I know that Titans’ defensive line coach Jim Washburn likes Kevin Vickerson. He kept Vickerson as the fourth defensive tackle on the roster last year, even though I thought Antonio Johnson was the better player. Mookie didn’t survive the final cut at the end of training camp, ended up on the Titans’ practice squad and was later signed by the Colts, starting four games for them.
Making the roster will be even more difficult for Vickerson this year. Jovan Haye, Tony Brown and Jason Jones are all ahead of him on the depth chart and second-round draft pick Sen’Derrick Marks is also expected to make the team. Bear in mind that in case of injuries at DT, the Titans have an insurance policy in DE Dave Ball, who can move inside to play DT.
The one big advantage Vickerson has is his size. Three of the other four DTs all weigh in at 290 or less while Vickerson is listed at 305. He’s the big body, the space eater, which Washburn would like to have on the field in short-yardage situations.
This leads to the question, “will the Titans keep five defensive tackles this year?”
Drexel recently speculated on the possibility of the Titans keeping five defensive ends, which doesn’t bode well for keeping five DTs. It would buck recent history if nothing else.
Tom wrote an interesting piece the other day on the value of a DT to the Titans. Great stuff that raises some excellent points, but while the Titans appear to value DTs in the Mike Reinfeldt era more than in the Floyd Reese era it doesn’t mean they value them enough to keep five.
Keeping four defensive tackles has been the norm even though Albert Haynesworth was not a model of dependability injury-wise. So why should Tennessee keep five of them now?
Barring injury to one of the top four on the depth chart, Kevin Vickerson will have a tough row to hoe from now until September.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
