Let me start out by saying that I understand the whole picture isn’t finished yet. There is still a long time between now and September. No games are actually being won or lost at the beginning of March (someone should tell the Jacksonville Jaguars that).
I said yesterday on Twitter that the Tennessee Titans roster is a lot worse than it was when they lost to the Bengals in January. That might have been an overstatement. Maybe it isn’t A LOT worse than it was, but I don’t understand how you can feel good about where they are.
Let’s talk about how is gone, and let me say from the top, I completely understand why all of the guys that they have let go are gone. They couldn’t afford to pay any of these guys what they were scheduled to pay them, but that doesn’t mean them being cut doesn’t hurt the team.
The best player they have lost so far is Rodger Saffold. He was banged up last year but still played really well, and they don’t have an obvious replacement for him on the roster. Maybe it’s Dillon Radunz, but if that’s the case, you still don’t have a right tackle.
The Julio Jones the Titans got was a shell of the Julio Jones we saw with the Atlanta Falcons. I completely understand that. They couldn’t count on him to be on the field. I get that as well. The biggest problem here is that they are terrible at wide receiver currently. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is fine as the 4th receiver. He’s currently the #2. That’s a problem.
It’s a similar story with Jackrabbit Jenkins. Dude wasn’t the player he had been earlier in his career. The problem is they are thin at the position. We all hope Caleb Farley is going to come back from the ACL injury and prove he was worthy of being a first round pick, but counting on that feels a little bit foolish considering his injury history.
There are so many holes on the roster right now. They need a least one starter on the offensive line, possibly two. They need to add at least three playmakers in the passing game – preferably a tight end and two receivers. They also need depth at corner.
The other problem is so many teams in the AFC have gotten, at least on paper, a lot better. The AFC West is just going to be silly – and the Titans play them this year. The Bills have added talent to what was already a talented roster.
With all of that being said, it isn’t that hard to see a path to filling those needs. Sign a JuJu Smith-Schuster and an Austin Hooper. Draft a receiver in the first round and an offensive lineman in the third round that can play and you will feel pretty good about where they are entering camp.
So now it’s your turn. How do you feel about where this team is on March 17th?