Tennessee Titans Morning Links: Time To Play What Could Have Been Edition
by August West on Feb 3, 2010 8:57 AM CST
in Tennessee Titans Links
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Gregg Williams was offered the defensive coordinator position after the departure of Jim Shwartz, but turned it down after Bud Adams refused to hire Williams's son as an assistant coach Apparently, this is an established rule within the Titans organization (and one I agree with, as nepotism almost never works-out well and can create a toxic situation if the person isn't highly qualified), so it shouldn't be taken as a shot against Williams' son, Blake. Blake, who attended Brentwood Academy, is now an offensive assistant in New Orleans. Williams says that he may end-up retiring to the Nashville area once his days in the league are done.
Williams also commented on Chuck Cecil, whom Williams coached in 1995 when he was a defensive assistant, and assured we Titans fans that Chuck will do just fine:
"You have to go through a transition,’’ Williams said. "I think they had to go through a transition but they really, really improved from the bye week on and did a great job. I think Chuck will do a great job.
"Just like me, Chuck became a better coach when all those guys got healthy. It was the same way with me. But I think the world of Chuck and I think he’ll be a great defensive coordinator. He was one of the favorite players I coached.’’
Follow us through the jump for links on Marshall Faulk discussing CJ2K and a possible solution at back-up QB...
Terry McComick throws out a possibility that I dig: if Kerry retires, gets cut over money or leaves for better shot at a staring spot, could Chad Pennington be a goood fit at back-up QB? I'm an avowed Pennington fan since he came out of Marshall, and if his shoulder checks-out (which is a BIG if), I'd be ecstatic to see him back-up VY. Pennington has seen it all in the league and is one of the smarter QBs to pay in years. He's always been one of those guys that makes-up for the lack of velocity in his throws by having superb intelligence, feel and timing. He is also very good at doing something that VY will need to constantly work on: playing within his own limitations and maximizing on his unique strengths.
Marshall Faulk isn't terribly happy with the fact that he lost his yards from scrimmage record, but he takes some solace in the fact that he lost it to the best back in the league. Faulk also makes a good comment that I really hope CJ2K is listening to:
He was the best back in the league this year... Each year it changes, and he has to keep working.
This one's for you, gramsey.
For some reason Coach Fisher was contacted by Chicago media and asked about their hire of Mike Martz (Vandy fan moment: AWESOME! JAY CUTLER IS VANDY JESUS, AND HE SHALL FORGIVE ALL YE WHO NAY SAY.), of which he glowingly approved. Apparently Martz has been a big fan of Cut-daddy's since the 2006 draft combine, when he called Jay the best prospect of the past decade. If they can get him some receivers, Vandy North will be fun to watch this year.
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With CJ and this O-Line...
…Chad Pennington would look like Peyton Manning. I know I’m gonna get killed by a certain percentage of posters on this board, but he would outplay VY by a MILE for as long as he could stay healthy.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Even though I like the NEW VY,
and I am hopefull that his progression continues I would have to agree with you DannoE. A healthy Pennington would be a force to reckon with in our offense.
Ladies and Gentlemen, put aside your VY vs. Collins debate. I give you...
VY vs. Pennington!
GO!
"And with the 15th pick, the Tennessee Titans select..."
if nothing else
Pennington could be a very good mentor for VY for all of the reasons I stated in the link. If he’s healthy, I can’t endorse this move enough.
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I like it.
Bring him. If nothing else, a little qb controversy is good for bidness.
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You're wrong.
Statistically, last year Vince’s numbers were equal to Chad’s career numbers through the air. When you add in Vince’s running threat, he’s the better quarterback.
You look at Chad’s numbers over the years, and there is only one that really jumps off the page and that’s 2002. He had a TD% of 5.5%. That’s strong, but he didn’t come close to touching 5 after that.
Bottom line, Vince’s numbers last year were solid with the exception of his completion percentage. Additionally, Vince is finally starting to “get it”. It think it’s reasonable to expect future improvement out of him.
All that said, I’d love to see him as a backup. Vince could learn a lot from Chad.
I'm with SuperHorn on this one
I think Vince is a much better quarterback than Chad Pennington.
1) Everything SuperHorn said.
2) We all talk about how VY’s running opened things up for CJ2K, which is true, but what about his deep ball passing ability? VY showed he can not only throw it, but he can throw it with some accuracy on a regular basis. If Nate Washington doesn’t make 3 or 4 key drops, you could add 250 yards and 3 TDs to VY’s stats this season. With Pennington, opposing safeties would only need to play 5 yards deep.
3) More game management? I’m tired of that. I WANNA SEE POINTS SCORED, and VY brought that for the most part.
Vince isn’t a turnover machine anymore, and in my mind that eliminates any advantage Pennington had over him. I would reverse DannoE’s statement and say Vince is a better QB than Pennington by a mile.
I’m sure SuperHorn’s mouth is agape at what I just wrote.
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My personal Tribute to Air McNair
by T--Rac's Posse on Feb 3, 2010 10:41 AM CST up reply actions
true
just looked it up and saw he was 2nd in MVP voting in ’08, which shocked the hell out of me.
Do you mind if we dance with your dates?
2008 was an OK year for Chad.
He did an excellent job of not turning the ball over, which was perfect for Miami’s style of play. But, he was 15th in the league in TD %. He was 3rd in INT %.
Chad Pennington is Kerry Collins, only with a brain.
Its not even an argument
Seeing how pennington’s shoulder is toast. I still would like to see chad as a backup/qb coach though. That being said, a healthy pennington would still back up vince. He just can’t make the throws that vince can.
by vancouverTITAN on Feb 3, 2010 10:47 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Oh DannoE...DannoE... DannoE...
O’ ye of little faith. An (all caps) MILE? Really? I’m not even going there.
wow, i can't wait for us to draft tebow
so we could have a VY vs Tebow debate!
"I finished the game. In my mind, if I finished the game, I can play next week." - Steve McNair RIP
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/hangs self
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My personal Tribute to Air McNair
by T--Rac's Posse on Feb 3, 2010 10:41 AM CST up reply actions
are we sure Pennington's arm is still attached to it's body?
3 shoulder surgeries for a guy who’s arm was never very strong to begin with. How do we know he can’t even throw out of a wet paper bag right now? You can only win the comeback player of the year award some many times until you just can’t come back anymore.
Do you mind if we dance with your dates?
Alright: It's a fair point about the injuries.
That said, the Pennington I remember was a guy who came off the bench to rescue the NY Jets and then lead them to the playoffs a few times. And that was with teams with very little talent besides Curtis Martin.
It’s true that Pennington does not have a strong arm. But it’s definitely NOT true that he’s Kerry Collins 2.0. First off, health aside, Pennington has been very consistent over his career. He’s shown time and time again that he needs a strong running game to succeed, but that when he has that strong running game, his style of play—hyper-accurate short passes—can KILL. With this O-Line and CJ, he would do very, very well.
No, he is not a credible deep threat. And yes, VY is. But Pennington can reliably work the sidelines and screen game, and with CJ in a Fisher Offense, you guys would be amazed at how effective that would be.
Last thing: I guess I’m not wholly sold on VY. Yeah, he’s not a turnover machine any more, but he also didn’t look as strong in the last few games as he did when he first returned as a starter. I’ll admit that I’m worried about him next year. For as much as I can see him taking a step forward, I can also easily imagine him taking a step back as well.
With that said, Chad Pennington is the exact opposite. He is EXACTLY what he’s advertised to be: a consistent game-manager who is hyper-accurate but not a down-the-field passer. He’s also injury prone, I admit it, which is why he probably won’t play more than 10 games next year—if he plays at all.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Here's the problem.
I don’t think you can win it all with a “game manager”. Maybe, and that’s a big maybe, we could have done it two years ago if we got some breaks and won the Baltimore game. But, a game manager has no utility to this team, other than limiting the variance.
You plug Chad into this offense and I think you’ve got an 8 win season with a +/- 2 game variance. With Vince, that variance could be as large as 5.
Here’s three things I know:
1. 80% of the time you need an elite QB to win a Super Bowl.
2. Chad Pennington is not an elite QB
3. There is a possibility that Vince could become and elite QB.
With those things in mind, and knowing that we don’t have an elite defense (something you’d definitely need to win a SB without a great QB), I can’t see any reason to go a different direction at quarterback.
I really don't have any arguments with this.
You argue that Chad and this offense is probably worth 8-10 games next year, and I say that’s about right. Without a different D, it’s 11-wins MAX, and that’s probably not gonna happen.
I personally would take an elite Defense and a game manager at QB over an Elite QB and the hope of consistently outscoring people in the post-season, and I think there’s a bunch of evidence to support that theory. Even in the game this weekend, I’d argue that the winning team will be the one that plays better on D and/or creates more turnovers.
Bottom line, Chad is hurt, consistently, and the team has an extant investment in VY. I’m not advocating that we throw out the investment in favor of a medical crap-shoot. And with that in mind, I think Pennington DOES NOT come into Titan-land. Because, bottom line, if you bring in Chad to compete with VY, you have the problem that he might DRAMATICALLY out-play VY in the preseason and create QB turmoil again. But the guy cannot play a full season; that is just not realistic.
If Pennington were younger and healthy, I think he would be a better fit for the team than VY is. However, I live in the real world, and I understand the limitations.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Eh. I disagree with this...
I personally would take an elite Defense and a game manager at QB over an Elite QB and the hope of consistently outscoring people in the post-season, and I think there’s a bunch of evidence to support that theory. Even in the game this weekend, I’d argue that the winning team will be the one that plays better on D and/or creates more turnovers.
First of all, one of the best indicators of winning and losing is turnovers. That works both ways, though. A bad offense is just as responsible for turning the ball over as a good defense is of creating them. I’d also point out that I can’t remember the last time that at least one of the teams in the Super Bowl wasn’t a top 10 offense. Can you? Conversely, I can’t ever remember a Super Bowl that was between two teams with top 5-10 defenses, and below average offenses. There are three phases of the game, obviously, and they all have their impacts. I would say that if I was building an expansion team, 50% of my emphasis would be on offense, 30% on defense, and 20% on special teams.
Second, I think it is much more difficult to build an elite defense than it is to build a very good offense. Mainly because you are more than half of the way there on offense if you have an excellent quarterback. Plug Peyton Manning in any offense in the NFL, and they’d instantly be a top 10-15 offense.
Well...
The Superbowl is traditionally played between a Run-First Defensive team from the NFC and a pass-happy outfit from the AFC, with the NFC winning the preponderance of those old-school occurances. Even lately, with the AFC ascendant, we’ve seen a balanced Defensive team vs. a Pass-Happy outfit, with only the 2006 Colts actually winning from the Pass-Happy crew in recent memory. And that was with Rex Grossman in place to absolutely torpedo the Bears.
This year is interesting because it’s two straight-up pass-happy outfits, although both have defenses that are at least competent, and in fact, the Colts D is actively good IMHO.
So, bottom line, I don’t know what all that means, but somewhere out there, I’m pretty sure that Trent Dilfer is polishing his Ring in anticipation of this week’s game.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
The Steelers last year were horrible at running the ball
They were a pass-happy team that also had a good defense. They also won that game on a pass, not on a defensive stop.
T-Rac's Posse - T-Rac is one boss raccoon.
My personal Tribute to Air McNair
by T--Rac's Posse on Feb 3, 2010 1:57 PM CST up reply actions
But they were playing an EVEN MORE pass-happy outfit.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Besides, last year's Superbowl sucked in every way possible.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
I quit watching football after Alge dropped our chances on the 4-yard-line.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
just because they played a more pass-happy outfit doesnt mean they arent a pass happy outfit
in fact, that would just prove SuperHorn’s point. Pass happy is the way to go.
T-Rac's Posse - T-Rac is one boss raccoon.
My personal Tribute to Air McNair
by T--Rac's Posse on Feb 3, 2010 2:07 PM CST up reply actions
Awesome!
Just what we needed to liven things up! A hypothetical QB controversy!
Excellent, Smithers.
Personally, I find it had to believe that Pennington is coming back at all. I’m too lazy to google. Has he said he’s returning? I’d have thought after his shoulder having to be reattached to his body three times, he’d happily enter retirement.
If he is coming back, and he can still throw, I think he’d make an outstanding Kerry replacement. There would never be a starting controversy. VY would be the guy. But Pennington, if available. able to throw without his arm falling to the ground, and willing to be second fiddle again, would be a very good backup.
A five year old could write a better piece than this guay
He does not present a single solid argument for the Titans to draft Tebow. Why draft a guy to put him in another position. Why not draft a player that is already good in that position. So instead of drafting, let say Anthony McCoy of USC at TE, we draft Tebow to see if he can play TE. It’s does not make any sense.
The guy states that Tebow will surely be a game changer. The change can be to the worst.
I'm not a VY fanboy, I'm a VY supporter
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You're the one feeding him hits today
/just sayin’
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"What if I was Peyton Manning?"- CJ to the ref after they picked up a personal foul flag for a late hit on him.
Oh, every single Tebow to the Titans story is getting the same link treatment.
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Neither quarterback would/will win a Super Bowl with Jeff Fisher as their coach.
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Chad Pennington
My freshman year at Marshall was his senior year. I still have a school paper that parodied the “Armageddon” movie poster that had Chad and Randy Moss on the front under the title “Armapennington” stashed away in my closet. I ate wings with they guys from Twin Towers West (Chad’s dorm) every Wednesday. It is easy to see why I would be a die hard Pennington fan and unless he goes to the Ravens or Colts I will always cheer for him.
But I don’t want him to be in a Titan jersey. His glory days are done. The best thing that could happen for Chad, is while he still has all the respect he has earned, is to try and get a position as a QB coach or offensive assistant. His strong point has always been his brain. He can read a D and pick it apart with amazing accuracy. Put him on the sidelines coaching a young QB and he could make you a weapon.
Selfishly though, I would rather see him leave the NFL altogether and come home to Marshall. We left the MAC too early. We went from a perennial champion to a joke because they jumped up too fast. The problem now is when you consistently suck it is hard to reccruit. If Chad were to come back as a coach or recruiter for MU, his name alone could up recruitment and give the staff some name recognition to turn my school around. Hey I can dream right?
Detroit should take Chad as Staffords mentor/backup.
Detroit or Cleveland could use him the most i think. Maybe SF too. or Panthers.
Bottom line is I dont care if we get him. Too many ???‘s about his shoulder and I don’t want to see ‘game manger’ associated with the Titans anymore whatsoever. Go Big or Go Home.
We’ll draft a QB in the later rounds or bring someone in and whoever it is will be decent with our O-line and CJ.
by TITANS 'n LAKERS FaN 4 Life on Feb 4, 2010 12:37 PM CST reply actions
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