Tennessee Titans Power Rankings In Next Three Seasons
By Les Bailey
The NFL Insiders at ESPN have ranked all 32 football teams based on present data and have projected their power rankings over the next three years. I was surprised to find the Tennessee Titans in the 31st spot just ahead of the Jacksonville Jaguars and one slot behind the Cleveland Browns.
The rankings were done by insiders, John Clayton, Louis Riddick and Mike Sando. They rate each team on a scale of 0-100 in five categories that include rosters(not including the quarterback), quarterbacks, draft, front office and coaching.
The polls have weighted each category, giving the roster 30%, the quarterback 20%, the draft and front office 15% each, and 20% for the coaching staff.
The Green Bay Packers are ranked first in this power ranking and the Jacksonville Jaguars 32nd.
Even though we are uncertain about our new quarterback, and his ability to adapt his game to the NFL, I felt the Titans were getting short-changed in the three-year plan. The hiring of Dick LeBeau, and the teams eagerness to improve on the 2-14 season of 2014 left me wondering why no one else thinks the Titans will get better…soon.
The same factor drives these long-termed projections in the football community that drive the financial markets, and that factor is uncertainty.
Although the Titans are making good decisions at the local management levels, the football community think the Tennessee Titans are for sale, and that is what is driving the mystery.
This is what the raters had to say about the Titans:
"The overview: This ranking seems low for a team excited about selecting quarterback Marcus Mariota with the second overall pick, but a disastrous 2-14 record in 2014 affected how voters perceived the Titans’ leaders. It’s tough to know where the organization is headed in the long term while a potential ownership change looms. Thanks to Mariota, Tennessee improved from 32nd to 21st in quarterback outlook, the second-largest gain in that category behind the 14-spot improvement from Minnesota. But the Titans fell six spots overall after suffering double-digit drops in drafting (32nd), front office (31st), coaching (29th) and non-QB roster (32nd). –Mike SandoThe dilemma: Early indications are that Mariota is adapting more quickly than his critics had expected, which should not come as a surprise if you scouted him with the proper context at Oregon. The real question at this point: Can Ken Whisenhunt and his offensive staff extract the maximum performance out of Mariota, given what he was used to doing in college? It has been a long, long time since the Titans have been relevant. If coached right, Mariota could change the fate of the franchise.. –Louis RiddickThe youth movement: The Titans have been playing catch-up after three sub-par drafts from 2011-13. Mariota is trying to fix the failure of Jake Locker from the 2011 draft. Wide receiver Kendall Wright is the lone prize from the 2012 class (although Coty Sensabaugh is a decent cornerback). The continued development of guard Chance Warmack and center Brian Schwenke — both 2013 draftees — would go a long way toward setting up Mariota to succeed. –John Clayton"
The ESPN Insiders have ranked the Tennessee Titans at 54.5 on the scale from 0-100, and have them a solid third in the AFC South.
I think if we could be 100% sure that the Titans front office will return to the positive support of the Bud Adams days, this ranking would be a lot higher for a three-year outlook.
I can’t help but remember how badly the football community missed on Tom Brady in the 2000 draft. Former San Francisco 49ers head coach, Bill Walsh even said, the one thing experts were unable to do was take a player or teams heart out and inspect it.
The management issues and the bad taste of a 2-14 season set aside, I feel like this team has some heart, and will try hard to erase the memory of the 2-14 season, no matter what the Adams Family does over the next three years.
Next: Tennessee Titans and The Triplet Theory