How short should Tennessee Titans guard Andy Levitre's leash be?

Let's not mince words here, Andy Levitre has been a bust signing for the Tennessee Titans so far in his career.

Levitre has been a starter in both of his seasons with the team, but he has fallen far short of expectations of the massive contract that the Tennessee Titans paid him to start their big offseason before the 2013 NFL season.

So, with all this money invested in Andy Levitre it is put up or shut up time for the left guard. The question is, how much time should the Titans give him at his position before they try something (anything) else?

My answer would be training camp. If he isn't looking like a dominant guard, then pull the trigger on someone else that is available, specifically Evan Mathis.

Evan Mathis is a stud guard who has graded out as one of the best guards in football according to PFF for the last four years. In fact, over that stretch of time Mathis graded out as the top guard three times and the year he wasn't at the top he was second. That is the type of player that just doesn't hit the market.

So the question becomes, what do you do with Levitre if the Titans do add the elite guard?

Well, for starters the Titans could try to play him in the much maligned center position. Brian Schwenke is one of the team's biggest question marks and he could be looking at a backup job after this year. The team has been giving Levitre some snaps there as it is this offseason and it could be the perfect opportunity to switch him over.

Now, Levitre has played center for one full game in his career, but that wasn't his best showing as he earned a -2.2 on 67 snaps according to PFF.

However, there is a spot he has played before and played well: tackle.

That is right, Andy Levitre has played tackle a total of five times in his career and has managed a 2.9 grade, grading positively in four of those five games. The one negative performance he had came at the hands of the 2011 Rex Ryan New York Jets who were a very talented defense.

So imagine this lineup, the Titans start:

LT: Taylor Lewan

LG: Evan Mathis

C: Brian Schwenke/Fernando Velasco

RG: Chance Warmack

RT: Andy Levitre

If Levitre can play up to his old standard here then the Titans have a talented left tackle, a Pro Bowl guard, a guard that could be a Pro Bowl player this year if he plays like he ended last season, and a 29 year old veteran who is finally healthy and who has done well at the position in the past.

That is a pretty great lineup to put Marcus Mariota behind. And another scenario is that Byron Bell or Jeremiah Poutasi could surprise the team and allow Levitre to kick back inside giving them five solid to great offensive linemen.

While it may seem like a pipe dream to consider adding Mathis, don't forget that the team focused on making this transition as easy as possible for Marcus Mariota and has plenty of cap room available to make this move.

So I wouldn't hesitate to move Andy Levitre if I could bring in Evan Mathis, in fact I would probably already be making a call to his agent to find out his asking price, just in case.