by Zach Harmuth
So the Titans preseason starts next week, and fans finally can dip their toe into the warm, warm waters of Professional Football from Nashville. The full plunge won’t come for four weeks yet, but the preseason will give us all a taste of the hopefully good things ahead and a good look at a much improved Titans team. Speaking of dip, for all intents and purposes guacamole and salsa con queso taste just as good when watching a preseason game. So let’s dig in.
After going 2-14 last year and finishing last in several categories and standings that will, in the spirit of Southern courtesy, not be listed here there is maybe only one theme to think about this year- There is only one direction to go, and that is up.
This is a new team in a lot of ways, and the preseason is for just that purpose. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt will use these four games to find out just what he has in his team. The games are sort of freebies. Mulligans. It does not matter if the team goes 0-4; it does matter how much Whisenhunt finds out about who can help him and who can’t.
The Titans preseason schedule:
August 14 @ Atlanta at 6:00 p.m.
August 23 versus St. Louis in Nashville at 5:00 p.m. (Nationally televised on Fox)
August 28 @ Kansas City 5:00 p.m.
Sept. 3 versus Minnesota in Nashville at 7:00 p.m.
The preseason is all about crystallizing the depth chart. Of course, it is also all about the number-one pick, Marcus Mariota, the former Oregon star quarterback and first overall selection in the April draft.
Whisenhunt has said that Mariota will start from day one. Titans fans, and the rest of America, will get their first chance to see him in action in the Titan blues on August 14th, against the Atlanta Falcons. The game is in Atlanta.
Attention will be on Mariota and his receiving corps. The likely starting receivers will be Harry Douglas and Kendall Wright.
Douglas, in his eighth season, spent his whole career with the Falcons before this year. He is a dependable veteran possession receiver with one 1,000-yard season under his belt. He won’t be star but he could help make things easier for the rookie passer with his veteran savvy.
Wright, the fourth year man, though undersized has had a nice few years in Nashville. After dismal mediocrity under center the last few years, the raw but ridiculous Mariota should separate the wheat from the chaff for Wright. If he has break-out star potential, we should see glimpses of it this preseason as he develops chemistry with Mariota.
Also something to look for is how Mariota develops chemistry with tight end Delanie Walker. Walker, in his 10th season, had a sort-of break out year last season, his second with the Titans, going for a career high 890 yards. The tight end is a safety valve/security blanket for quarterbacks, especially usefully for rookies on a learning curve. Mariota to Walker could be in a lot of announcers mouths this year.
The next week, on August 23, Jeff Fischer returns to Nashville for the first time since he was replaced by his assistant coach Mike Munchak in 2013. Fischer’s new team, the Rams, have seen little success since he took over.
But there should be a lot of drama surrounding the Fischer homecoming. Fox and the NFL found it sufficiently tantalizing as to make this one of eight nationally televised preseason games this year. Both teams are young, rebuilding and promising.
After breaking the ice and getting a look at Mariota in the first week of the season, this will be the game to look at what the Titans have in the backfield. The starting running back’s job is a show-me proposition. If one of the three backs on the Titans depth chart blows up in the preseason he could start the season on top.
Nominal starting back Bishop Sankey showed signs of talent in his 2014 rookie campaign. He went for almost 600 yards. But his 3.7 yards per carry average, and 18- yard long run do not add up to much promise. He did not show the top speed last year that it takes to be a top of the line running back. But one year is just that.
David Cobb is a 5th round pick out of Minnesota. At 5′ 11” and 229 pounds, he is a big, bruising back in the mold of Lendale White. It is exciting to imagine him working off holes that Mariota play action might provide.
Dexter McCluster, a fifth year back who spent the last few years behind Jamaal Charles in Kansas City, will bring a veteran’s stability to the backfield. He could see a lot of playing time simply by virtue of his experience this year. He understands the offense and can make his blocks.
There is so much in flux in the preseason. Things can change from quarter to quarter. Week to week.With that in mind, we will be back after the Falcons game to go over what to look for on the Titans’ defense, special teams and offensive line and the third and fourth games of the 2015 preseason.
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