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Titans Pulse
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Titans Draft, great success!! |
Titans wanted to fill all the gaps on their roster following some cuts of ageing big name plaers like RE VandenBosch, TE Alge Crumpler and co, and also strengthen the receiving corps.
Rnd 1 WR Marcus Easley
6'2 91 SPD 90 JMP 84 CTH
Not our #1 WR target, but a capable pair of hands to line up with our other young WR Kenny Britt. Cannot complain about the calibre of this player near the end of Rnd 1.
Rnd 2 RE John Russell
6'3 82 OVR, 77 SPD, 87 ACC, 74 TKL, 70 AWR
Russell will seemlessly replace VandenBosch and bookend the DT's with Derrick Morgan at LE for many years to come. The RE we wanted, and we get him at the end of Rnd 2.
Rnd 3 FS Kendrick Lewis
78 OVR, 5'11, 87 SPD, 91 ACC, 92 JMP, 69 AWR
Following the cutting of the previous #2 FS, this was our 3rd targeted area from the draft, to cover injuries at FS and SS.
One of our top 3 FS targets Lewis dropped into round 3 and we eagerly snapped him up. Good enough to play nickle cb if required, Lewis looks like he could be a play maker, particularly if we can beef up his tackling. Great size, speed and awareness make him a real prospect.
Rnd 4 RT Casey "Cat" Knips
77 OVR, 6'8 tall, 90 STR, 80 ACC, 83 PBK, 83 RBK
Here in Tennesses our strength has always been acquiring rookie O-liners and turning them into pro players inside 12 months. Knips looks no exception, as we prepare him to take over from the expensive David Stewart in season 4.
Knips has it all, except a little bit of raw speed, but 80 ACC more than compensates for that.
Rnd 5 C Chris Fisher
6'3 74 ACC, 86 PBK, 76 RBK,
Our weakest pick in some ways and probably the player most likely to always be roster filler. We needed a backup center and the class itself was not especially strong. Not the greatest player but a roster need and capable in the event of injuries.
Rnd 6 QB Brian Babin
6'5 67 AWR, 90 THP 77 THA
We needed a #2/#3 QB as we let Garrard go a 2nd time, this time choosing to leave him in the wilderness.
With a little work on his THA, Babin looks a clone of our #1 QB Pike, and should start the season as #2. With a little drilling he will be a more than capable back up as the seasons progress, and will enable us to cut Grossman next year.
Rnd 7 TE Mike Caussin
6'5, 80 SPD, 81 ACC, 80 CTH, 51 PBK
Well like Easley and all of our 1st 4 picks, I view Caussin as a real steal at TE, and how he dropped to Rnd 7 I will never know.
Whatever you need in a TE Caussin has it...height, speed, great hands, and I expect him to rise to #2 on our roster sooner rather than later ahead of Bo Scaife.
OVERALL
Every gap on the roster is filled, the WR and TE areas are strengthened even after cuts, and the O-line and Safety area have quality depth to back up the 1st teamers.
Tennessee cannot wait for the season to start, and hope to begin it as brightly as the last ended.
GO TITANS!!! |
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Forum Discussion
(by R_Burns on 06/06/2010)
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Replies - 1 :: Views - 32 |
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Titans FA's & Offseason so far |
A not so busy offseason for the AFC Champs see them cut ROLB and team captain Keith Bulluck and replace him with a younger version in Chad Greenaway.
The Titans saw that cap was a little tight in Minnesota and pick up Greenaway on a bargain 3 year contract, to leave the Titans only a shade weaker at linebacker than last season.
Other cuts included the overpaid/underperforming Kyle VandenBosch. The veteran RE will be replaced via the draft or a player position switch. Also cut in efforts to reduce cap are some fringe players on the O-line and Ringer at HB who had underperformed and underdeveloped.
The Titans resign veteran FB Ahmad Hall, the unsung hero of last year, This monster blocker at FB should ensure that Tony Pike is covered on his throwing side through next season.
With Tony Pike gaining 13 on OVR year on year, 17 on AWR and 9 on THA, the future is looking ever rosier for the Tennessee franchise.
After a 6-10 in Season 1, failing to win AFC coach of the year with a SB run, no superstars, 6 starting rookies and a string of injuries rankled with Coach Burns.
Coach Burns will come back this season determined to prove the doubters wrong. |
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Forum Discussion
(by R_Burns on 06/02/2010)
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Replies - 1 :: Views - 27 |
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Titans #2 in the AFC |
After all the seasons I have spent in AAO, this year was probably one of those where I had the lowest performance expectancies.
A rebuilding season, one in which we might begin to develope a franchise QB, and begin to rebuild a relatively poor roster.
All 6 of our rookies started every game they were available for as did 3 new UFA's and a KR/PR who no-one had ever believed in. All these guys were on the field for us from Day One, all with little or no experience of winning NFL games.
Tennessee - no-one's fancy for a play off space, as we recall the early predictions for the season....
| : | AFC SOUTH
1st Colts
2nd Texans
3rd Jaguars
4th Titans
Prediction summary
I see the Colts just taking the division from the Texans this year. I think rookie QB Jimmy Clausen will need a season for the Texans as does any new rookie QB. The Colts have lost Reggie Wayne that is true, but they improved there secondry with the draft pick of Joe Haden and they still look the strongest team in the division. The Jags have improved with the selections of Sam Bradford and Dez Bryant in the draft but they will need a season to get in tune. Watch out for the Jags next season I think!
The Titans are another team who will be going with a rookie QB in Tony Pike, and he like the rest of the rookie QB's will need a season. The Titans will need Chris D. Johnson to step up this season if they want to challenge. |
No-one tipped the Titans to do anything, especially after losing 2 of the first 3 with tepid performances from the rookie QB. No-one outside of our training camp believed in us, not even as a surprise package, except for their GM who had this to say in week 6:
| : | To be truthful a 4-2 start is ahead of expectations, but with the AFC South a fairly wide open affair, all it might take is for our rookie QB to tighten up his ball management a little, for the Titans to make it into the post season - but there's a long way to go yet!!
So 4-2 at the third of a season mark, lets hope for 10-6 by the end of the season, now we have had that crucial winning start.
GO TITANS |
When anyone tries to work out how we have made the journey to the post season they look at the player stats; when they do look there are no standouts, except perhaps a relatively mean defense.
This is due to 2 things, in the first instance a rookie QB who started slowly and secondly an offense ravaged by injuries.
Fortunately however, though starting QB, HB, WR x 2, have all been out for long periods of time, the Offensive Line has remained intact and the 3 TE's on the roster have filled in for the WR's admirably.
Everyone must be tired of the injury reports from Nashville, but I never thought we would get through the loss of those players and the 3 starters on defense as well as we have.
So what now?
AFC Champs? SB Champs? Or elimination to a WC team.......???
I hope for either of the first 2, but it will be particularly difficult to repeat wins over teams like the Bengals if we faced them again (won 38-41 in the game of the season so far!), or the Steelers (lost 10-16) in the AFC. It will be even more of a pipedream to hope to beat the Bears (lost 7-23) who still have more 99's than Mr Whippy or the Eagles.
From here on in it is going to be very, very tough; no-one gave us a chance on Day 1, but maybe some are taking notice now.
Go Titans!! Make us proud 3 more times!! |
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Forum Discussion
(by R_Burns on 05/14/2010)
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Replies - 2 :: Views - 24 |
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The Replacements |
The Replacements of Tennessee managed a crucial win against the Jaguars tonight, pulling out another defensive display that helped the weakened offense do just enough to win.
No starting QB, no starting HB, still no Michael Griffin at FS nor LE Derrick Morgan...but the same grit that the Titans have played with for 9 of the last 12 games was very much in evidence again.
After the bad fortune suffered against the Colts when we managed 364 yds to 138 and still lost, we have wondered if we could ever get by with Garrard at QB.
Scramblers are reknowned for less than accurate passing and poor decision making, and though Garrard threw 4 picks against the Colts, since then he has been efficient if not setting the world alight.
Tonight he dealt his old paymasters a fatal body blow, just by handing off to the destructive tandem of Lendale White and Free agent speedster Michael Bennett.....Chris Johnson will be anxiously wondering if he will get his starting berth back one imagines!
White has run for over 100yds in 2 of the 4 games he has deputised for Johnson, and today's was a career performance, carrying the rock relentlessly for 129yds at an average of 7.17yds.
So the band of rookies and FA's rolls on, hoping to win next week to get a bye in the playoffs and avoid an extra round of games and allow all the faces to return to the roster.
Its been a very long slog, but hopefully this isn't the end of the story just yet, and we can go a few steps further.
Will Pike return with Johnson and Griffin and lead us to the promised land???
I daren't hope for it, but still I am proud of my boys.
There is no-one above the team in Tennessee, just a real sense of pulling together and working hard.
Go Titans!!! Go and rock the NFL world to its foundations!!!!
I would also like to say well done and thankyou to the rest of my AFC South GM's. Without you guys competing the way you have, winning the division would mean half of what it does.
Good luck to all of you for the rest of the season, and may you always win one less game than the Titans each season!!! |
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Forum Discussion
(by R_Burns on 05/10/2010)
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Replies - 3 :: Views - 40 |
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Titans in Crisis Pt 2 |
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it does......
The Titans manage to beat themselves in a key game with the Colts........
The Colts beat up all 3 of our QB's........ leaving rookie sensation Tony Pike on the sidelines for all but 2 passes and out of the next game and journeyman David Garrard with 4 interceptions and lucky to have a job.
A disastrous game where the Titans get 364 yds to 138 and 23 first downs to 5, but still manage to conjure up a loss of 10-24.
Lendale White fills the boots of Chris Johnson admirably, and Chris Chambers does an impressive job as an emergency stopgap WR with 140yds, but it is not enough to paper over the cracks of Garrard's and David Stewart's joint ineptitude.
40 players do their job on the field, but 2 do not, and its defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.
The Titans familiar end of season slide has begun, and those 2 wins for PO football seem a million miles away, as yet more injuries take their toll on our embattled roster.
It looks like we will be relying on the mighty Rex Grossman this week to salvage our season, and that may be a stretch too far. |
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Forum Discussion
(by R_Burns on 05/04/2010)
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Replies - 6 :: Views - 33 |
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At A Glance
| INJURY REPORT |
| PLAYER |
POS |
OVR |
LENGTH |
| AFC South |
| RNK |
TEAM |
W-L-T |
PCT |
DIV |
| #8 |
 Colts |
5-4-0 |
0.556 |
2-2 |
| #21 |
 Titans |
4-4-0 |
0.500 |
2-1 |
| #23 |
 Texans |
4-5-0 |
0.444 |
3-1 |
| #32 |
 Jaguars |
2-6-0 |
0.250 |
0-3 |
| TITANS SCHEDULE |
| WK |
DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME/RESULT |
| 1 |
Sun |
vs  Cardinals #28 |
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| 2 |
Sun |
vs Texans #23 |
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| 3 |
Mon |
vs  Bills #27 |
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| 4 |
Mon |
vs  Seahawks #14 |
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| 5 |
Sun |
at Colts #8 |
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| 6 |
Sun |
at  Chargers #3 |
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| 7 |
Sun |
at  49ers #5 |
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| 8 |
Sun |
at Jaguars #32 |
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| 10 |
Sun |
vs Jaguars #32 |
4:15pm |
| 11 |
Sun |
at  Patriots #7 |
8:30pm |
| 12 |
Sun |
at Texans #23 |
1:00pm |
| 13 |
Sun |
at  Rams #6 |
1:00pm |
| 14 |
Sun |
at  Jets #25 |
1:00pm |
| 15 |
Sat |
vs Colts #8 |
1:00pm |
| 16 |
Sat |
vs  Dolphins #15 |
1:00pm |
| 17 |
Sun |
vs  Steelers #19 |
8:30pm |
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