Our friend NewsToTom wrote a piece about the Titans needs after the draft, and it is all sunshine and roses- or not so much. Gower says that the Titans lack a coherent plan for improvement in 2011 citing that Jake Locker isn't ready to step in and play right away, Akeem Ayers plays a position that the Titans defense hasn't featured in "the better part of a decade", and Jurrell Casey plays a position where the Titans are returning all of their top players from a year ago.
I would give him every single one of those points if the 2010 coaching staff was returning, but they aren't. This Titans team is going to have a completely different look, especially on defense, and it is impossible for anyone outside of Baptist Sports Park to really know what the scheme is going to look like.
What we do know is that Jerry Gray said he wanted to get bigger on the defensive line and at linebacker. They accomplished that in the draft, and Gower is right when he says the 2010 defense was only good when the defensive line provided pressure, but that isn't relevant anymore because everything is going to be different. Maybe Gray will be able to teach Michael Griffin to play pass first. That would cut down on the big plays that happen down the field.
The Titans might return their top four defensive tackles from last season, but there is a good chance that Tony Brown is done, there is a 50/50 chance that Jason Jones is going to be moved to defensive end, Sen'Derrick Marks has never shown anything outside of potential and Jovan Haye has never shown anything. Why wouldn't they be looking to upgrade at that spot?
And so what if the Titans defense hasn't featured a strong side linebacker in a decade? This is a completely new coaching staff. What they have done over the past decade has absolutely nothing to do with what they are going to do in 2011. Ayers is the type of player you build a scheme around, and Gray is the type of guy that will be willing to do that.
I am not sure what the 2011 defense is going to look like, but I don't think anyone can say they don't have a "coherent plan" until we know what the plan is.