Titans enter new era officially with opening of training camp
NASHVILLE — As the Tennessee Titans prepare to report for training camp on Tuesday, the franchise faces a unique challenge. Coach Mike Vrabel and general manager Ran Carthon will attempt to renew their team's competitiveness while rebuilding the roster on the fly. No small feat. 2022's epic seven-game losing streak ceased to matter after the […]
NASHVILLE — As the Tennessee Titans prepare to report for training camp on Tuesday, the franchise faces a unique challenge. Coach Mike Vrabel and general manager Ran Carthon will attempt to renew their team's competitiveness while rebuilding the roster on the fly.
No small feat.
2022's epic seven-game losing streak ceased to matter after the Jacksonville Jaguars ended that Tennessee team's season. The question now becomes whether or not the work Vrabel, Carthon and their respective staffs have done in the aftermath will be enough to keep the Titans competitive enough to win the AFC South. Opening camp this week hardly makes the 2023-2024 postseason top of mind.
It is, however, the time when the foundation for such efforts will be built.
Helping Tennessee straddle the gap between the Derrick Henry-Ryan Tannehill era and whatever might come next is a fascinating experiment. Quarterbacks Malik Willis and Will Levis are waiting in the wings with as many question marks around them as any player on the roster. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (who still has yet to be officially announced by the club as of early Monday morning) is fighting aging Titans wide out precedent.
Hopkins will have as much scrutiny on himself at age 31 as he has at any other point in his career.
As important as the potential emergence of second-year skill players Treylon Burks, Kyle Philips and Chig Okonkwo are, there are also plenty of faces brought in under a previous administration who Tennessee could surely benefit from. The (professional) ghost of former GM Jon Robinson is physically embodied in those aforementioned weapons. Failures-to-date like offensive lineman Dillon Radunz or corner Caleb Farley also represent the same specter.
The team placed the latter two on the Physically Unable to Perform list as camp begins.
The Titans are as big of an unknown as any team heading into 2023. Finding out how big of an advantage that may or may not be to them begins today.
Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports.
