Tennessee Titans Daily Links: General Washington Edition

Acquiring and developing leaders in the locker room has been a focus of this franchise since 2009. This year Nate Washington has finally, and organically, developed in to the rare kind of leader that players follow and fans love. He displayed the kind of toughness, consistency and cojones we haven't seen in the WR group, especially, since Derrick Mason. The biggest difference between those two is that Nate can work down the field, even if he isn't as good underneath as Mase was in his prime.

Not to be outdone by Mocking the Draft, Todd McShay has us taking Andre Branch, DE out of Clemson with the 14th pick in his Mock Draft.

Matt Hasselbeck is flexing a skill most veteran NFL QBs develop, but Titans fans haven't seen in a long time: completely tuning out an unhappy fan base. Now, the opinion that Jake Locker should be starting is pretty much universal among Titans fans at this point, but I'd contend more of the frustration is being aimed at Mike Munchak. The shot of Hass limping around after the opening handoff last week might have given him all the cover he'll ever need, because fans want very player to want to start until they're forced to sit by the coaching staff. The result is Hass comes off like the tough veteran struggling through the ravages of time, and Munchak becomes the stubborn dimwit who refuses to make the change we all see needs to be made. The truth is probably somewhere in between, but either way the losses are starting to pile up.

When the Titans square-off against the Jags on Saturday, it'll be interesting to see whose weakness is strongest (from PFF):

Jacksonville Jaguars: No player has allowed more sacks this year than right tackle Guy Whimper with 13, that's nearly a sack allowed per game.

Tennessee Titans: The Titans have just one player with a pass rush rating of +1.0 or better (Karl Klug). Last year they had eight.

Hass does continue to say he's happy to be mentoring Jake Locker.

Did Glennon just realize that Chris Johnson's 2011 season has been random series of all or nothing performances?

Maurice Jones Drew is doing something very few running backs can pull off: gaining good yardage while getting below nothing from the passing game.

Chris Johnson missed practice again, but the song coming out of Baptist Sports Park is still the same.

Big Cat Country asks if the Jags would go get Jeff Fisher in the offseason. It would make sense, seeing as Fisher already has a home in Jacksonville...

Can the Texans afford to keep Mario Williams? If they lose Wade Phillips in the offseason, they better find a way to.

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