Sports Illustrated grades the Tennessee Titans offseason

Doug Farrar listed his thoughts about what moves the Titans have made this offseason here, and it was surprisingly positive for a national media outlet. I'm not going to cry and complain that the Titans get picked on or ignored by the national media, it is just rare for anyone to give the Titans anything above a "C" due to the public perception of Jake Locker and the departure of Chris Johnson.

Farrar proved to be an outlier giving the Titans a "B-". While he seems to have respect for what Whisenhunt can do, he really seems to love the addition of new DC Ray Horton to this roster:

"Just as important is the addition of new defensive coordinator Ray Horton, one of the most creative minds in the game. Horton and Whisenhunt worked together in Pittsburgh and Arizona, and Horton has a lot to work with."

For all of the Titans offseason additions, the one I liked the most was bringing in DE/OLB Shaun Phillips. He brings experience and a talent to a position of need for the Titans. However, more and more the other former Broncos linebacker seems to get all the attention:

"The former Broncos linebacker will be an intriguing chess piece in Horton’s defense; he can play and cover from the outside and rush from the inside with equal skill. In the Titans’ base 3-4 defense, he’ll most likely take one of the inside linebacker spots, but when Horton schemes out of base and sets variable fronts against opposing offenses (which he’ll do quite often), Woodyard has the talent to play nickel ‘backer from just about anywhere on the field."

The best part of the article is when he talks about how dominant DaQuan Jones is going to be on this new defense, and the misconception of the base 3-4.

"While Horton’s base defense is a base 3-4, you can expect a lot of four-man nickel schemes, and that’s where the 6-foot-4, 322-pound Jones comes in — as a disruptive tackle and big end in different packages, who could be especially effective alongside the hilariously underrated Jurrell Casey"

The idea that the Titans are going to run a pure 3-4 for extended periods of time is making people concerned about the use of Jurrell Casey. However, sub-packages and nickel formations will be what fans see on the field 60%+ of the snaps, and that is when Casey will likely get to play in his familiar 3-tech.