To me, it totally depends on Arthur Smith's offense. IF he brings the offense from ATL, we will look pathetic, as we do not have a dominant line and do not have multiple recievers who are NFL worthy. IF he brings the offense from the 2019-2020 Titans we will be "average", which is a plus compared to last year. BECAUSE, not only did the scheme fit the merchandise in 2019-2020 at Tennessee, they ALSO had some pretty great receivers and dynamic skill players at RB, FB and TE to garnner 40% of the receptions.
IMO, we need another TE to run the A.Smith offense (Titan version) and at least one very talented WR. We have the RBs but the OL looks suspect under our OL coach, regardless of talent. Everyone keeps clamoring for Jones to move to the left side BUT he has an issue with inside moves and twists (he always has) which got worse as he played more last year.
The defense SHOULD be far better than we have been, and part of that is scheme, some of it is WHO is on the field but MOST of it is on the DC (HC). We have an extremely talented defense which could play much better with better anticipation. We had less talent in 2022 because of injuries and less talent but had better anticipation with Flores in the room. We need "at least" a healthy Heyward and Minkah playing in his best position to perform better, IMO. That will require a "decent" SS and at least one ILB who is coverage savvy. We STILL don't have either IMO.
IMO, we need to draft or sign an OC #1, and a WR #2 with a coverage capable ILB #3, followed by TE, CB and DL. We won't get it al this year, so, we have to get as close as possible to what A. Smith needs to run his offense. He had AJ Brown, Corey Davis and Adam Humphries as WR targets (obviously better than we are now) PLUS Jonnu Smith and Delanie Walker at TE as well as his RBs to throw to. On D, we need a coverage "sound" ILB which we still do not have PLUS an upgrade at SS/Slot capable which we haven't had since Troy/Hilton. Donte Jackson will be an upgrade over Wallace, who took a step back in 2023, but one of the many CBs on the roster should be able to perform better than Wallace and the slot/nickel we had on the field the last few years.
If I were Kahn, I'd immediately bring in Southland or Munch as OL coach and THEN we could draft a OC that could be able to run outside/inside zone scheme blocking which A. Smith requires. We could then de-prioritize the OC to a later round (Limmer or Van Pran) and go after the WR, ILB, and SS positions early OR at least trade back to get some >#100 picks to fill our needs. IF we don't we may need to draft a LT/RT capable OL, an OC and a WR w the first 3 picks. I don't want that, at all. It's WAY cheaper to pay a top position coach than it is to PAY top position players. We need to figure that part out, IMO.
1.) The ultimate thing TN had which we do not have, is a pounding, prolific rushing game with a dominating, beast of a RB. Henry not only topped 2,000 yards in 2020 he did so at 5.4 ypc - nearly unheard of for that many carries. Truly unbelievable. When you are running the ball with that kind of productivity, it HAS to open up the passing lanes, and it did.
2.) Then, on top of a new standard in rushing domination, you have a big, fast WR with hands to throw to in AJ Brown, in his 2nd year in Henry's 2,000 yard rushing season, who put up over 70 grabs and 1,000 yards but did so at 15+ yards per catch (career high). When you dominate on the ground with a 2,000 yard rushing RB and then have a WR with the skills of a Brown, you are going to be a handful to stop, and TN was.
3.) Am I saying Smith didn't do anything but prosper from great players in TN? No, someone had to put it all together and Smith did, but it is a lot easier to do with a RB like Henry on board, who not only has power of a 6'3", 250 LB back, but has serious speed for a man that size, serious speed, hence his abnormally high YPC #s. If Henry shakes loose from a tackle, he can be gone for 80. But give Smith credit, he did put him in a system that allowed Henry to take off; going for 2,000 yards at a 5.4 ypc clip is an amazing feat.
4.) We do NOT have ANYONE on the roster who resembles the skill set Henry has. Yea, I know Art II thought he was getting a Henry when he drafted Najee, but sad to say, he just wasn't, not even close. Najee is lacking that 5th gear, some would say he's lacking the 4th gear too. He is simply slow compared to Henry, that is obvious. Sure, he tried to shield that fact from NFL suitors (by refusing to run the 40) and it worked on Art, who without that info. still chose to use a 1st round on him. But we've never seen Najee take to to the house from 60 yards out; we've barely seen him do it was 20 yards out. And for a reason - he's just slow.
Warren is a nice RB, especially for being undrafted. Between the 2, we have a decent RB unit, but no one will ever mistake it for a RB unit with a Henry in his prime who scampered for 2,000 yards at a 5.4 ypc clip.
5.) You mention we need some more TE help, and I got a question: Why is it everyone forgets about all the hype there was about "Mount Washington" after we drafted him? He was supposed to be unstoppable at the goal line. Fast forward and all we ended up with was an extra OT. And then there is the mystic "Muuuuthhhh" everyone likes to chant. We gave up the best OC prospect in YEARS to draft Muth instead...was he worth it? I say "no." He disappears for games on end. He apparently can't block at all. How is finding a decent TE so damn hard?
6.) We do need a new OL coach and I wish it were Munch, but something happened there that is not talked about; I feel Shades dissed him due to a fear that his leadership was too threatening. Something happened to the relationship with Munch and the team. I'm not buying the "daughter lived in CO." story, not fully. But we desperately need a new, legit OC - something the team has blown ever since Pouncey retired. The team has lacked building the center of the team - on both sides - since Tomlin has been HC. He just won't commit to it. Here we are passing on Pro Bowl centers while drafting 3rd-round OG to play C. Just brilliant, Colbert/Tomlin. Way to go.
