Jake Locker looking smooth in Titans OTAs

Having inside access to Titans OTAs has its benefits. For example, Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean led off his June 6th edition of OTA notes with this gem.

"Quarterback Jake Locker had another good day throwing the football. He was off-target on some throws on the run. Heading into Thursday’s OTA, Locker had thrown 12 touchdowns and three interceptions in team and 7-on-7 drills combined, per offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains. I counted two more touchdowns on Thursday, when he didn’t throw a pick. Locker also ran one in for a score."

I count three significant notes in that statement.

Number 1: Those are some impressive numbers when you consider that he is throwing to the same WRs that dropped so many balls last year. Not only that, but both the QB and the WRs seem to be on the same page already despite how little time they have had to practice the Dowell Loggains offense.

Number 2: Wyatt notes that Locker had thrown for 12 touchdowns, but later separately mentioned that he rushed for one on Thursday. If that is accurate, then how much better has Locker been than his 14:3 TD/INT ratio suggests? If he kept up that pace of scoring a rushing TD for every two passing TDs thrown then he would have already notched 18 total TDs in the new run-based offense.

Number 3: Considering the meager one TD and one INT days Locker had last year while splitting reps with Hasselbeck, these number seem very high. I know that he isn't necessarily under pressure on these throws (even though they are making him throw on the run) but he is still going against a deep and fairly talented secondary.

I know it is OTAs and everything should be taken with a grain of salt, but at least the offense seems to be humming right now. It would be easy for veterans to go on auto-pilot at this point in the season, but Munchak and company have really done a great job forcing everyone to compete for their jobs. As much as it might hurt negative fans to read, the Titans coaching staff and front office have defied all expectations and had a great offseason.

They were dealt bad cards and instead of trying to bluff their way into the season, they shuffled the deck and went out and added some aces like Andy Levitre and Chance Warmack. Then they took those aces and mixed them in with a pair of wild cards in Locker and Loggains. Will that create a winning offense? I don't know, but right now they are definitely exciting those who are paying attention and if Locker continues to grow then the Titans could be on to something here.