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Mailbag: Planning for a Derrick Henry slip, more at WR and Marcus Mariota

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Greetings mailbaggers and dear readers. 

Welcome to the weekend. Hope you are well-rested after that late basketball and soccer Thursday night. Exciting stuff.Titans Mural

Thanks for the good questions.

Let's dig in.

David Jackson The assumption is that Henry comes back and is back to his old self. What if he struggles and never gets back to his pre-injury form? Do you think Titans are/should be prepared for that possibility? If they need to switch to a pass-first offense can they do it with current personnel? Should that impact their draft?

Yes, David, they should be prepared. They showed last year with a quality run-blocking scheme they can run effectively with other backs. They need to continue to add to their weaponry beyond Robert Woods and Austin Hooper so they are deep and injuries and issues like last year won’t get them down to a Cody Hollister type.

But Ryan Tannehill is very clearly keyed by play-action passing which means they need a run game, whether it’s Henry carrying the ball or someone else with less home run potential.

I know people are upset D’Onta Foreman went elsewhere, but he showed the plug-and-play nature of the position and they have and will have options.

With Tim Kelly coordinating the passing game, perhaps they will be more equipped to pass regardless or whether they are running well or not.

I’d still look to lean heavily on Henry, who's a unicorn for sure, unless or until he shows himself not to be the old guy we've gotten used to.

Lynn Felmet I love the Woods signing but I feel like we are still even thinner at WR then we were last season. Are we going to add a vet or maybe two to this roster. We have AJ and Woods but after that not much at all and with Woods recovering from and ACL I am terrified that we could get a repeat of last year. Have we not learned our lesson about receiver depth? Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is a #4 at best and I feel like additions other than a rookie in the draft are necessary here. Thoughts on Will Fuller, Cole Beasley, or AJ Green? Any chance of a big trade for DK Metcalf or Lockett?

Hi Lynn. Will Fuller is always hurt, I don’t understand the intrigue there. Beasley had as many TDs as Julio Jones last season, one. A.J. Green was a pleasant surprise but he’s heading toward 34 and I would think Woods would be the Titans' “old” receiver as he approaches 30.

D.K. Metcalf or Tyler Locket would cost a lot.

I think they need to draft a couple, probably one in the first and really build up the group from there.

Eric Matthews Have you heard anything about Titans wearing the old Oilers uniform this year with the helmet rule change and if not do you think they would consider the original Titans uniform and helmet as an alternative? I have always thought the baby blue old Oilers uniform and helmet are one of the very best of all time and I would love to see them bring them back this year.

Eric, I'm not hearing anything.

I think a throwback to the Oilers' uniforms would be great.

But what sense would it make to throw back to the original Titans' uniforms when they will have been out of them for just five seasons? Who's saying, "those uniforms we were sick of and wanted a change from, let's see those again, stat?"

Scott Van Buren What kind of blowback could we expect for JRob if Tannehill blows it and loses his job by the end of the year and Mariota plays well for Atlanta?

Blowback from who? Zero, blowback. Zero.

I mean the Titans rocket ship took off when they benched Marcus Mariota and then moved on. I know there is a lot of sentiment for the guy and a lot of Tennessee fans will, for some reason, root for the Falcons now because he’s there.

But we are four seasons removed from Mariota flaming out, the Titans went to the playoffs every year, including a run to the AFC Championship Game the year they sat him.

Tannehill led Titans teams are 30-13 since he took over, 2-3 in the playoffs. Mariota led teams are 0-0 in the same span.  

No reasonable person can be upset this far down the road if the wheels come off for Tannehill and Mariota plays well. That’s crazy talk. The league has judged Mariota to be a backup and now a bridge quarterback.

And Mariota is on a bad team and has a major propensity for getting hurt. Tannehill wins regular-season games and is surrounded by a superior roster.

And while it's possible the Titans draft a quarterback, it's also entirely possible they don't. Tannehill is not losing his job to Logan Woodside.

Like who?

Julio Jones? Josh Reynolds? Vic Beasley? I mean if those guys couldn’t handle Vrabel, that’s 100 percent on them, not on Vrabel. I’m happy he’s a coach who’s not babying or coddling guys. I hate that stuff. 

The Titans ultimately weed out the types of guys who slip through and ultimately can’t handle their culture and method of operation. No, Vrabel’s not led them to a Super Bowl. But he just won coach of the year and it’s pretty clear that while he’s got his idiosyncrasies, as everyone does, and can be over the top in certain areas the overall package works and he’s a high-quality coach that a lot of teams would be happy to have.

You join a team, you’ve got to do what the coach requires of you. His teams win, sometimes when it seems like they shouldn’t. That’s the most important thing. If his methods rub off wrong on a guy, that’s predominantly about the guy.

Brian Moore I still think they need a good CB and WR. One injury and it'll seem like 2021. Do you feel like the AFC teams upped their firepower so the Titans have to match now? 

I think firepower is the name of the game now, Brian.

And it doesn’t matter so much what other teams are doing. You’ve got to go get weapons, weapons, weapons to contend and win and the Titans will get more to go with Robert Woods and Austin Hooper in the draft.

They can't slow play the impact. At least one will need to contribute right away, if the Titans still allow for that. 

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