“Getting faster” is something we’ve heard Mike Vrabel talk about all offseason. It seems as though an awful lot of people took that to mean that the Tennessee Titans were quite literally going to go out and get themselves a Tyreek Hill this offseason. While a player of that ilk would certainly help any offense, that was too cut-and-dry of the fan base to take and run with it. Not to mention, those guys aren’t just growing on trees. The NFL thought differently about this draft’s wide receiver class, and frankly, the pool of available free agents was even worse. That guy wasn’t out there to be had, but I don’t think it was ever truly apart of the plan. “Getting faster” has layers to it, and if you’ve been listening to A Football Show, Football & Other F Words, and/or The Unofficial Titans Podcast this offseason, you already know where I’m going with this.
We’re not talking about 40 times here. While yes, a dimension of literal speed gives the team an advantage, it’s more about play speed. How can the offense play faster in the sense that they’re processing what’s happening quicker, and pushing tempo as a result? We saw it in 2020, when this offense was clicking – they were efficient, deadly in the red zone, and they could move quick when they needed to. It’s not a stretch to say they were the best offense in the NFL that season. So, how do they get back to that?
We got a good little nugget here from Easton Freeze of Broadway Sports and The Hot Read Podcast, during which tight end Chig Okonkwo enlightens us on one way the offense can “get faster” without even worrying about personnel:
#Titans TE Chig Okonkwo on the verbiage changes in the offense this season: pic.twitter.com/doUxluKFvm
— Easton Freeze (@eastonfreeze) May 23, 2023
I like it. When you break it down at a granular level, the more you have to announce in a huddle, the more you have to concentrate on to soak it in accurately, and the more room you leave for misinterpretation or flat out not hearing calls. If you could just say “tuna,” and everyone on the offense knows exactly what needs to happen, that’s shaving seconds off the clock between each play. In turn, the defense has less time to react to what’s happening in front of them. It might sound a little silly, but that shit matters, folks. Yeah, it may mean you’re stressing your offensive players to learn it all, but the streamlining of the offense from a command standpoint is worth it. That’s why processing capability and play speed was so important to this regime this offseason.
Also, if I may add…going with words is smart. There’s tons of them to choose from. When I think about things that have the most, ‘words’ is right up there. Not as plentiful as leaves. There’s a lot of fucking leaves in the world. But, you get my point. The Titans are clearly on their big brain shit this offseason and I think the offense is going to be better for it.
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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