NASHVILLE — The hour is finally upon us…the Tennessee Titans have reported for their 2021 training camp. Football is in the air.

Now, the fun begins.

Tennessee's offseason ran rampant with expectations fueled by the fire of trading for Julio Jones. Finishing 4th in points per game (30.7) after the 2020 campaign set a high bar for the Titans offense to recreate. No such watermark exists for Tennessee's defense, which underwhelmed in every category other than turnover differential a year ago.

Heading into Mike Vrabel's fourth season and GM Jon Robinson's sixth, Titans training camp is primed and ready.

Can the "new" Titans offense continue to gel?

Tennessee flourished under former offensive coordinator Arthur Smith during his two-year tenure on the job. The likelihood of a unit that burst onto the playoff scene in 2019 after years of constipation improving in 2020 was next to none.

Instead, the Titans flourished under quarterback Ryan Tannehill in his second season at the helm.

Smith & Co. produced an offense that tied the Buffalo Bills with the second-most yards per game in the sport (396.4). Only the Kansas City Chiefs (415.8) averaged more yards per contest last year. The departure of their offensive coordinator to Atlanta as the head coach leaves new coordinator Todd Downing as the unit's biggest unknown heading into camp. 

Downing's work with Tannehill will be critical in making sure the entire unit continues to mesh. There will be a new starter at right tackle and tight end, with rookie second-round pick Dillon Radunz and veteran Anthony Firkser set to slot in. Jones' impact on his wide out comrades will be a curiosity that is documented at great length. However, the core of Tennessee's skull-crushing offense remains in-tact.

Depth behind Tannehill, all-world running back Derrick Henry and Firkser remain the biggest questions. Logan Woodside is trusted in the building and will be given a fair chance to serve as the No. 2 behind the starting signal-caller in the coming weeks. Woodside's only competition at back-up quarterback is DeShone Kizer. Signed as a free agent to the practice squad during Week 12 of the 2020 season, the former second-round draft pick presents a definitive talent upgrade but comes with far more risk.

Kizer has thrown for 11 touchdowns and 24 interceptions in 18 games with the Cleveland Browns and the Green Bay Packers.

Firkser and Geoff Swaim are the incumbents among a Titans tight end group that could use more juice. Jared Pinkey has potential but no pro production to speak of. Tommy Hudson, who received a six-game suspension without pay last October for performance-enhancing substances, is the most interesting roster bubble case. Primarily a blocker in college at Arizona State, Hudson had the attention of Tennessee's coaching staff this offseason.

Consider him the favorite to make the Titans' roster out of camp over the likes of undrafted rookies Briley Moore and Miller Forristall.

Can a normalized training camp help the defense?

The simplest answer to this question is, yes.

Nothing about last offseason worked to the advantage of defenses around the league with the way that teams were robbed of valuable reps. That being said, there is no excuse for how poorly Tennessee's group performed a year ago. That the Titans found a way to win their division and make it back to the postseason with a defense that finished Bottom 5 in DVOA (11.5%, 29th) might be among that season's greatest achievements.

Training camp will open without the two most critical pieces to the 2021 re-vamp, though.

Edge rusher Bud Dupree was given the Physically Unable To Perform (PUP) designation on Saturday. The prized free agent, who tore an unspecified ACL in December, is entering Month 8 of his rehabilitation process. Dupree has expressed that his recovery is on-track but said any timelines for a return would be dictated by Tennessee's training staff and Vrabel.

We all know how anxious the head coach is to disclose injury information.

Options to look at in competition for spots behind Dupree and entrenched starter opposite him, Harold Landry, are more plentiful than the bare cupboard of pass rushers that collected only 19 sacks in 2020. New addition Ola Adeniyi figures to get plenty of run in his former Steelers teammate's absence. Fourth-round rookie Rashad Weaver who physically dwarfs (6-4, 259) the rest of his fellow edge rushers has endeared himself to the coaching staff for his work ethic and positional versatility.

The Titans also signed former Vrabel pupil by way of Ohio State John Simon on Sunday.

Simon has played in just shy of 100 NFL games with 52 starts in Baltimore (2013), Houston (2014-16), Indianapolis (2017) and New England (2018-20). The stats will not blow a box score scout away (21 sacks, 25 TFLs, 2 forced fumbles and one fumble recovery) but he has proven a capable role player through eight NFL seasons.

"Vrabes is so happy," said a source of the Simon signing.

Then, there is the even more mysterious case of 2021 first-round pick Caleb Farley.

The corner suffered a herniated disc while deadlifting in 2019 that cost him the final two games of that season at Virginia Tech.  Farley's first back surgery to remove a small part of the bone took place in 2020. Robinson expressed that Tennessee's medical staff was quite comfortable with the corner's medicals before the team selected Farley No. 22 overall.

Farley hurt his back in training after opting out of the 2020 season with concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. A second, less severe surgery was had prior to the 2021 NFL Draft. It was unclear whether the Titans top rookie would be ready when camp opened. Farley famously "rebuked" the idea that he would not be available for July 28th "in the name of Jesus."

Said Farley in April, "I'm expecting to be ready."

Farley will start his time in Tennessee on the Non-Football Injury list. The learning curve for a rookie corner is already steep. A league full of nuanced wide receivers who prey upon small missteps by young defenders is at an all-time high. The Titans will open with one such player on Sept. 12, when they host Deandre Hopkins' Arizona Cardinals.

Paper-thin depth in the secondary and plenty of new parts makes Farley's absence all the more noticeable. Janoris "Jack Rabbit" Jenkins serves as an upgrade of the jettisoned Malcolm Butler on the outside. Where sophomore Kristian Fulton or rookie Elijah Molden (literally) slot in remains to be seen.

Former first-round pick Kevin Johnson was signed this offseason but quickly retired. Journeyman Breon Borders filled in admirably with the rash of injuries Tennessee's secondary suffered in 2020. After that, remains a collection of special teamers and unproven commodities.

Finally, the kicker

Where even to begin.

In the last two years, the Titans have made a putrid 44.4% (2019) and 71.4% (2020) of their field goal attempts. Six total place kickers accounted for these statistical atrocities. None of those players remain on this year's roster.

That Tennessee made the postseason despite what their special teams cost them is a wonder unto itself.

Enter: Blake Haubeil and Tucker McCann. One an undrafted free agent, the other spending his rookie season on Practice Squad IR. Neither player has a game of NFL experience on their resumé. Whether this is where the competition actually takes place or another body is added to the kicking meat grinder remains to be seen.

Since botching the return of former kicker Ryan Succop, the Titans have been stuck squarely in field goal Hell. Stephen Gostkowski performed admirably down the stretch after a horrific start of his own. He remains a free agent.

Of all the training camp battles in Tennessee this year, place kicking might be the most important.

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