All season, it’s felt as though rookie cornerback Adoree’ Jackson is incredibly close to ripping one of these kick returns or punt returns for a touchdown. He’s the type of player that makes you hold your breath every time he takes off. I don’t think there’s been as exciting a returner in Nashville since Pacman Jones (though, it’s worth shouting out Marc Mariani here). Mike Mularkey and company have even slotted Jackson in on offense in an effort to capture that explosiveness in all facets of the game.
I think it would be beneficial for this coaching staff to consider trying to bottle that up and and unleash it on offense tomorrow night in Foxborough.
The Titans are going to need all hands on deck against the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick and his coaches are going to do everything in their power to take away the Titans’ strengths and make quarterback Marcus Mariota beat them with his arm. I imagine they’re going to sell out to slow down Derrick Henry and double team Delanie Walker. So, it’s going to take an unlikely hero to step up on offense to make plays. The logical choice here would be someone like Rishard Matthews. Maybe even some of the long shots like Corey Davis or Jonnu Smith. A lot of people have already stated that, and it makes a lot of sense, considering…y’know….those players actually play on offense.
But, you look at Jackson’s skills and they’re as electric as you could ask for – raw speed and elusiveness. More importantly, when he gets in the open field, he’s unpredictable. He’s had some growing pains as a cornerback, for sure, but his future looks bright regardless. The Titans could use those skills on offense to add a wrinkle and keep the Patriots guessing.
Plus, if it works, it could loosen up the run defense for Henry to get going. People (myself included – I’ll own that) criticized Terry Robiskie for calling a play to Jackson with the game on the line in Arizona. We haven’t seen much of Jackson on offense since then. But, you can’t throw those packages away because one play didn’t go right. Throw some screen passes, some jet sweeps, whatever it takes – in a game where the Titans need to take every shot they can, this is definitely worth a shot.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
Buy our shirt. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Listen on SoundCloud. Watch on YouTube. Shop our store on Redbubble.
