INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Mike Mularkey characterizes his exotic smashmouth scheme as a deception offense.

That is not what the Titans will be under Mike Vrabel.

Football Outsiders contributor Tom Gower tweeted this a while ago, and I stashed it until I could discuss it further with Vrabel.

Most interesting note on offense for me is still something Vrabel said in 1 radio interview, that he wants O to create conflict for defenders.

— Tom Gower (@ThomasGower) February 13, 2018

How much is Vrabel about attaching a team’s weakness and putting them in conflict?

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Episode 6 of our podcast-only podcast is ready for you.

Part 1, like podcast versions of my public Periscope and Facebook Lives, is available through iTunes, here, or directly through the Vokal website, here.

If you're a member of the site, Part 1 and Part 2 are together, and all you have to do is head below the line.

It's a full review of what Jon Robinson and Mike Vrabel had to say at the NFL scouting combine, including the building of playbooks, who's the bad cop in interviews with prospects and the work to replace players with younger/cheaper options.

In the member's only section we dive into the future of fullback and you get first-listen on details of some of the reporting I'm doing here and what I plan to produce out of it.

Just head below the line for the whole broadcast.

As always, we welcome your feedback.

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Jon Robinson and Mike Vrabel allowed for the possibility of a versatile fullback being part of the 2018 Titans.

But at the NFL scouting combine, Vrabel offered a big illustration of why we probably shouldn’t expect one.

Former GM Ruston Webster drafted Jalston Fowler out of Alabama in the fourth round, 108^th overall, in 2015. Many of us hammered the Titans for spending a pick that high on a guy who would work as a specialist.

San Diego State’s Nick Bawden is probably the best traditional fullback in this draft and I’ve seen him rated as a sixth- or seventh-rounder.

Fowler faded last season, when his snaps were exclusively as fullback and he couldn’t find a route to help on special teams.

He started showing up as a healthy scratch and was waived on Dec. 9. He’s now with the Seahawks.

I asked Vrabel if the Titans will be a fullback team.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – There is no indisputable way to count drops.

Many receivers will say if a pass touches their hands they should catch it.

But a leaping touch of an overthrow is hardly the same as a drop of a pass that hits an open guy in the numbers.

By different counts, the Raiders had a lot of drops last season. According to STATS, Oakland’s 28 drops were the fourth-most in the NFL.

In different spots I’ve seen Michael Crabtree credited with nine and with five, Amari Cooper charged with five and three and Seth Roberts assigned five.

Those receivers are most accountable for their deficiencies. But second in line is the guy expected to coach them out of problems, and that was Rob Moore.

After three years coaching receivers in Oakland, Moore is the Titans’ new receivers coach.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Time for some quarterback math.

Let’s presume the Titans see what we see: that Matt Cassel, while under contract for another year, doesn’t have the arm to step in and win a game for the Titans if Marcus Mariota needs to miss one or more and that the backup will likely be called upon at some point.

That should make moot Cassel’s connections to Jon Robinson, who worked for the Patriots when Cassel was there, and Mike Vrabel, who played with the quarterback in New England and Kansas City.

There are a lot of quarterbacks in line to hit the market in the middle of March, and there are a lot of teams that need one.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Holding a guitar presented by Titans great and Ohio State teammate Eddie George, Mike Vrabel pledged hard work and got a huge ovation Saturday night at Opryland.

“I appreciate this, this is an amazing opportunity, I’m humbled by this opportunity,” Vrabel said at the end of a program that ran about two hours. “I’m going to give you everything I’ve got, the guys that we’ve hired are going to give you everything that they’ve got and I know you’re going to be proud of the players.”

At an event that was scheduled to include 8,000 season ticket holders, Mike Keith served as master of ceremonies on a stage draped with navy curtains on which white stars were projected and scaffolding was lit in red.

Amy Adams Strunk, Jon Robinson,  Vrabel and Dean Pees all spoke along with George, Taylor Lewan and Kevin Byard.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Greetings. Hope you enjoyed the gold medal in curling as much as I did. I hope the game now sweeps the nation.

Here's our end-of-the-week Periscope.

#Watch on #Periscope: #Titans talk, Feb. 23 https://t.co/M80vFhjr9Q

— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) February 23, 2018

There was a private follow up for members only during which we discussed the 20th anniversary of the Oilers negotiating out of the second year of their two-year lease in Memphis. 

Feel free to tweet a question at any time. I'm @PaulKuharskyNFL. If you use #PKmail I’ll be able to find it easily. Member question from our private Facebook group page get priority treatment and we lead off with one of those.

Oscar Benjamin You’ve mentioned in the past about the Titans having issues developing their WR’s. Any thoughts on what kind of philosophy and/or personnel decisions you would want to see from them that would suggest their on the right track turning the WR group around?

PK: This is a very interesting topic and I want to focus on expectations and philosophy.

Separation was a major issue last season for a franchise that consistently has receiver issues.

We hear a lot about quarterbacks throwing receivers open, and we certainly need to see more of that from Marcus Mariota who’s shown he can do it.

But how about scheming them open?

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – We’ve looked at potential free-agent connections with Mike Vrabel, John Robinson and Matt LaFleur and the offensive staff.

For the final installment of this series, let’s see who’s got expiring contracts and connections to Dean Pees and the guys working under him.

This one is certainly more a list of role players than stars, but there are a decent number of them.

We’ll start with those connected to Pees:

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