Yazoo mailbag: Logan Woodside's chances, Darius Jennings' standing and Adam Humphries' usage

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Thanks for stopping by the mailbag. I'm happy you are here. You should be drinking a Yazoo while you read on.

We start with the most popular question of the week. 

PK: He’s improved a great deal. I think it’s pretty quick to be so certain he’s gold for them or someone else. But certainly, in a QB-starved league, he looks to be a guy who is on the upswing and will garner interest.TitansScoreboard

The question is, will the Titans come to view him as what Luke Falk should have been last year when they spent a sixth-rounder on him. He was not good, they cut him and hoped to get him on their practice squad but watched the Dolphins claim him. He’s now with the Jets, so clearly he’s an Adam Gase guy.

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Scout's take: Concerns over OL; confidence in WRs and Sharif Finch

By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special contributor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Scouting throughs on the Titans after their Preseason Week 1 win in Philadelphia.

Quarterback

I felt Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill both did a very good job with play-action and creating time for receivers to uncover.

The play-action game will be important for Mariota and the Titans’ passing attack because of the type of receivers they have. It is going to be imperativeBlakeBeddingfieldGlasses have a strong running game for the play-action to truly work.

Mariota focused on Adam Humphries early especially on the third-and-7 and fourth-down plays. Humphries was the security blanket for Marcus like he used to have with Delanie Walker.

Mariota was late on his first corner route throw to Darius Jennings. He must get the ball out sooner and not lead him out of bounds.

Tannehill plays like a veteran with his good play-action and patience in the pocket. He waits for the routes to open. He continued to convert on third downs

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TitansWallHelmetFaceLeftSome thoughts out of the Titans’ 27-10 preseason win in Philadelphia, overall a good top-to-bottom effort by the visitors.

Taywan Taylor: Corey Davis didn’t play so we saw Khalif Raymond earlier than we might have expected and he was good, particularly on a catch in a dangerous area over the middle where he held on knowing he was about to get blasted. We saw Cody Hollister make a very nice sideline catch and haul in a TD.

What we did not see was a good performance by a guy who should outrank them both. A third-round pick going into his third year can’t be dropping one short pass and misplaying a deeper toss that might have been underthrown by Ryan Tannehill, but could have been adjusted to for a touchdown.

He also couldn’t get a second foot down in bounds on a reception near the left sideline inside 2:00 of halftime on what seemed like it shouldn’t have been an issue at all. [Unlocked]

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I count 39 roster locks as Titans start the preseason

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – As the Titans ready for kickoff Thursday night in their preseason opener in Philadelphia, a smart member of this site was playing around and counting how many guys he considered roster locks.

That prompted me to do the same.FluellenBucsPractice

So before they start, here are guys I feel certain will be on the final 53 if they are healthy:

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Sharif Finch came into the league as a pass rusher with a good array of moves, an uncommon thing for a guy who didn't get drafted. He's worked a ton with the first team so far in training camp, in part because Cameron Wake's snaps have really been measured. TakeALap 2FinchLap

But Wake may really be a situational player which will mean plenty of opportunity for Finch in his second year.

As Finch and I took a lap, we discussed his emergence as a front-liner in camp, who he's modeled his moves after, his affection for Julius Peppers and Lawrence Taylor, the toughness he showed at Temple, his gigantic family, his best friend on the team and the Blues and Jazz he plays on the piano, along with some Beethoven. 

This is available to all, just click to head below the line.

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Successful Marcus Mariota-to-Tajae Sharpe throw in the corner of the end zone has potential to be a staple play

SharpeTDEagles2NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- During a Tuesday red-zone seven-on-seven period, in the back left corner of the end zone, facing Marcus Mariota in the back left corner of the end zone, Tajae Sharpe rose up over LeShaun Sims and with high hands pulled in a touchdown pass.

That play, or some version of it, has been something we've seen working for the Titans and the Mariota-to-Sharpe connection, particularly in that end-zone situation, looks like it's developing into something that could be a staple play for a developing offense that needs a big play passing element.

I asked both Mariota and Mike Vrabel about how it is coming along and it's potential to be a regular feature for Tennessee.

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Examining the depth chart the Titans ask us to disregard

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The rules require teams to put out a depth chart leading into their first preseason game. So teams do it. Then they poo-poo it.

Mike Vrabel said his right-hand man John Streicher compiled theirs with his input.

It’s the first I can remember that makes the Titans a three-wide base offense, an idea I both love and will believe when I see the Titans lined up in 11 more often than in 12, or two-tight.DepthChart1

Are the Titans a three-wide base offense, I asked.

“I think we could be in three-wide receivers, four-wide receivers, we could be in three-tight ends,” Vrabel said. "...Looking at the practice schedule that's what I thought today so we went with three wides."

Yeah, they won’t be in four-wide or three-tight end to open a game with any regularity and a Monday mood snapshot isn't what we're looking for or what the NFL technically requests, though they don't really care. I just fail to see what it would hurt to one time actually provide a snapshot of what the actual base offense looks like. And if it's three wides, how about the right three wides?

(Depth-chart reading reminder, read a position all the way across, left to right, then come back to the second line.)

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TannehillNASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ryan Tannehill ran the first-team offense Monday for the Titans and looked crisp executing 2:00 offense that was new to him. Marcus Mariota had the day off, watching in uniform as his backup ran stuff that had a lot of carryover from last year that he already knows.

Whether the practice time is any sort of indicator about playing time Thursday night in the preseason opener in Philadelphia remains to be seen, but it doesn’t seem like it will be. 

With some second-string linemen and tight ends still humming “Bang a Gong” from the soundtrack that played earlier, Tannehill threw one of his better passes to Tajae Sharpe against Malcolm Butler crossing from the middle to the left side and he went out of bounds.

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