, led to the Titans signing Jamon Meredith. When the Titans signed him, I characterized him as a “it’s December, and we need an offensive tackle who can come in and play this week”-type player. Unlike Svitek, he is under contract for 2015. My guess is that if the season started today he would be the starting right tackle. As noted above, I do not consider him a starting-level tackle and would prefer Stingily to him.
The Titans also have a pair of young offensive tackles around, either of whom could be a candidate for the third tackle job but neither of whom I’d guess is likely to be even penciled into the starting right tackle job come preseason. Will Poehls spent the season on the practice squad and was signed to a futures contract at season’s end; I thought he was the less impressive of the third-string tackles in the preseason, but the Texans did go and claim Jeff Adams off waivers. My guess is he’s a candidate for the fourth tackle job and likely a right tackle only in the NFL, though we haven’t seen him play since August so who knows. Terren Jones was signed off the Falcons practice squad after Week 13. Stingily’s injury forced him into the lineup for 42 snaps the next week, and the Titans were impressed so much by his play that week they immediately went out and signed Meredith. He looked so unready Week 14 I have a very hard time putting him beyond Poehls and saying he’s anything other than a fourth tackle/practice squad candidate, but again you never know. If nothing else, though, we’ll always be able to remember the concussion he got in the Titans’ padded practice on Christmas Eve as a sign of Ken Whisenhunt’s devotion to hard coaching even at the end of a lost season.
Conclusion-Type Things
From stability to transition. From strength to ? One starter, left tackle, is set with Lewan. There are multiple candidates for the bottom two spots on the roster. But I don’t see a starting right tackle among the players who might be around in 2015, I think most outside observers would agree with me, and my guess is the Titans agree with me as well (hey, it’s happened before). The Titans haven’t been linked publicly to any right tackles yet in the pre-free agency period, but it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if they signed one of any caliber, from a top of the market guy like Bryan Bulaga to a lower tier player who may be a reasonably-priced starter or a high-level “compete” type like Joe Barksdale. If they don’t get one in free agency, then a right tackle is a strong possibility for the draft, by which I mean it’s one of about six different directions they could go with the 33rd overall pick.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
