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Post by Juggs on Aug 1, 2015 16:58:13 GMT -5
Hakeem Nicks has sustained a leg injury that appears serious. If he misses significant camp time, my guess is he's a cut again.
That means Jacoby Ford stands to gain, but my guess would actually be that the Titans would run 5 wide only and give the roster spot to Antonio Andrews or Al Woods.
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Post by Juggs on Aug 3, 2015 17:42:08 GMT -5
Hakeem Nicks' injury was not serious at all, at least judging by today's training camp notes. He dominated camp today and flashed "2012 form" according to Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky. Nicks is the surprise star of Titans camp so far.
Today was also Brian Orakpo's coming out party. He ran regular reps including contact drills in the Titans first padded practice. Orakpo went toe to toe with Taylor Lewan and reportedly looked nimble, loose, and most importantly, fast.
Justin Hunter's lawyer released an interesting statement today. He claimed that the victim of wounds allegedly inflicted by Justin Hunter was actually the aggressor in the fight. Vick (J's lawyer) claims that he has evidence that the victim started the fight and singled out Hunter with a posse of friends to back him up. I don't believe this right now, since obviously the lawyer is doing his job. We'll see what happens on Hunter's court date on SEP 3.
Marcus Mariota made news for what he did before training camp. In OTAs, Titans QB coach John McNulty pointed out to Mariota that his footwork wasn't perfect when dropping back to hand off the ball. Today, McNulty and Whisenhunt complimented Mariota for fixing the "glitch" in his drop back so remarkably quickly. This all feeds the narrative that Mariota is a hard worker and a quick learner.
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Post by Juggs on Aug 3, 2015 21:30:33 GMT -5
David Cobb suffered a sprained right finger, but looked good, maybe even better than Sankey running in pads. I like Sankey, but Cobb's power style does well complement the Titans athletic line. Whiz says Cobb's pass pro isn't good enough, I agree. Unfortunately, that was a weakness for Sankey too last year.
Marcus Mariota hasn't been intercepted, fumbled or even "sacked" non-contact in four practices so far. Whiz says the defense is getting laughed at by Lewan and the first team for that. It'll come.
The Titans ran return practices for the first time. Seventh round rookie Tre McBride went first and got the most returns with 4. Sankey, Jacoby Ford, and Maryland WR Deon Long also got chances. Ford needs to be excellent returning in preseason if he wants a shot at the roster.
In the Titans redzone practices, Mariota hit Wright, Douglas, and Wright again for back-to-back-to-back touchdowns. I like it. One reporter says Mariota throws a "deft touch pass." We'll see what that even means.
Whiz says Antonio Andrews has been playing hard and has a good chance at a roster spot. I'll update the depth chart for now.
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Post by Juggs on Aug 3, 2015 21:35:20 GMT -5
Whiz says Jeremiah Poutasi vs Byron Bell is a dead heat for the right tackle job. Will be decided by preseason play. That's what I want to hear. Let Poutasi go out and earn it under the lights.
Left side rushers the Titans first team plays this preseason:
Kroy Biermann (possibly Vic Beasley) Atlanta Falcons Justin Houston, doesn't get harder there. Chris Long, STL Rams. Still a very good test. Brian Robinson/Anthony Barr. It never gets easy. Whoever has any success against these guys will be the starter.
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Post by Morkim on Aug 3, 2015 21:46:37 GMT -5
Traded Ertz for Wright in a keeper. Am I gonna regret it Juggs?
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Post by Juggs on Aug 3, 2015 21:55:12 GMT -5
Wright's never been a good fantasy player. His yards come after the catch mostly and he hasn't scored as many touchdowns. That all may change this year if he finally has a good quarterback though.
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Post by Morkim on Aug 3, 2015 23:53:15 GMT -5
Wright's never been a good fantasy player. His yards come after the catch mostly and he hasn't scored as many touchdowns. That all may change this year if he finally has a good quarterback though. That's what I get for thinking a Titan could be decent.
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Post by Juggs on Aug 10, 2015 21:21:15 GMT -5
Latest 53 man update: Week 0
QB: Marcus Mariota (1), Zach Mettenberger, Charlie Whitehurst HB: Bishop Sankey, Antonio Andrews, David Cobb (5), Dexter McCluster FB: Jalston Fowler (4) WR: Kendall Wright, Harry Douglas (ATL), Hakeem Nicks (IND), Justin Hunter, Dorial Green-Beckham (2), Tre McBride (7) TE: Delanie Walker, Anthony Fasano (KC), Craig Stevens LT: Taylor Lewan, Byron Stingly LG: Andy Levitre, Josue Matias (UDFA) C: Brian Schwenke, Frenando Velasco (PIT) RG: Chance Warmack, Jeremiah Poutasi (3) RT: Jeremiah Poutasi (3), Byron Bell (CAR)
LE: DaQuan Jones, Ropati Pitoitua, NT: Angelo Blackson (4), Sammie Lee Hill RDT: Jurrell Casey, Karl Klug LOLB: Derrick Morgan, Jonathon Massaquoi (ATL) LILB: Zach Brown, Wesley Woodyard RILB: Avery Williamson, Zaviar Gooden, J.R. Tavai (UDFA) ROLB: Brian Orakpo, Dieontrez Mount (6), J.R. Tavai (UDFA) CB: Jason McCourty, Perrish Cox, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Cody Riggs Slot: Coty Sensabaugh FS: Michael Griffin, Marqueston Huff SS: DaNorris Searcy, Daimion Stafford K: Ryan Succop P: Brett Kern LS: Beau Brinkley KR: Tre McBride, Dexter McCluster PR: Dexter McCluster
IR: Brandon Harris, Cody Prewitt, Dorin Dickerson
PS: Derrick Lott, Quinton Spain, Gabe Ikard, Andy Gallik, Deon Long, Chase Coffman, Dezmond Jonhson, Yawin Smallwood, Yanik Cudjoe-Virgil, Jemea Thomas
Cuts: Alex Tanney, QB David Fluellen, RB Connor Neighbors, RB Phillip Supernaw, TE Tevin Westbrook, TE Josh Stewart, WR Jacoby Ford, WR Clyde Gates, WR Rico Richardson, WR Tebucky Jones Jr, WR Andrew Turzilli, WR Jamon Meredith, T/G Justin McCray, G William Poehls, T Mike Martin, DE Chaz Sutton, DT, Isaako Aaitui, NT Al Woods, NT Toby Johnson, DT Nate Askew, OLB Justin Staples, ILB Kaelin Burnett, OLB Curtis Riley, CB RiShard Anderson, CB Khalid Wooten, DB Mike Meyer, K (only in for camp anyway)
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Post by Juggs on Aug 14, 2015 22:49:19 GMT -5
The 1's: -Every snap Mariota doesn't hand off is going to be nit-picked, and that certainly was the case tonight. All together, he took 10 meaningful reps. 7 passing grades, 3 failing. He completed two awesome sideline strikes downfield and 5 in a row to lead the Titans to a long TD drive. Immediately before those throws however, Mariota was intercepted and stripped from behind while releasing the ball on back to back failed drives. There was nothing he could do on the strip, but the INT was his fault. The situation was a simple slip screen to Bishop Sankey. Bishop got out of the pocket like he should, but his blockers (Schwenke and Levitre in this case) both got lost in the wash. That gave Falcons LB Justin Durant a clear line of site to the slip. Mariota never saw him break off Anthony Fasano and jump the screen, and it lead to an INT on what could have been a completion for a loss if Sankey had come back to the ball or if Mariota had whipped the ball in quicker. Mariota's best pass of the night was his very first: a beautiful play action fake that fooled Atlanta's first team. The kid rolled out naked on the right and found Anthony Fasano open on a 12 yard out for a first down.
-Delanie Walker is rehabbing a foot injury and didn't play. That let Anthony Fasano, an early star of training camp, steal the spotlight. Fasano caught 3 of Mariota's 7 completions on 7 targets, two of which went for first downs. He also set the edge coming out as an H-back on a TD run to Dexter McCluster.
-Bishop Sankey wasn't impressive tonight. He could have saved an INT in the passing game, let a blocker through on the third series in pass pro, and never ran for more than 7 yards on a given carry. One thing going in his favor was his power: Sankey turned what should have been a loss into a five yard gain after shoving off Tyson Jackson on a run to the right. Coaches had said Sankey looked stronger in camp than he did last year, and that seems to be true. All in all, Sankey let the other runningbacks gain ground on him in the committee with an uninspiring performance tonight.
-Harry Douglas was the only WR on the Titans 1's who really made an impact. His long haul catch along the right sideline lead to a first quarter school. Kendall Wright caught just one ball, and Justin Hunter stayed on with the 2's and tipped up a pass in the air that got intercepted from Zach Mettenberger.
-I can't imagine any scenario other than an injury to Jeremiah Poutasi where Byron Bell is the starter week 1. He was a disaster tonight. Besides being responsible for the strip-sack on Mariota, Bell also got bull rushed not once but twice by Vic Beasley, a guy not known for his power, and gave up two back field hits on the runningbacks (sankey and DMC).
-Perrish Cox and Coty Sensabaugh got the start at corner due to Jason McCourty and Blidi Wreh-Wilson resting after camp injuries. Cox made a nice hit on Antone Smith, but his pass coverage was dreadful against Julio Jones. It's a good thing he's not our #1 and that we've got a consistent #1 there in McCourty going forward. Sensabaugh came up with a nice tip-drill INT. It looks like he's moved ahead of BWW for the starting nickel spot.
-Jurrell Casey was awesome as usual. 1 QB pressure on Matty Ice and 2 TFL. No real news there.
-The two edge rushers played just one series to get some extra rest. Hopefully we see a lot more of them next week. Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil came in with one snap for the 1's and was immediately injured. He walked off the field but didn't play the rest of the game. Tennessee cannot afford injuries at that position when Morgan and Orakpo are already both dealing with shit.
The 2's: -Jeremiah Poutasi looked like a #1 playing amongst backups tonight. He dominated and was the main reason why the Titans backup runners had so much success along the right side. Poutasi and Meredith made their cases to make the final 53 with a great first outing. Poutasi will probably be in the 1's column in this entry next week after St. Louis.
-Dorial Green Beckham caught a great deep ball from Mett over a Falcon corner. Maybe he wasn't a wasted pick after all, but he'll need to show better consistency. He came away with just two catches on five targets, both back to back 9 routes from Mettenberger against the Falcons' backups.
-Ropati Pitoitua showed some speed I didn't know he had, blowing up Antone Smith for a huge loss after he swam the RT and set the edge. Maybe it's too early to put him behind Angelo Blackson, who didn't make much noise tonight.
-All three backups did something to make sure the RBBC isn't set in stone yet. David Cobb had the best night of the runningbacks, starting with two 8 yard carries to begin the second half. Even if he's not ready to start, he's looking like a really good scheme fit for when the Titans bring in their power I sets. Dexter McCluster scored a touchdown on his first carry, a wide open toss play on the goal line. It wasn't enough to say he's anything other than a specialty back and KR, but it's hard to cut a guy who scored the first touchdown of the season. Fan favorite and WKU-alum Antonio Andrews had a nice night mostly because of the mismatch the Titans had on the right side with Jeremiah Poutasi into the third quarter. AA nearly matched Cobb's rushing totals, to the surprise of many.
-Backup linebacker Zaviar Gooden got burned on back to back plays in the third quarter in coverage. He's looking more and more like a draft bust. The Titans may want to consider giving USC UDFA J.R. Tavai a shot at backing up Avery Williamson. Luckily, AW is a beast and can play almost every snap for our defense.
-Backup safety Marqueston Huff nearly snagged an INT and camp-corner Rishard Anderson made an awesome break-up on third down to force a punt. Huff wasn't targeted afterwards and Anderson left early due to a minor injury. Both get positive grades.
-Zach Mettenberger had a near flawless night. His deep-ball was as advertised and he looked more comfortable moving around in the pocket now 2 years removed from an ACL tear at LSU that he played with in 2014. He did throw one interception, but as I already mentioned, it should have hit the dirt if not for Justin Hunter trying to be a hero and tipping it. Good thing that one happened in the preseason, it was just bad luck (then again, so was Sensabaugh's INT, so it's give and take). Expect Mettenberger to get plenty of second half work going forward in the preseason if he keeps looking this good.
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Post by Juggs on Aug 16, 2015 11:55:13 GMT -5
Zaviar Gooden has suffered a torn hamstring. There's no timetable for his return, and some are speculating that his season (and by that, probably his career with the Titans) is over. @profootballdoc says that there's very little chance his season is over unless he had a rare hamstring tear that would require a 12 month recovery. Still, Gooden's low chances of being anything but a draft bust just got much lower.
Whisenhunt dropped a bombshell in his presser after the game that David Cobb is in the running to get carries with the 1s next week. He played well, and Whiz says that he "deserves" the chance. I still think Sankey is way ahead, but Cobb now has a shot to steal some of his carries.
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