2023 Season Plan

[SpacemanSpiff]

Absolutely out on the Titans and Ran Carthon post draft. That was a complete embarrassment. Had faith in my Gator boy Ran Carthon, but I'm out on him too. Or is this Vrabel? I'm starting to think the receiver group might be Vrabel's fault. I'm starting to think he needs to be fired. Whoever is making these personnel decisions is not a serious person. 

Failing to improve this WR room in any meaningful way would make sense if the team also traded Derrick Henry and was making obvious tank moves, but instead we seem to be half-rebuilding, half trying to compete. Half-measures work about as well as you would expect.

I honestly feel bad for Derrick Henry that he has to be stuck with such an awful situation. Get him off this sinking ship. Do not make someone who has done for this franchise what he does suffer.

Can't wait to see this team go 8-9, be stuck with a joker quarterback who cares more about looking ripped than looking at DBs, and be stuck with no future for the next decade.

What an absolutely pathetic excuse for an offseason. See you in 2024. 

Edited May 4, 2023 by SpacemanSpiff

[-Hope-]

12 minutes ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

Absolutely out on the Titans and Ran Carthon post draft. That was a complete embarrassment. Had faith in my Gator boy Ran Carthon, but I'm out on him too. Or is this Vrabel? I'm starting to think the receiver group might be Vrabel's fault. I'm starting to think he needs to be fired. Whoever is making these personnel decisions is not a serious person. 

Failing to improve this WR room in any meaningful way would make sense if the team also traded Derrick Henry and was making obvious tank moves, but instead we seem to be half-rebuilding, half trying to compete. Half-measures work about as well as you would expect.

I honestly feel bad for Derrick Henry that he has to be stuck with such an awful situation. Get him off this sinking ship. Do not make someone who has done for this franchise what he does suffer.

Can't wait to see this team go 8-9, be stuck with a joker quarterback who cares more about looking ripped than looking at DBs, and be stuck with no future for the next decade.

What an absolutely pathetic excuse for an offseason. See you in 2024. 

lol ok man see you in september 

[Daniel]

OK, just to devil's advocate myself and to try to put a positive spin in the thread, here are a few things I think may be reasonable to be optimistic for.  Granted, this is a list of things we'll need to break our way a little bit, and hoping for all of them is completely unreasonable, but any of them could reasonably happen.

1. OC: Kelly is almost guaranteed to be an upgrade over Downing.  We will have a more efficient offense.

2. OL: The offensive line, if healthy, will almost certainly be better.  We know what Brunskill is, and Dillard is likely still a mediocre left tackle.  NPF should take a slight step forward as a right tackle, and for his flaws, Skoronski will probably be a ready to play left guard.  Brewer should be slightly better as a C than as a LG.

3. DBs: Hooker missed a lot of time last year, and he should be back.  Byard may not decline yet.  And both McCreary and Avery are likely improvements in their second seasons over their rookie selves.  Fulton is in a contract year, where players often perform their best.  Farley has been a bust, but he still has physical ability, and could, in his second year of availability, take a big step forward.  We should get Molden back as well, and overall, see a much better group here.

4. Chig and Burks: When Burks was on the field, he looked like a future star.  Chig already looks like the best TE in his class.  If Kelly at least prioritizes getting them the ball, and both take a step forward, we'll still have a pathetically thin group of weapons, but at least our top end will have two legitimate threats.

5. Defensive Line: Autry is aging, and we got a lot thinner, but we should be a much stronger team on the Edge.  Landry coming back, the addition of Key, and Weaver being able to settle in as third gives us a very solid three man rotation.

6. Injuries: In good faith, I can't put this higher, but maybe, just maybe, Vrabel has seen the damage to this team's ceiling that injuries have caused, and will take some steps to scale them back.  Hell, even if we improve a little bit on the injury front, we at least will not be fielding whole units of reserve players by the season's end.  All we needed last year to get into the playoffs was to win any one of our last seven games.

7. Will Levis: I've been pretty clear on my feelings here, but maybe those who thought Levis would go third overall were really onto something.  Maybe he bucks the trend of sliding QBs, and plays with a chip on his shoulder, and becomes a great QB.  Everyone knows that a great QB will negate a whole lot of flaws.  If Levis becomes one, quickly, then the outlook changes dramatically.

8. Waiver wire players and trades: The Titans do have players available.  Maybe with Levis here, they offload Malik Willis on a team ready to stick him behind a mobile QB for a few seasons and give a depth WR in exchange.  Maybe the Giants don't have room for all of their receivers.  I won't put the possibility of trading Byard, Tanny, or Henry, because we need them to win, but for future stuff, they could be offloaded as well.

[deeluxx3]

1 hour ago, KingTitan said:

Hard to have any room for optimism, I guess, when we are so down offensively. Drafted the wrong players by a few accounts. No investment in the passing game. 

Just put your optimism in a box and put it in a grave. 

I know (assume/hope) you’re being sarcastic, but it’s funny how theoretically drafting JSN over Skronowski would have changed the perception of the draft radically. 
 

when, at the end of the day, we as an org certainly know how important a great OL is. We basically rode an OL/rb to the AFCCG.

 

a week removed, I still wish we snagged an early WR. But instead we got an assumed ten year player in Skronowski and a QB. So if the WR position needs to wait another year to be addressed in the draft, so be it.

OL was as big of a need as WR. And we totally overhauled it. You can’t overhaul two position groups in the same offseason (realistically), and at least we have Burks, Phillips and Chig as pass catchers to hopefully take next steps.

[-Hope-]

7 minutes ago, deeluxx3 said:

I know (assume/hope) you’re being sarcastic, but it’s funny how theoretically drafting JSN over Skronowski would have changed the perception of the draft radically. 
 

when, at the end of the day, we as an org certainly know how important a great OL is. We basically rode an OL/rb to the AFCCG.

 

a week removed, I still wish we snagged an early WR. But instead we got an assumed ten year player in Skronowski and a QB. So if the WR position needs to wait another year to be addressed in the draft, so be it.

OL was as big of a need as WR. And we totally overhauled it. You can’t overhaul two position groups in the same offseason (realistically), and at least we have Burks, Phillips and Chig as pass catchers to hopefully take next steps.

we draft a WR in the 3rd and also sign a decent depth piece in FA, and our WR room is not *good* but also not astonishingly, ludicrously bad the way it is now. i don't think that's too much to ask and it's baffling that we didn't do either of those things.

at the same time, doing that was probably not gonna be the thing that put us over 8/9 wins this year lol.

[TitanRedd]

1 hour ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

Absolutely out on the Titans and Ran Carthon post draft. That was a complete embarrassment. Had faith in my Gator boy Ran Carthon, but I'm out on him too. Or is this Vrabel? I'm starting to think the receiver group might be Vrabel's fault. I'm starting to think he needs to be fired. Whoever is making these personnel decisions is not a serious person. 

Failing to improve this WR room in any meaningful way would make sense if the team also traded Derrick Henry and was making obvious tank moves, but instead we seem to be half-rebuilding, half trying to compete. Half-measures work about as well as you would expect.

I honestly feel bad for Derrick Henry that he has to be stuck with such an awful situation. Get him off this sinking ship. Do not make someone who has done for this franchise what he does suffer.

Can't wait to see this team go 8-9, be stuck with a joker quarterback who cares more about looking ripped than looking at DBs, and be stuck with no future for the next decade.

What an absolutely pathetic excuse for an offseason. See you in 2024. 

It’s given Jeff Fisher 2.0 vibes I been saying this for years, He’s going to run Henry into the ground like fisher did Eddie & the man simply is stubborn to playing 1 style of football, it’s going to hit Amy to make a change at HC, once they put that fancy new stadium up & fans not buying tickets to see a offense put up 16 pts a game.

[deeluxx3]

24 minutes ago, -Hope- said:

we draft a WR in the 3rd and also sign a decent depth piece in FA, and our WR room is not *good* but also not astonishingly, ludicrously bad the way it is now. i don't think that's too much to ask and it's baffling that we didn't do either of those things.

at the same time, doing that was probably not gonna be the thing that put us over 8/9 wins this year lol.

Which WR in the 3rd did we pass on that would’ve/could’ve moved the needle? Asking partially out of naivety, but it seemed like the stronger options had already been drafted 

and while the Spears pick is a question mark, hopefully he’s what Evans should’ve been

 

agree that we needed to sign WR in FA. Wish we got Marvin Jones 

[-Hope-]

13 minutes ago, deeluxx3 said:

Which WR in the 3rd did we pass on that would’ve/could’ve moved the needle? Asking partially out of naivety, but it seemed like the stronger options had already been drafted 

and while the Spears pick is a question mark, hopefully he’s what Evans should’ve been

 

agree that we needed to sign WR in FA. Wish we got Marvin Jones 

i would've easily taken michael wilson. obviously people have different evals, but to me he was as close as you can get to a plug-and-play WR2 at that spot. really good team fit for us as well- he's got the size we like and is a plus blocker, but unlike so many of the garbage mid-late round receivers we draft, he's a true separator with good short area quickness and route skills. his potential isn't through the roof, but i really think he would've come in and helped us from day 1. i like spears as a player, but passing on wilson for a running back was very frustrating to me. also wouldn't have minded tyler scott there, though i think he's ultimately more of a role player

Edited May 4, 2023 by -Hope-

[titans0021]

I will say, where the Levis trade really hurt was in the drop from 72 to 81. Hyatt, Tillman and Downs all came off the board in that little stretch.

[Daniel]

10 minutes ago, deeluxx3 said:

Which WR in the 3rd did we pass on that would’ve/could’ve moved the needle? Asking partially out of naivety, but it seemed like the stronger options had already been drafted 

and while the Spears pick is a question mark, hopefully he’s what Evans should’ve been

 

agree that we needed to sign WR in FA. Wish we got Marvin Jones 

They did miss the run on receivers, and probably should have sought a trade down rather than take a running back with no ACL.  If they couldn't, and if they were willing to take a player with knee issues, Darnell Washington was right there, and at least was a passing threat.

3 minutes ago, -Hope- said:

i would've easily taken michael wilson. obviously people have different evals, but to me he was as close as you can get to a plug-and-play WR2 at that spot. i like spears as a player, but passing on wilson for a running back was very frustrating to me. also wouldn't have minded tyler scott there, though i think he's ultimately more of a role player

I didn't even care who it was at that point, just take a receiver.  Scott and Wilson were the obvious picks, even though both lasted a lot longer on the board, to me at that spot.  If there's no receiver high on your board, and you desperately need a receiver, you trade down.  Someone would have wanted to move up for a Trenton Simpson, or Ja'yir Brown, or Devon Achane.  Even if all you get is a seventh or something, there's always a trade to be made.

It also just plain doesn't make sense to me that a running back with no ACL was the legit highest player on their board.

[TitanLegend]

I feel like the "Vrabel hates WRs" thing is seriously overblown.

Spent a 2nd on AJ Brown, signed Adam Humphries, traded for Julio Jones, traded for Robert Woods, was adamant about wanting to keep AJ Brown, and even when forced to move on from him spent a 1st round pick on Burks.

Saying Vrabel enjoys smashmouth football is accurate, but it's not like we've neglected the WR position in his tenure here.

While I think it would have made sense to draft one earlier this year, my feelings on the team after the draft is that it seems rather clear we're hitting a rebuild/reset button. Can't fix every position in one off-season with that, and this draft focused on fixing the o-line and hopefully settling the QB and RB positions for the post Tannehill and post Henry era.

I wish we'd have just off loaded Tanehill and Henry instead, but Vrabel is probably never going to agree to a tank season, so it is what it is, and I'd much rather have Vrabel as coach of this team than not, so if that's what it takes to keep him happy, so be it.

I personally really hate Levis as a prospect, but I guess ultimately what do I know. I have about as much success projecting QBs who will translate well to the NFL as any other Monday morning QB.

Kelly and London will get their chance at developing a QB and we'll see where that goes. Really sucks having a season that feels pointless this year, but is what is I guess.

[SpacemanSpiff]

52 minutes ago, TitanRedd said:

It’s given Jeff Fisher 2.0 vibes I been saying this for years, He’s going to run Henry into the ground like fisher did Eddie & the man simply is stubborn to playing 1 style of football, it’s going to hit Amy to make a change at HC, once they put that fancy new stadium up & fans not buying tickets to see a offense put up 16 pts a game.

Yep. Didn't J-Rob get fired so he could have more power in who's playing? Clearly those WRs are his boys. It's the only way you can explain away the idea that NWI is AGAIN your WR2. 

And if the offense is as putrid as expected, I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the chopping block in '24. 

[ttitansfan4life]

2 hours ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

Absolutely out on the Titans and Ran Carthon post draft. That was a complete embarrassment. Had faith in my Gator boy Ran Carthon, but I'm out on him too. Or is this Vrabel? I'm starting to think the receiver group might be Vrabel's fault. I'm starting to think he needs to be fired. Whoever is making these personnel decisions is not a serious person. 

Failing to improve this WR room in any meaningful way would make sense if the team also traded Derrick Henry and was making obvious tank moves, but instead we seem to be half-rebuilding, half trying to compete. Half-measures work about as well as you would expect.

I honestly feel bad for Derrick Henry that he has to be stuck with such an awful situation. Get him off this sinking ship. Do not make someone who has done for this franchise what he does suffer.

Can't wait to see this team go 8-9, be stuck with a joker quarterback who cares more about looking ripped than looking at DBs, and be stuck with no future for the next decade.

What an absolutely pathetic excuse for an offseason. See you in 2024. 

[TitanLegend]

21 minutes ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

Yep. Didn't J-Rob get fired so he could have more power in who's playing? Clearly those WRs are his boys. It's the only way you can explain away the idea that NWI is AGAIN your WR2. 

And if the offense is as putrid as expected, I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the chopping block in '24. 

I doubt it. Dude went on a national talk show and said AJ Brown would be a Titan for as long as he was the head coach, and in the videos from the draft where Brown is traded he certainly didn't look happy.

As I mentioned before, Vrabel clearly likes the running game/smash mouth/etc football. But between him and Robinson, it seems pretty clear he liked Brown a lot more. It wasn't his choice that led to the team being in the state it currently is, WR wise.

[titans0021]

Yeah, up until this year, there certainly wasn’t an unwillingness to invest in receivers during the Robinson/Vrabel era. Top five pick on CD, second on AJB, paid Humphries as a slot, traded a second and fourth for the right to pay Julio a bunch of money, traded more picks for the right to pay Robert Woods and drafted Burks in the first.

Technically, we’ve probably sunk more resources into the position than all but a few teams in the league over the last six or seven years. We just invested poorly and our former GM traded the one real hit that he had in his tenure here at WR.