2009 Tennessee Titans Roster Review: Defensive Line

by August West on Feb 25, 2010 4:55 PM CST in Tennessee Titans Commentary

Well, I guess we can put to rest the hope that the Titans would be able to overcome the loss of Albert Haynesworth with improved depth, eh? The 2009 unit's drop-off isn't all Albert-related, but it certainly accentuated the problems and proved that in this defensive scheme a bag full of good-to-meh players isn't going to cut it. With a consistently disruptive force in the middle this defense looks like vintage Godzilla; without that player they look like the scared Japanese people.

The Dud of the Year on the defensive side of the ball would have to be Jevon Kearse. We all knew he was going to be a limited-use role player this year, but pretty quickly it became obvious that he wasn't even capable of that anymore. Add in the "Jump in the Benz" incident, and Kearse spent more time this year focusing on his iTunes playlist than he did on a playbook.

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Close on Kearse's heels for biggest disappointment was Jason Jones: the immensely talented DT just can't stay healthy. Jones was only active for 7 games, and was close to 100% for probably half of those. However, when Jones was healthy, he was an unequivocal beast. He played like a freight-train with a jock strap when he was on. Few players show you so little in quantity, yet end up with 4 sacks, 5 passes defensed and a boatload of pressures. I said early on he was my favorite D-Lineman in a long, long time, and if he can stay healthy you'll all be saying the same thing soon.

Tony Brown was the one DT on the roster who improved over last year's performance, and he continued to strengthen his argument as perhaps Jim Washburn's greatest coaching job. Always a stout run defender, Brown really made some strides in his pass rush technique on his way to racking up 5 sacks, mostly while facing double teams. Also, Tony continued to show the Titans faithful just who on this roster has the best dance moves in a pair of pads, and it isn’t CJ2K.

The rest of the defensive tackles, save for one Tony Brown, were sometimes pretty good, but usually mediocre. Javon Haye and Kevin Vickerson looked like rotation guys. Rookie Sen'Derrick Marks showed some of the athleticism and explosion that made him a second round pick later in the year when he started to get more minutes.

Kearse's departure (Hey, I've already mentioned his name more times in this post than Mike Keith did all year) was also partly due to DE William Hayes turning the corner both figuratively and literally. By mid-season Hayes was only healthy the defensive lineman other teams really had to pay attention to. A small school prospect who was most noteworthy for being drafted out of the football factory known as Winston-Salem State, Hayes paid off the faith Jim Washburn showed on draft day this year and became a part of the solution moving forward.

KVB looked like toast most of the year. His Boom fell to nearly court jester status before the bye week, but his play picked-up some as the season wore on. Nobody knows for sure if he'll be back next year, but where ever he goes it'll be on the cheap after following up an injury-riddled year with a campaign like that.

Jacob Ford suited up for every game except Week 2 and saw more snaps than ever, but the production didn't increase like we'd all hoped. Ford, a pass-rushing specialist, managed 6 sacks, but we need more form a guy with his speed on the edge.

David Ball did what David Ball does: put in solid, though unspectacular and confuse announcers who always assume the white boy lined-up at end is KVB. Alas, he didn't get to try and top his Turkey-celebration fiasco from last year.

Eric Bakhtiari was a late season depth-addition designed mostly to frustrate members of the new and old media alike who had to spell his name correctly.

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lol

nice caption again adub

"I finished the game. In my mind, if I finished the game, I can play next week." - Steve McNair RIP
Charter Member of the Music City Miracles Hall Of Fame

by Pinoy Titan on Feb 26, 2010 1:17 AM CST reply actions

this is one group i'm not worried about going to next season

one, because of jim washburn. two because i think hayes will be a beast. three because i think the rotation of jones, brown and marks will be above average.

my only question here is if can ford be a starter on this line. he does a great job of backing up kvb but i doubt he can take a lot of plays.

"I finished the game. In my mind, if I finished the game, I can play next week." - Steve McNair RIP
Charter Member of the Music City Miracles Hall Of Fame

by Pinoy Titan on Feb 26, 2010 1:32 AM CST reply actions

I agree.

As long as we can get just 1 good to great DE in the draft then the rest of our line can probably get pressure.

Ain't no time for hesitatin'
All you got to do is groove

by BonzosMontreaux on Feb 26, 2010 5:39 AM CST up reply actions

Tony Brown

easily #1 DT…. behind him this year was Kevin Vickerson. Sorry but it’s true. He did very well…. and he did what he had to do to free up the middle and outside backers by holding and keeping on double teams. Jason Jones was just a huge disappointment… and really needs to add some bulk to his all ready low DT weight. Javon Haye was also a big disappointment, I was expecting him to actually do some things… but he is nothing better than an old Randy Starks to us ( when he use to be bad ). Javon can’t do too much.

And if you guys are questioning Sen’Derrick Marks… don’t. If you have the Dolphin game still tivod or DVRd, go to the beginning of the 4th quarter mark around 11:00 minutes to play. You will see Marks playing the left defensive tackle position lined up against the RG on a pass play.

Let me know what you guys see… I don’t think you will having as many doubts about him as you seem to already have.

Chin up Titan fans… I think Marks will become a beauty.

by RhiNo6705 on Feb 26, 2010 10:59 AM CST reply actions

Marks has a lot of upside

and if anyone can make a player reach his potential it is Jim Washburn. I am very cautiously optimistic about Marks.

Titans Blogger at Music City Miracles even though gramsey hates it.

"What if I was Peyton Manning?"- CJ to the ref after they picked up a personal foul flag for a late hit on him.

by Jimmy on Feb 26, 2010 11:11 AM CST up reply actions

I tend to agree with that.

Marks didn’t see a lot of playing time, but when he was in, I thought he played pretty well. And he was healthy, which is good. I’d like to see Marks, Brown, and a healthy Jason Jones in there consistently, and then I’d be optimistic—at least on the interior—but I don’t know how much I believe in Jason Jones at this point.

DannoE

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."

Charter Member of the Music City Miracles Hall Of Fame

by DannoE on Feb 26, 2010 12:32 PM CST up reply actions

Jones played extremely well when he was healthy, and his size is an asset, IMO.

he just needs to stay healthy; he missed all of camp with a shoulder injury and most of the season, yet still managed as many sacks as the full time players.

Music City Miracles blogger and official Jon Bovi tour manager.

by August West on Feb 26, 2010 12:02 PM CST up reply actions