Could the Titans have a new sack king in 2018?

We haven’t seen a ton of record-breaking performances from the Titans since CJ2K’s insane 2009 season, but that could be changing soon. The talented, young team that Jon Robinson has assembled over the last few years certainly looks like one that should be competitive for years to come. That should yield some opportunities for records to fall. Here are a few that I expect to be in danger as soon as this season.

All stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.

Career Sacks (Titans Era)

Current Record: 52 sacks - Jevon Kearse

Challenger: 44 sacks - Derrick Morgan

This may come as a bit of a surprise to some, but Derrick Morgan has a real chance to become the Titans career sack record holder in 2018. The franchise record belongs to the great Ray Childress with 75.5 sacks with the Oilers, but Morgan currently sits 5th overall in franchise history and 2nd behind just The Freak in the Titans Era.

Morgan is almost criminally underappreciated in my opinion. After an injury plagued first couple seasons, Morgan has turned in to one of the most reliable Titans defenders. He hasn’t reached the epic peaks that Kearse did, but his consistency over the past 8 seasons now has him within striking distance. He will need 8 sacks to tie and he’s averaged 8.25 sacks per season over the last two years so he has a real chance to get there this season.

Jurrell Casey sits pretty close behind Morgan at 39 career sacks which means that he could be challenging Kearse or Morgan for this record in the near future as well.

Career Pro Bowl Appearances (Titans Era)

Current Record: 3 - Chris Johnson, Jurrell Casey, Jevon Kearse, Bruce Matthews, Steve McNair, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Delanie Walker

Challengers: 3 - Jurrell Casey, Delanie Walker

Both Jurrell Casey and Delanie Walker have been to 3 consecutive Pro Bowls from 2015-2017. If either of them continue their streak in 2018 they’ll become the first players to earn that honor 4 times in a Titans uniform. Both guys figure to have a pretty good shot at getting there again this year.

The franchise record for Pro Bowl selections is also the NFL record for Pro Bowl selections — Bruce Matthews’ 14 is tied with Peyton Manning, Tony Gonzalez, and Merlin Olsen — and won’t be broken by a Titan for at least another decade. Matthews is too often overlooked due to his position and the fact that his career straddled the end of the Oilers Era and the beginning of the Titans Era, but he was amazing and quite possibly the best offensive lineman of all time.

Single Season Passing Yards (Titans Era)

Current Record: 3,571 yards - Matt Hasselbeck (2011)

Challenger: Marcus Mariota

This is a good bar trivia question to stump your friends with. How many guesses do you think most fans would take to get to Matt Hasselbeck as the Titans single season passing yards record holder?

Marcus Mariota would have already broken this record if not for his season-ending injury in Week 16 of the 2016 season. He finished that season with 3,426 yards with a game and a half left to play. In Matt LaFleur’s 7 NFL seasons as a quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator, the lowest his quarterbacks have combined to throw for in a season is 3,666 yards. If Mariota stays healthy in 2018, he’s almost certainly going to break this record.

The franchise record for single season passing yards — and 5 of the top 6 seasons in franchise history — belongs to Warren Moon as his 1991 season saw him reach 4,690 yards passing. It would take a near MVP level season for Mariota to break that record, but it’s not impossible. Matt Ryan put up 4,944 yards in this offense (or something very similar to it) during his 2016 MVP campaign.

Single Season Passing Touchdowns (Franchise Record)

Current Record: 36 - George Blanda

Challenger: Marcus Mariota

Blanda threw 36 touchdown passes in just 14 regular season games for the Houston Oilers during the second of their back-to-back AFL Championships in 1961. That franchise record has now held up for 57 years. If you want to look at post-merger NFL seasons only, the franchise record for that time frame is 33 touchdowns from Warren Moon in 1990.

Mariota already owns the Titans Era singe season passing touchdown record with 26 in 2016. Getting to 36 touchdowns will be tough, especially on a team that wants to be balanced on offense, but it’s certainly within the realm of possibility for Mariota in 2018.

Single Season Receiving Yards (Titans Era)

Current Record: 1,303 - Derrick Mason (2003)

Challenger: Corey Davis

The overall franchise record for receiving yards in a season belongs to Charley Hennigan who racked up 1,746 yards during the 1961 season in the AFL. That record seems highly unlikely to fall any time soon, but Mason’s 1,303 yard mark from the 2003 season — which is also the Titans/Oilers franchise record for the NFL Era — could be reachable if Corey Davis breaks out in his sophomore campaign.

Yes, going from 375 yards to 1,303 yards would be quite a leap, but Davis has the talent to make it. His rookie season was littered with flashes despite a hamstring injury and an archaic offense. A fully healthy offseason — including extra work with his fully healthy quarterback — combined with a fresh, new offense could yield big results for the 2017 5th overall pick.

Single Season Receiving Touchdowns (Titans Era)

Current Record: 11 - Drew Bennett (2004)

Challenger: Corey Davis

Similar to the previous record, the franchise record comes from the AFL years as Bill Groman’s 17 receiving touchdowns in 1961 remains unbroken 57 years later. However, the NFL Era record for the franchise belongs to Drew Bennett who hauled in 11 touchdown catches in 2004.

Remember that electric Billy Volek-Drew Bennett 3 game stretch at the end of that lost season? Bennett had 28 catches, 517 yards, and 8 touchdowns in losses to the Colts, Chiefs, and Raiders. Such a weird season.

The 11 touchdown mark is extremely reachable. Rishard Matthews came just 2 short of tying it in 2016 despite sharing snaps early in the season with Andre Johnson. I believe Davis to be the most likely receiver to surpass this record because of his red zone friendly skill set, but Matthews or Walker could also be threats here.

Career Receiving Touchdowns (Titans Era)

Current Record: 34 - Derrick Mason

Challenger: 26 - Delanie Walker

The Titans Era record for career receiving touchdowns currently belongs to Derrick Mason with 34, but Delanie Walker has a chance to take that down this season. Walker currently sits just 8 behind Mason with 26. His career high for touchdowns in a season is 7 so he would need to top that to get there in 2018, but an improved offense could give him the opportunity to do that.

The overall franchise record for career receiving touchdowns belongs to Charley Hennigan who hauled in 51 during the AFL Era. That record figures to be safe for a few more years at least.

Which record do you think is most likely to fall in 2018?