The first chapter of the preseason is in the books. Now, the team pivots to a Saturday night game in Minnesota against the Vikings. The Tennessee Titans have scheduled joint practices with the Vikings all week, and it provides them with an opportunity to get some real work in with a much more talented team than they faced last week. I’m eager to see how they stack up from a talent and depth perspective. This is a great gauge for where this team is at right now.
What I’m Looking for In Titans-Vikings
The QB battle – Duh….I mean, come on…do you guys really need me to break this thing down? We are going to be dissecting the competition every week this preseason. I wouldn’t say that one guy won Week 1, and one guy lost Week 2. The way I framed it was that Malik Willis gave the offense a spark when he was out there, but Will Levis gave the offense stability when he was out there. Both had good moments. Both had not-so-good moments. The thing that I’m most interested about this week compared to last week is not seeing these two play again, but seeing how the Titans coaching staff deploys them – will they continue the alternating drives method? Or, will they give each guy a half to see what he can do?
Momentum – The fun of the preseason, to me and all the other freaks who love preseason football, is seeing who rises up from the pack to undeniably claim a roster spot. If I had to give out one single MVP honor for last week’s game, it would probably be Eric Garror, who looked like a heat seeking missile out there. But, I also thought Chance Campbell and Kearis Jackson made the most of their opportunities. They all play at positions that really need some depth to step up and claim roles – defensive back, linebacker, wide receiver. So, can they keep that momentum going? Can they build upon it? Can they do enough so that when the dust settles, they make the final 53? This is what the preseason’s all about.
Will any of the starters play? Last week, the Titans played without 24 guys. 24!! Jack Gibbens was the only projected starter that played on defense. There’s one less preseason game these days, so does that make the 2nd preseason game what the 3rd used to be? Maybe we’re just so starved for actual meaningful football that we’re just begging for it. I don’t know. But, this is a good match-up against a good opponent. It would be a good gauge to see where this team’s first unit is at. I don’t expect they’ll play a bunch of guys, but surely they won’t rest almost half the roster, right?
Josh Whyle – It’s unfair to just keep piling on the rookie tight end. Ultimately, it was just one preseason game with the context that Whyle got a late start to camp, so he was just a little bit behind everyone else. But, he didn’t have a great game. In fact, outside of some offensive linemen that I have virtually no hope for (and am hoping never see the field during the regular season), I think he was the only person that had a truly bad game. So, it’s our first chance to see a guy that has some promise go out there and rebound from a little bit of adversity. If he’s able to corral that ball that Willis sailed eight feet over his head, it changes the whole conversation about this dude this week. So, go get a touchdown against the Vikings.
More work for the young bucks – I’m looking at three guys that got massive workloads against the Bears – Colton Dowell, Thomas Rush, and Caleb Murphy. To me, all of these guys looked okay-to-solid-but-not-spectacular. They all play positions where the Titans will need some depth to show up this season, and I imagine we’ll see them get another heavy workload, so let’s see if they can improve upon last week’s performance.
The young secondary (again) – By and large, I liked what I saw from Steven Jones Jr., Armani Marsh, Anthony Kendall, and Garror. I’m going to be paying attention more to how these guys are deployed and who is playing with who on the depth chart for any clues as to who might be in the driver’s seat for a roster spot.
Running back – Have we already seen enough of Tyjae Spears to shut him down for the rest of the preseason? Am I being a bit much just to wonder that? Nonetheless, Hassan Haskins just doesn’t look elusive in the slightest bit. Julius Chestnut has looked great again for this team, Jonathan Ward had some good camp buzz going, and they just signed Jacques Patrick. They are tinkering with that running back room. The RB3 spot looks wide open to me.
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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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