State of the Tennessee Titans Roster: Linebackers

by Jimmy on Jul 23, 2009 12:30 PM CDT in Tennessee Titans Commentary

Linebacker is a spot where the Titans are very good with the guys that start but have huge question marks when it comes to depth.

Keith Bulluck has been the heart and soul of the Titans defense for nearly a decade. We have spent a lot of time this offseason focusing on the fact that this is likely his last season as a Titan and not enough time talking about how good he has been here. The fact that Mr. Monday Night has only been to 1 Pro Bowl in his career is insane. His tackles have been down the last couple of seasons, but he provides a leadership for the defense that cannot be measured on a stat sheet.

David Thornton holds down the other outside linebacker spot and has been a solid addition to the defense since he was signed as a free agent in 2006. He is a very durable guy, starting all but 4 games since he joined the Titans.

Stephen Tullochis the incumbent middle linebacker. Tulloch played well after taking over for Ryan Fowler early last season. He is a bit undersized but always seems to be around the ball. Tully also figures to be the backup for both outside linebacker spots if Bulluck or Thornton were to go down with an injury. In that case Fowler would step in to play the middle. He was solid but not spectacular in his season plus as the starting middle linebacker.

After those 4 guys you have a group that includes Josh Stamer, Collin Allred, Stanford Keglar and rookie Gerald McRath. By my count those guys have started a grand total of one game combined. It would be nice to see a couple of these guys step up and make some plays in the preseason.

The good news is that this group is coached by Dave McGinnis who is a very good defensive mind. While that does give me some confidence, I will still be praying hard that the starters stay healthy all season.

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Comments

I think Keglar and McRath have a lot of potential

and could be our OLB’s of the future. The battle in training camp between Tulloch and Fowler will be interesting but Tulloch will win the starting job and be a nice centerpiece to our defense, that should be in the top 5 again this season :)

The Great Steve McNair will always be remembered here

by Sheriff McLawdog on Jul 23, 2009 1:37 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah Keglar and McRath are out future outside linebackers after Bulluck and Thornton hang it up, combined with Tully we’d have a pretty decent and young linebacking core.

by BurheadTitans on Jul 23, 2009 2:45 PM CDT reply actions