SB Nation - David Thornton

Tennessee Titans Morning Links: Thank You To Our Real Veterans Edition

August West — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:18:09 -0000

Gotta love KSK

What better way to start off the Veteran's Day links than with a story about the Titans' own veteran of military service, Ahmard Hall. Hall served in the Marines in Kosovo and Afghanistan before walking on to the Texas Longhorns team upon his return. We can't thank Ahmard Hall and every other veteran for the US Military enough for their bravery and sacrifice for this nation, so perhaps the best we can do is never forget that they're the backbone of everything good in our lives. Without our veterans we wouldn't have the freedoms we enjoy today.

Jim Trotter of SI.com makes his prediction for the second half of the season, and he's predicting a continued marriage between Vince Young and the Titans after the season ends:

3. Vince Young will be the Titans' QB beyond this season.

... Young looks as if he has been humbled and hardened after being relegated to the sidelines the final 15 games last season and the first six games this year. He always has had a way of rallying teammates, and he'll do it again by leading the Titans to four to six wins in their final eight games (which means six to eight wins in his 10 starts).

If you missed the debacle excitement last night , head on over here to check-out a preview of the upcoming game by Jimmy, Buffalo Rumblings and myself.

Follow us through the jump to learn more about the history of Kearse's knee problem...

In a sign that doesn't look too good for the injured David Thornton, the Titans added LB Eric Bakhtiari to the practice squad yesterday. It's not an outright admission that Thornton's hip problems are serious, but it shows they feel the need to increase depth behind him now that McRath is an interim starter.

One of the chief concerns VY needs to focus on heading into this game is rookie stand-out safety Jarius Byrd, who enters the Thunderdome with 7 interceptions already to his name, including a three game multiple-interception streak. Here, USA Today takes a closer look at his game.

Jevon Kearse's knee problems date back to his days in Philadelphia, and when he re-injured it earlier in the year doctors found that it had never fully healed correctly. He's hoping to be back in practice as the team prepares for the Buffalo game this week.

Mechelle McNair won a court decision yesterday giving her the right to sell Steve McNair's recently opened restaurant, Gridiron9. A buyer has already come forward.

Every time you read a great Titans-related story on the web and don't share it with the MCM community through the fanposts, fanshots or by emailing me at mcmaugustwest@gmail.com a Ravens (or Steelers) fan smiles. Is that what you want?!!!!?!?!

One In The Win Column - Photos from the Titans Jaguars Game

Titanfan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:42:35 -0000

Long wait but the Titans finally won a game. A lot of things to be happy about and a few concerns still are evident. One thing for sure is I'm glad the rest of the home games are at noon on Sunday. I know the players and the team like prime time and under the lights, but I'll take noon starts over anything else. That's when football is meant to be played. There's a Christmas game late start but I don't think I'll be there for that one.

So here's Power to the Noon Starts:

More pics after the jump.

LenDale White looking happy to be there:

Kyle Vanden Bosch had his red contacts in so I knew to expect big things from him:

Even though the Titans didn't recover this fumble it was good to see David Thornton and the "D" were creating opportunities:

I mentioned concerns and this is one/many of them. Poor tackling. But that Maurice Jones-Drew is hard to bring down:

Those red contacts paid off. KVB gets his first sack:

Damn...there he goes again:

Funny who his lead blocker is on these long runs.

This was awesome to see. I wish I could have photographed the catch. This is when Vince Young stepped back and avoided the rush and found Kenny Britt along the sidelines. VY threw that ball with authority:

Another positive about the game was seeing Michael Griffin back to being a ball hawk:

I think about this moment Jones-Drew was wanting a piece of Finnegan more than blocking him:

History in the making. Chris Johnson turned in the best rushing performance by an Oiler/Titan in franchise history:

That was so good it was worth another look. He was out of gas by this time:

Let the dancing begin:

Have the Titans returned to '08 form? Is this the team we expected to open the season? I sure hope so. The defense put in a pretty good performance and Chris Johnson was awesome. Vince Young was impressive and hopefully will only get better from here. Next up is away at San Francisco. I'm hoping they come back on a win streak.

Colts v. Cardinals Game Review: Putting the Pieces Together

Colts Homer — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:09:14 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

2 months ago: After making a catch, Indianapolis Colts' Pierre Garcon, left, tangles with Arizona Cardinals' Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009 in Glendale, Ariz. Both received penalties on the play. The Colts defeated the Cardinals 31-10. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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This was a fun game. My favorite games are the ones when you know that your team is going to win throughout the entire game, and it makes it even better since I didn't think that the Colts would be able to beat the Cardinals with all of the things stacked up against them (No Brackett, Hayden, Gonzalez or Sanders, short week, tired defense, etc.). The Colts had a lot of adversity for this game. They even made the Colts underdogs. That's unbelievable. Obviously, the Vegas people aren't going to make that mistake again. Right now the Colts are probably going to be favored by double digits for the Seahawks game. I'm very happy that they're back playing on Sunday afternoons. I know that it is better for the Colts fans outside of the Midwest, but I'm a greedy person and I enjoy sleeping. The analysis is below.

QBs-Peyton Manning is unbelievable. He has lost two of his top three receivers from 2008, and he is better than ever. Besides Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, his other top receivers are a second-year player out of D3 Mount Union and a rookie out of BYU. Most QBs wouldn't be able to make that work. Peyton does. The Brady v. Manning debate is on hold. We are seeing what Peyton does with only two top targets and a bad right side of the line. Peyton is second in the league in passing touchdowns and passing yards. If we are going to be making early predictions, I'll say that number 4 is not out of the stretch of the imagination. After the Saints start to look human, Manning will emerge past the Brees hoopla. Bursa sacs were holding Manning back.

The rest is after the jump.

RBs-This was a huge concern of us all after the Chargers loss. It was clear that Addai-Rhodes was not going to cut it. Rhodes was a decent back but nothing special and Addai was always banged up. Fast forward 8 and a half months, and the running attack is lethal. Addai is amazingly consistent. On first down he seems to always get 5 or 6 yards at least. Joseph Addai has come back with a vengeance. He is proving haters wrong and he is looking like the Addai of old. And then there's Donald. Donald Brown looks like a future star. There is no questioning this draft pick now. Brown is very explosive when he gets in the open field. That 70 yard reception was brilliant! He breaks tackles which honestly surprised me as I thought that wasn't going to be a part of his game. For people wondering why he isn't starting right now, look at the differences pre-snap with him in the game. On multiple occasions Sunday night Brown had to be moved around by Peyton to get into position. Once Brown gets a hold of the playbook he will be the main back.

WRs/TEs-This is why Polian is a future Hall of Famer. Somehow he found Pierre Garcon out of Mount Union. Mount Union plays in a nearly century old football stadium that seats 5,000. Mount Union is a dynasty, but the fact that Polian found this diamond in the rough just shows his genius. Garcon is emerging as a great third receiver. He's very explosive, and to say he is a big play threat is an understatement. My guess is that once Anthony Gonzalez returns they will continue to give Garcon playing time on the outside with Gonzalez in the slot. That's why he didn't take Hakeem Nicks or Kenny Britt. Austin Collie has become a nice receiver. He's not the Stokley big play threat yet, but he has good hands and can get the first down. On third down, going to Collie is a great idea. He plays smart and he knows where the first down line is. Garcon is the better receiver right now, but Collie definitely has a future on this team. Reggie Wayne is also pretty good I've heard. He's leading the league in receiving yards right now and he makes the most ridiculous plays. He's working his way onto the All-Pro team. Speaking of All-Pros, Dallas Clark is the best tight end in the league. He's left John Carlson, Jason Witten, Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez in the dust. Clark is reaching his prime, and I would not be surprised to see a nice 1,000 yard, 10 touchdown season out of him. Once Gonzalez gets back, Clark is going to be even tougher to guard. Peyton has the weapons to win yet another MVP.

OL-Left side good, right side bad. That's the best way to describe this line. You could use better grammar, but that is as simple as it gets. Charlie Johnson has been a pleasant surprise and has proven doubters like me wrong. He's a good run blocker and so far he hasn't given up a sack this season. Ryan Lilja is reminding us on why he got that contract instead of Jake Scott. Lilja is a great run blocker. Running to the left side is better than ever with Lilja back. He's a sleeper for the Pro Bowl this year. Saturday is Saturday. He's been great this year and he did well last night. No one is doubting him. The right side is getting ugly. Whenever a former 2nd round pick is rotating with a former center that most recently was seen with the Boise Burn of af2, it's a bad sign for that former first day pick. When that former 2nd round pick is in his second year, it's embarrassing. Kyle DeVan is a good player and there is a reason why he is still with the team, but Pollak was a second round pick. He's not good at all. His play resulted in the interception, and he is clueless on the stretch play. Pollak is a liability, and Diem isn't much better. Running to the right is a death sentence for the drive. There is absolutely no blocking at all. This is the biggest need going into the 2010 draft. I'm perfectly content with Charlie Johnson starting at left tackle down the line, but I do not want Ryan Diem. I would support them moving Ugoh to the right tackle position and grooming him into a future starting job.

DL-Talk about a nice recovery. Against Miami the defensive line was pretty bad. Obviously Dwight Freeney played well in Miami, but no one else really did. Ed Johnson looked lost (and high), and Antonio Johnson was always getting pushed off the line. On Sunday night, I was almost sure that Big Ed was starting in the backfield. How a man that big can get off the line that fast is beyond me. Eric Foster is also becoming a nice rotation player. He played some defensive end as well as defensive tackle last night, and he did great at both positions. He is probably the best at batting down balls on the defensive line, and of course he is great at stopping the run. Antonio Johnson was not as impressive as Foster or Ed, but he didn't do anything to hurt the Colts, which is better than what we could say about the defensive tackles from 2007 and 2008. Without Dwight Freeney for the next two to three weeks, the defensive end position will be very different. As we saw Sunday night, Freeney is superhuman. On almost all 51 passes he hit Warner. He embarrassed Mike Gandy out there. With Freeney out, we will see more of Raheem Brock. Robert Mathis will take over for Freeney in the "Embarrassing Offensive Tackles" department, but there will have to be a rotation. Philip Wheeler played some defensive end Sunday night, and I have always thought that he would be a nice fit at defensive end. Throw in Keyunta Dawson and I can go two games without Freeney.

LBs-Freddy Keiaho didn't suck last night? I know, surprising. He didn't do anything terrible. I am still stunned. Everything I've seen from him would suggest that Kurt Warner would have torn him apart. Keiaho still should not be playing, but it does make Gary Brackett's injury less scary. On the outside, I am very content with Tyjuan Hagler and Clint Session. There is a reason why Hagler is starting over Wheeler, and Session has continued to play well. They are doing very well in stopping the running game. Obviously right now they are no David Thornton or Marcus Washington, but I feel fine with them back there. Jordan Senn did not impress me at all last night. If they have to play a backup linebacker, I would prefer to see Ramon Humber.

DBs-Once Kelvin Hayden and Bob Sanders get back, this will be the best secondary in the league. Jerraud Powers didn't play as well last night as he did against Jacksonville, but he is still the future of the cornerback position along with Hayden. Marlin Jackson did well as the nickelback last night. Is he worth re-signing? I'm not sure. Without a salary cap next year, I say go ahead. It pains me to say this, but Jennings did not suck last night. I still do not want him out on the field since we've all seen what happens when he is sucking. With Hayden hopefully coming back, it won't be a problem. Jacob Lacey is becoming one of my favorite rookies. He was very clutch Sunday night. His stop at the one yard line was HUGE. The next play was the Bethea interception. If Lacey can keep it up, he will work his way into the 4th spot above Tim Jennings. At safety, Antoine Bethea has played well this year. He still isn't the Pro Bowler from his second season, but he is a very good player and a quality starter. Melvin Bullitt has always played well in place of Bobzilla, but he isn't Bob Sanders. Once this team gets Sanders back, it will be even better in pass and run defense. Hopefully Bob will practice this week.

STs-Adam Vinatieri may be losing it. He is very, very close to being 2-5 this year, and he doesn't even kick off anymore. I think that this is the last year for Vinatieri. Next year Andrus will be the kicker. Vinatieri has not looked good this year. In fact, the whole field goal unit has looked bad. The blocking is weak and Vinatieri has been weak. On the other hand, McAfee is still great. On 11 kickoffs, he has 3 touchbacks. McAfee is still punting well. He's averaging about 45 yards per kick and he has 2 kicks inside the 20 on 9 punts. The return game is as expected. Simpson cannot return kicks and Rushing is a decent punt returner.

Top 5 players from the Colts-Cardinals Game

5. Pierre Garcon: Garcon is definitely stepping up when he has to. With Marvin Harrison and Gonzalez gone, he needed to become an acceptable target for Peyton. He's gone above and beyond that. Garcon had his great touchdown where he burnt the corner, and he played well for the rest of the game too. Garcon will end up getting more targets as the year goes on.

4. Reggie Wayne: Wayne is leading the league in receiving yards at this point, and last night he made one of the best catches of his career for a touchdown. He is a big target, and he has shown that he can get it done without Marvin on the other side of the field.

3. Joseph Addai: On 13 carries he got 63 yards and he made two big catches. One was the touchdown screen and the other was when he had to extend his body to come down with a pass that easily could have been a pick. Addai is getting back into 2006 form.

2. Peyton Manning: Manning is the best QB in the league. He is a favorite for the MVP again this year, and he is on pace to throw over 35 touchdowns and 4900 yards. He's pretty good, and Sunday night was his best game so far. He is doing this without Anthony Gonzalez. WOW.

1. Dwight Freeney: Even though Peyton was phenomenal, holding a very good offense to 10 points is a great feat, and Freeney was the main reason. His constant pressure got Warner to make bad throws and it got some sacks too.

Next up, Seattle Seahawks.

New York Jets Run Offense vs. Tennessee Titans Run Defense

John B — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 13:57:42 -0000

More photos » by Tim Larsen - AP

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When they handed the Titans their first loss a year ago, the Jets ran for 192 yards against a defense that included Albert Haynesworth. This could be the game for the Jets' rushing attack to get on track. The numbers don't look terrible, but New York has had problems running the ball early in games. Defenses have stacked the box against Mark Sanchez.

Tennessee's Cover 2 scheme calls for safeties to play deep to prevent the big play. We may see 8 up front at some points, but I would guess this will be less than New England and Houston used. It is going to come down to execution. Can the Jets offensive line control the point of attack to give Thomas Jones and Leon Washington room?

As we discussed in the passing matchup preview, the Titans rotate heavily on the defensive line. We'll see Kyle Vanden Bosch and David Ball at one defensive end spot. Jevon Kearse, Jacob Ford, and William Hayes at the other. Tony Brown, Kevin Vickerson, Jason Jones, and Jovan Haye will line up in the middle at tackle.

I can see the Jets having a lot of success on the ground. In a system like this, defensive linemen are usually small, particularly at end. Since there's not a ton of blitzing, teams sacrifice size for speed. Linemen are solely responsible for generating pressure. That means there could be issues against a power run attack with a big offensive line. On the left side, where Kearse and Ford will be, the Titans will reguarly be giving 60 pounds to Damien Woody. That's also the side David Thornton will line up at linebacker. Thornton is a good player, but I'd rather run at him than standout Keith Bullock on the other side. Stephen Tulloch will play the middle. It will be a typical Jets run attack. Alan Faneca will pull to the right side. Can the Titans stop it? If not, they will definitely have to put an eighth in the box, and Mark Sanchez has shown the ability to beat those fronts.

I would like to see more Tony Richardson this week. Against the Pats, there were a lot of three receiver sets early. That doesn't make a ton of sense to me. Jerricho Cotchery and Chansi Stuckey are the only receivers with receptions. Get the best lead blocker in the game into the action.

New York Jets Pass Offense vs. Tennessee Titans Pass Defense

John B — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

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Last season, the Jets went into Nashville and crushed the Titans in no small measure due to a huge day by Brett Favre. Operating out of spread sets, Favre picked Tennessee's vaunted defense, neutralizing its pass rush by consistently getting the ball out quickly and finding an open target. The strategy will be a bit different this time around with a rookie quarterback. We won't see complicated looks. The Jets have featured a scaled back playbook in the first two weeks. How can you tell? Only two receivers, one tight end, and one running back have as many as 2 receptions. The featured targets have done a great job getting open, and Mark Sanchez has been very accurate, making good decisions.

In some ways, the Titans will not be as difficult of a challenge as the Texans and Pats presented. Tennessee's Cover 2 scheme relies more on execution than aggressively attacking the opposing quarterback with exotic fronts. For the Titans, what you see is generally what you get, a lot of four man rushes. Albert Haynesworth is gone, but the unit has a lot of talent and rotates linemen a lot. Javon Kearse and Kyle Vanden Bosch will start at end, while we'll see Jacob Ford, William Hayes, and former Jet David Ball behind them. Tony Brown, Jason Jones, Jovan Haye, and Kevin Vickerson will line up at tackle. There are a lot of talented pass rushers from this group.

Although they will not have as many perplexing fronts as the Texans and Pats did, the Titans have the best secondary the Jets have faced this season. Cortland Finnegan is a Pro Bowl cover corner. After a rough week against Andre Johnson, he'll have plenty of motivation. I would expect to see plenty of man coverage on Jerricho Cotchery.

Nick Harper mans the other corner spot. The Titans play a ton of zone, which is where Harper is best. This is an area Chansi Stuckey should be able to find some room to work. He has been great at breaking off his routes and finding an opening. If the offensive line can protect Sanchez, Stuckey could have a big day finding holes in the zone. Ditto Dustin Keller working the seam against the linebacker corp of David Thornton, Stephen Tullock, and Keith Brooking.

If you're waiting for David Clowney to have his breakout week, it probably won't be this one. Cover 2 means the two safeties play deep to guard against vertical routes, and the Titans have a pair of really good ones in Chris Hope and Michael Griffin.

It all depends on the men up front. The Jets have been able to keep Sanchez upright the first two weeks. If he has time, he can do damage. I won't expect a game as big as Favre had last season, but there are areas the Jets can exploit the Titans with Stuckey and Keller in particular.

State of the Tennessee Titans Roster: Linebackers

Jimmy — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:30:11 -0000

Linebacker is a spot where the Titans are very good with the guys that start but have huge question marks when it comes to depth.

Keith Bulluck has been the heart and soul of the Titans defense for nearly a decade. We have spent a lot of time this offseason focusing on the fact that this is likely his last season as a Titan and not enough time talking about how good he has been here. The fact that Mr. Monday Night has only been to 1 Pro Bowl in his career is insane. His tackles have been down the last couple of seasons, but he provides a leadership for the defense that cannot be measured on a stat sheet.

David Thornton holds down the other outside linebacker spot and has been a solid addition to the defense since he was signed as a free agent in 2006. He is a very durable guy, starting all but 4 games since he joined the Titans.

Stephen Tullochis the incumbent middle linebacker. Tulloch played well after taking over for Ryan Fowler early last season. He is a bit undersized but always seems to be around the ball. Tully also figures to be the backup for both outside linebacker spots if Bulluck or Thornton were to go down with an injury. In that case Fowler would step in to play the middle. He was solid but not spectacular in his season plus as the starting middle linebacker.

After those 4 guys you have a group that includes Josh Stamer, Collin Allred, Stanford Keglar and rookie Gerald McRath. By my count those guys have started a grand total of one game combined. It would be nice to see a couple of these guys step up and make some plays in the preseason.

The good news is that this group is coached by Dave McGinnis who is a very good defensive mind. While that does give me some confidence, I will still be praying hard that the starters stay healthy all season.

Community Projections : David Thornton

smashville — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:30:09 -0000

The community projections series continues with David Thornton. Here are Thornton's 2008 stats:

David Thornton

#50 / Linebacker / Tennessee Titans

Height: 6-2

Weight: 225

Born: Nov 01, 1978

College: North Carolina

	Tackles	Forced Fumbles	INTs
2008 - David Thornton	78	2	0

How will Thornton's 2009 season turn out? Chime in in the comments and make your predictions for these three stats.

If you missed any previous predictions, weigh in here.

Phillip Wheeler, Marcus Washington 2.0?

shake n bake — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:32:38 -0000

BBS' post on blitzing from the Tampa-2 and a comment from tim55 got me wondering on who was the last Indy linebacker to have success rushing the passer. It's no exaggeration to say that the Colts don't use their back 7 for pressure. In the 7 years under Dungy only 4 non-linemen have recorded multiple sacks in a season (two did it twice), only one of those 6 seasons totaled over 4 sacks.

Player	Year	Sacks
2007	Bob Sanders	3.5
2005	David Thornton	2.0
2004	Rob Morris	3.0
2003	Marcus Washington	6.0
2002	Marcus Washington	2.0
2002	Rob Morris	3.0

It's been 3 years since an Indy linebacker has had more than 1 sack in a season, and 6 years since a 4+ sack season from a non-lineman. The one standout season under Dungy was from Marcus Washington. Washington recorded 16 sacks in his 3 years as a starter in Indy, including 8 sacks in 2000, before departing to Washington where he recorded 19.5 sacks over the following 4 years for the Redskins. Marcus Washington is the last Indy linebacker to have success blitzing.

via cache.gettyimages.com

With the new DC in place, who is far more prone to blitz than Meeks and Dungy, it's likely we'll see more opportunities for the linebackers to get after the QB. However it wasn't just what the linebackers did that changed under Dungy. Both of the LBs to have more than 2 sacks in a season were holdovers from the Mora era. Under Dungy the Colts drafted and played a different style of LB. Marcus Washington is 6'3" 247lbs, a far cry from the players that have been starting for Indy. Only 3 of the 11 LBs on the Colts roster are listed at over 6 foot (2 of whom weren't on the roster last year), and only two are listed at 240+ pounds. Phillip Wheeler (6'2" 245) and Adam Seward (6'3" 250) are the big LBs (with rookie Tyrell Sales the 3rd LB over 6 foot at 6'2 230).

Wheeler, who is the favorite for the starting SAM spot is the closest thing to Marcus Washington Indy's seen in a long time. They are similar in size and both played defensive end and linebacker in college in (Washington played OLB as an underclassman and DE as an upperclassman, while Wheeler did the reverse).

Wheeler seems to fit into an older mold of a Colts LB, instead being an entirely new one for the team. A big LB with extensive pass rushing experience.

The Titans Five Biggest Defensive Questions Heading Into 2009

Jimmy — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:20:46 -0000

More photos » by Alex Brandon - AP

Who you think gonna replace me?(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Now that free agency and the draft have ended, we can start to take a look at the 2009 version of the Tennessee Titans. Today we will look at the five biggest defensive questions for 2009.

1. How will the rotation replace the loss of Albert Haynesworth?

No one player is going to be expected to replace Albert. It will be done by the rotation. The question is how good is the rotation?

They know what they have in Tony Brown. He is a space eater that can get after the quarterback a little. Jason Jones excited us last year with his solid play early and stand-out game against the Towel Boys. He played defensive end in college so he is more of a pass rusher. Sen'Derrick Marks is probably the most athletic of the bunch and should be able to get after the passer. Jovan Haye is the wild card. He had 6 sacks in 2007 but 0 in 2008. Let's hope we get the '07 version. Kevin Vickerson, at the back end of the rotation, is a space eater that seemed to make huge strides last season (minus the performance enhancing drug suspension).

Obviously the Titans are hoping for the whole to be greater than the sum of the parts. The odds are it will be with Jim Washburn guiding the ship.

2. Who will step up to be the #3 corner?

Most of us would have liked the Titans to take a corner before the end of the 3rd round in this draft after losing so many corners in the offseason. They didn't, so that leaves a huge question in my mind. The Titans did sign DeMarcus Faggins in the offseason, and he is a nice player for depth purposes, but I am not going to feel really good if he has to be on the field for any extended period of time.

They obviously saw a lot of potential in Ryan Mouton, but he appears to be a project at best. I doubt he will be ready to step in and play if Cortland Finnegan or Nick Harper go down.

Cary Williams? Jason McCourty? That just isn't change I can believe in yet.

3. How much different will the defensive scheme look with Chuck Cecil at the helm?

The honest answer here is no one really knows. Jim Schwartz took a very statistical approach to the scheme (Think Moneyball meets the NFL). There weren't a lot of "risky" blitzes, and the secondary sat in zone coverage for the most part. I expect things to be different with Cecil calling the shots. We all know he played hard nosed football 100% of the time, so I just don't see him sitting around waiting for the other team to make a mistake like Schwartzy did. Of course we won't know how he will call games until they take the field at Towel Boy Stadium on opening night.

4. Is there a quality linebacker on the roster behind Keith Bulluck and David Thornton?

Bulluck will be 32 and Thornton will be 30 when the season starts, so the odds of both of them staying healthy for the whole season are not very good. (Not to mention the looming free agency for Bulluck) The Titans have not spent a high pick on a LB since they took Bulluck in the first round in 2000. This could be the year we find out if any of them are going to be quality NFL players.

5. Will the defensive ends hold up for the whole season?

Just as with the linebackers, the starting defensive ends on this team aren't getting any younger. Add to that the fact that Kyle Vanden Bosch missed most of last season with a groin injury and Jevon Kearse isn't exactly the Cal Ripken Jr. of football, and you can see why the depth question is important here. The front office obviously felt good about the sport since they didn't spend a draft pick on an end for the first time since the Lincoln Administration. It is easy to see why the would be comfortable with the depth when you look at the production they got from Dave Ball and Jacob Ford last season. Combine that with the portential they see in William Hayes, and they seem pretty set. The question then becomes how well those depth guys would play in expanded roles.

MCM Player Reviews: David Thornton

August West — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:51:42 -0000

		Sacks		Interceptions			Tackles
	G	Sacks	YdsL	Int	Yds	IntTD	Solo	Ast	Total
2008 - David Thornton	15	0	0	0	0	0	55	16	71

Easily the best free agent signing we've had in years. David Thornton joined the Titans in 2006 and made the jump from being a nice LB with one great year on his resume to being a beastly addition to one of the league's most under-rated linebacking corps in recent memory. The only reason Bulluck and Thornton aren't in the Pro Bowl every year is because we don't blitz and they're both so damned good they split the tackle numbers on guys lucky enough to make it past our front 4.

Thornton is a beast against the run game. He's disciplined, strong and takes great angles; you don't see him running at a guy only to have to curve back up-field and chase him from behind. He's also been healthy as a horse. Thought he struggles in pass coverage sometimes, Thornton is the near-prefect complement to Bulluck he's guaranteed to keep containment on his end and free up Bulluck to patrol the second level like a safety on passing downs.

Some misguided oafs will tell you he's our best linebacker. He isn't, but he's an excellent compliment to Bulluck's more well rounded, game changing style and a key cog in the league's best 4-3 defense.

Click here to see the entire player review series.

*A big thanks to MCM reader Ryan Sax for creating the graphic above. He has agreed to make one for every player in the series. You can check out some of his other work by clicking here.