One coordinator position down, one more to go.
With the hiring of Jerry Gray, the Tennessee Titans have found their head honcho on the defensive side of the football. Meanwhile, new head coach Mike Munchak is still in need of a guy to run the offense.
As Andrew mentioned in his most recent article, experience running a West Coast offense has been a shared characteristic of some of the names associated with the Titans’ vacant offensive coordinator position. I agree with my writing colleague that this could also be an indicator of the type of quarterback the team is looking for as they continue to conduct their search for a new starting signal-caller.
We’ve already examined a few QB possibilities with West Coast experience such as Kevin Kolb, Donovan McNabb and Matt Hasselbeck. Now it’s time to take a look at a sleeper of sorts: Green Bay’s Matt Flynn, a young talent who may have displayed enough promise in only 1 NFL start to make some team giddy enough to send the Packers a high-draft pick in exchange for Aaron Rodgers’ backup.
With the aforementioned Rodgers firmly entrenched as Green Bay’s franchise quarterback for the next decade, venturing elsewhere is the only way Matt Flynn is going to become a starter in this league.
Filling in for a concussed Rodgers in a primetime showdown with the New England Patriots, Flynn played well, completing 24 of his 37 passes for 3 touchdowns and only 1 pick in Green Bay’s 31-27 loss. In his only other significant playing time, he was 15 of 26 for 177 yards and one INT as he replaced an injured Rodgers in a 7-3 defeat to the Detroit Lions.
Flynn is an overachiever; drafted as a lowly seventh-rounder, he beat out the more highly regarded Brian Brohm, stepping up as the team’s #2 signal-caller behind Rodgers. Even in college, he emerged from the shadow of the once-promising and now all-time draft bust JaMarcus Russell at LSU while leading the school to a national title.
Trading for a talent such as Flynn would provide the Titans with the luxury of addressing their needs on the defensive side of the ball with their 8th overall pick. Conversely, trading for Flynn could also be viewed as a gamble, which is natural considering the Titans would be hitching their wagon to a quarterback who has only made one career NFL start.
Of course, exchanging a second/third rounder for a QB who doesn’t turn out to be “the guy” is a lot better than coming up with a disappointment courtesy of a top-ten draft selection, which is exactly why the Titans are in the search for a new signal-caller as we speak thanks to the team’s recent decision to part ways with Vince Young.
As much of a gamble it would be to acquire Flynn, maybe the Titans don’t want to get burned again by pinning the franchise’s hope on yet another top-ten pick at the QB position, especially in a draft where there’s a debate about whether or not some of the top guys are even worthy of a high selection.
To trade or not to trade for Matt Flynn, that is the question: As for the answers, feel free to provide your always welcomed input in the space below.
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