Why the Tennessee Titans should decide their running back situation by feel

The Tennessee Titans have a problem at the running back position. On one hand, the experienced player is Bishop Sankey, but his play as a starter has been uninspiring. Then the two backup running backs both have the same style and haven't shown that they can be third down backs.

So with all of those question marks, it is clear that the Tennessee Titans don't have their starting running back yet, but maybe that isn't a bad thing. Today in Paul Kuharsky's mailbag, he gave an interesting answer to the Titans running back question:

"I want to see more of David Cobb, too, and Bishop Sankey continues not to show the sort of explosiveness needed from a back of that style. But too many fantasy players write RB1 and RB2 in stone and seem hell bent on not accepting fluidity to the situation. I think Cobb will prove the better back and wind up with more carries. But Sankey will also get some, Dexter McCluster will have his time on the field, Antonio Andrews probably gets work and Jalston Fowler will have some chances too. Even a scenario that includes a "bell cow" back for Ken Whisenhunt would also include a third-down back and a niche for McCluster. So would that be an RB1 in your eyes?"

So, what he is saying is that there may be times where Antonio Andrews or David Cobb need to get a lot of snaps to pound the ball inside. Conversely there may be a time where the Titans need to have a smaller back who is better at catching out of the backfield and making quick cuts, and that might be a time when Dexter McCluster and Bishop Sankey get the majority of the snaps.

The point is, as much as fans might want a running back to take over the starting job and carve out a niche as the star running back until someone separates themselves from the pack. However that doesn't meant that the Titans can't have a successful rushing attack. The New York Jets and the San Francisco 49ers both had a running back by committee approach and both teams had mobile quarterbacks, so they might be a good model.

In the end, until someone proves that they can be a bell cow running back then why force someone into that role? Use each player in a way that focuses on their strengths and don't make anyone do something they can't. Seems simple enough, so maybe we should stop worrying about who starts and start focusing on who gets the most snaps.