Tennessee Titans Afternoon Links: Whole New Level Edition

While there were definitely some lucky breaks for Vince Young last night (i.e. the fumble that he recovered on the run), there's no denying that VY has reached a whole new level as a quarterback in the NFL. Last year when he took over, and even more so this pre-season, Vince has been winning more crucial downs with his arm and his head than with his legs. Even better is that there haven't been as many crucial 3rd and 4th downs because he's not making more plays on first and second down. It's really a great testament to Vince's work ethic and Mike Heimerdinger's coaching ability.

The highlight of the game was easily Lavelle Hawkins' hurdle over Marshay Green on a WR reverse, which Blount then tried to match with his own hurdling exhibition late in the game.

Damian Williams didn't break the big one like Mariani did, but he looked smooth and natural enough while fielding kicks that he could accelerate almost instantly. No matter which of those two guys gets the job, we'll definitely be in much better shape than we we've been since Chris Carr bolted for Baltimore.

Follow us thought the jump to find out what rookie might be pushing to start...

Very solid game form Alterraun Verner. We can be honest and admit that he got a little lucky on the endzone play, but outside of that he did a very good job staying with his receiver and making the tackle when he needed to. John Glennon thinks the rook is now officially in the mix for the second CB spot. I still think that job is McCourty's to lose, and he's not going to lose it on one 37 yard pass. What I could see happening is McCourty's leash getting shorter and shorter the more Verner continues to get it done on the field and in practice.

Was anyone else surprised that Samkon Gado got some run before Blount or Pearman? I suspect that Blount might have gotten a look earlier in the game were it not for Wednesday night's incident. Still Blount did a great job capitalizing on the opportunity he was given with some strong, bruising runs.

Matt Bowen thinks the Titans should try running with two tight-ends and no full back. Perhaps next they'll try wearing two-toned blue and playing in Nashville. That personnel package has been a staple of the offense for Jeff Fisher's entire tenure save for those non-sensical Norm Chow years. We used to run it all the time with Wycheck and Kinney, and we ran it a ton last year with Scaife and Crumpler.

Kerry Collins went 6 of 12 for 66 yards, and locked down the back-up QB spot. Pretty much all Kerry had to do was show up and stay healthy and he had the back-up spot in the bag.

Gregg Easterbrook posted his 2010 TMQ NFL Preview, and it features a line that really puts in to perspective how long Jeff Fisher has been on the scene:

Fisher has been coach of this franchise since before there was a Netscape Navigator -- before there was an ESPN.com, for that matter.

Here's the Fanhouse recap of last night's contest.

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