PROGRAMMING NOTE: ICYMI, I’m retiring from regular Titans blogging. March 9 will be my last date posting here.
In the past, I’ve considered this sort of a post, where I look at the Titans’ actual depth chart of a hypothetical version thereof and see where it stands based on which players are scheduled to become free agents. It’s still of some use this year, but I wonder how much. Still, let’s see what we can see.
Holes Filled Since the End of the Regular Season
RB-x(?): Antonio Andrews unsurprisingly and inevitably signed his exclusive rights free agent tender.
TE-3: Craig Stevens re-signed.
CB-3/slot CB-1: The Brice McCain signing I wrote up Wednesday, which basically fills Coty Sensabaugh’s spot. Jon Robinson was asked about him in his recent round of radio interviews and said mostly unsurprising things-ideally best suited as a nickel slot player, plays special teams, added a veteran presence who knows how to play.
Remaining Holes
LT-2/RT-2: Jamon Meredith finished the season listed as the backup at both spots. We can be pretty confident the Titans will be adding a free agent offensive tackle this offseason, because I strongly doubt they want to go in young at starter and backup. In other words, I don’t expect Will Poehls to be the tackle backup with Taylor Lewan and Laremy Tunsil as the starters. Poehls behind Lewan and Mitchell Schwartz, that might be a possibility.
RT-1: Everybody knows it. Like Meredith, Byron Bell is a free agent, so the Titans have one starting offensive tackle on the 2016 roster. If they had to line up and play March 10, Poehls might be the starter at right tackle. They’re going to add a starter-level player here, in free agency or the draft.
NT-1: The Titans have reportedly spoken with Al Woods about re-signing, but nothing has happened yet on that front. I suspect there’s a deal that gets done here.
NT-2: After a disappointing and injury-plagued 2015, it’s pretty much inevitable Sammie Hill will be playing elsewhere in 2016.
DT-3: Mike Martin might find a 4-3 team with interest in him. I’m not even sure this is a spot that gets filled per se, as at least one of the nose tackle spots is likely to be filled by a player with the ability to play this spot as well and it doesn’t make sense for a team running the Titans’ 3-4 to keep as many defensive linemen as the Titans did in 2015. (I may have mentioned that once or twice or 37 times since late August.)
Mack/WILB-2: Zach Brown has apparently already said his goodbyes to the team on Facebook. There will be a player added here.
Buck/SILB-2: Steven Johnson, who was primarily a special teams player last year, is a free agent. Justin Staples has a shot at this job, but I expect Robinson to bring in competition for it. Like the Miami game showed, nominal Mack-1 Wesley Woodyard is probably the real Buck-2.
FS-1: With right tackle, the other need everybody knows after the release of Michael Griffin, and a place where the Titans will be adding a player in free agency or the draft.
If you’re thinking … that seems underwhelming, and this was a more interesting post in past years, then you understand why I wavered on whether writing this post was a useful exercise this year. The reason is simple-the Titans just aren’t losing that many players off last year’s roster. Of the “starters” last year, just Byron Bell and Al Woods were set to his free agent. The Titans then added an additional hole by releasing Michael Griffin. But it’s rare for teams to be set to bring back 19 of their 22 starters.
The other reason this post is underwhelming is Robinson’s biggest offseason issue is not filling in all these holes left by departing players but which spots were filled out of necessity last year and should be upgraded, and just how much they should be upgraded. I’d argue OLB should be high on the Titans’ list of positions to address, but they have two (good) starters and had backups. The issue with this post is it only captures that the backups are set to return, not the minor technical detail that they weren’t good enough. The story is similar at a number of other positions, including running back, wide receiver, center, and cornerback. That after the McCain signing those aren’t listed as depth chart holes does not mean that I believe those are not positions of at least moderate need I expect the Titans to address in free agency and/or the draft. How might the Titans address free agency and the draft, then? That’s on the docket for Monday and Tuesday of next week as I wind down my time here.
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