Today was my first day attending 2008 Tennessee Titans training camp. Overall, it was a pretty good experience (with the exception of the blazing hot weather).
While Andrew focused most of his attention towards observing the defense, I was particularly interested in the offense and how Vince Young is faring in picking up the nuances of Dinger’s system.
This is what I observed:
First things first: the guys that weren’t on the field. Apparently, Lendale White didn’t practice during the morning session due to a back injury. One of the biggest stories of training camp thus far has been the return of Justin McCareins, but he was unavailable today because of a bad hammy.
My observation of the offense began with the running back drills. RB’s coach Earnest Byner got things started with this juicy comment towards a somewhat lethargic group of Titan running backs:
“Wake the %@*& up!”
Once the backs were fully awake, I was mostly impressed with Chris Johnson’s ability to catch passes out of the backfield. He was complimented by Byner on several occasions with a “good job”comment.
This Johnson kid is a keeper, folks.
While the Titans defense was busy fighting with the Rams offense, Vince Young and the troops were going up against the Rams defense in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills.
Vince had his share of good moments. He delivered a nice touch pass to a wide open Chris Davis on one play. He also hooked up with Roydell on a pretty pass later in the drill.
The bad Vince emerged on one particular play, when forced to make a quick throw, his errant throw was intercepted by a Ram defender who, judging by the pass, appeared to be the intended receiver on the play.
One thing that really stood out with Vince today was the constant checkdowns. He was consistently throwing the ball to his backs and tight ends instead of attempting to take chances downfield. Vince appears to be doing a lot of thinking on the field instead of relying on his natural instincts, which is indicative of a young QB trying to learn a new offense.
While Vince was mostly checking down, Collins was taking chances downfield. He completed a beautiful pass to Lavelle Hawkins, who made a nice over the shoulder grab on the play. Kerry also connected with Dwayne Blakley on a pass over the middle with defenders draped all over him.
As for the Titans’ third string QB Ingle Martin, things couldn’t have been worse. His passes were often wobbly and errant as he tried to connect with Titan receivers. One particular throw that was accurate sailed towards a wide open Jamie Petrowski, who did his best to imitate the Three Stooges on the play by dropping the football.
The receivers that stood out today in my opinion were Lavelle Hawkins and Roydell Williams. Justin Gage and Brandon Jones were the starters, but Hawkins and Williams made their share of plays. Biren Ealy made a few short grabs and rookie Ed Williams didn’t help his chances of making the team as a result of a dropped pass near the sideline.
As for the running game, with Lendale out, the reps were mostly split between Johnson, Henry and Hall. Johnson made a few defenders miss on various occasions, and looks to be a real threat in the backfield. Henry didn’t do anything distinguishing, but he didn’t really make any mistakes either.
I’m expecting Ahmard “Sarge” Hall to get some carries in the backfield next season. His damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead running style fits the mold of the traditional Titan power running attack. I’d like to see Dinger use him on goal-line situations this season.
As a result of VY’s constant checkdowns, the tight ends got a lot of work today. Crumpler looks solid and if he stays healthy, I expect him to lead the team in receptions next year. He has already emerged as VY’s number one option in the offense.
As I mentioned before, Blakely made a nice grab and Petrowski dropped an easy one. Scaife caught a short pass or two and Craig Stevens even got in on the act with a nice grab on an Ingle Martin pass.
To sum it up, the Titans did a solid job on offense today, with a few minor issues that will hopefully be corrected as we get closer to the regular season opener.
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