September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Karl Klug (97) is congratulated by teammates following a safety against the New Orleans Saints in the first quarter during a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-US PRESSWIRE

It’s time for old fashion football. When you face MJD and Arian Foster twice a year you have to be able to stop the run or you simply have no chance to win that football game.

604 pounds combined between Martin and Casey won’t be easy to move around for opposing offensive lines, especially when you talk about smart guys who are still under 24 years old.

Martin is a high motor kind of player who never quits a play. He will win a lot of 1-on-1 match-ups and was a really productive player. He is a great addition to an already young defensive line and will compliment what Casey and Karl Klug did last year. He may be the safest pick on this year’s draft.

We all know what Casey is capable of doing. He was all over the field making tackles in the backfield and showed great instincts to read and react. The surprising thing is that he did all of that with no offseason last year.

Karl Klug is more of a situational pass rush player. He will see a lot of playing time and will be right behind Martin and Casey for second and third and long. He is also capable of stopping the run because of his athleticism even though he is a little undersized for a DT in the NFL.

Martin, Casey and Klug will definitely be a combo hard to defend for opposing teams and this will definitely help defensive ends to have more 1-on-1 match-ups in the edge.

I don’t understand when people say that we haven’t improved our pass rush. Just imagine this: Martin and Casey pushing with 604 pounds of strength in the interior line, Wimbley rushing off the edge with great athleticism and behind him, Ayers or rookie Zack Brown rushing the passer showing crazy speed. If that’s not enough, you can add Karl Klug, Derrick Morgan and Collin McCarthy to the mix of players capable of rushing the passer.

My sense is that we will see a more aggressive scheme from Gray. The Titans just brought a “pass rush specialist” to improve players’ technique.

I’m expecting big numbers from this unit. Titans did upgrade their pass rush, just wait and see. On the other hand, it can’t get worse than last year right?

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Sep 10, 2011; Dallas, TX, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs defensive end Taylor Thompson (8) prepares to face the UTEP Miners at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. The Mustangs defeated the Miners 28-17. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

The Tennessee Titans took TE/DE Taylor Thompson with their 5th round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, though they had to trade next years 7th rounder to move up a couple spots to get him.

I had so many mixed emotions when he was selected, such as “Why in God’s green earth did they just draft a DE to play TE?!” or “What position does this guy actually play?” As the dust settles from the draft and the rookies report for camp, I find myself growing slightly less angered and perhaps, even if just a little, optimistic.

Thompson was a stand-out TE in high school and with a 6’6 frame carrying 259 lbs, he’s got the potential to be something special. Even more so when you add in the fact that Thompson has speed.

A few days ago Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean wrote about how impressed he’s been with the first looks he’s gotten of Thompson during rookie camp.

I’ll get a better feel for him when the pads come on and defenders can jostle him a bit.

But I was impressed with his athleticism during a brief look on Friday. Thompson caught the ball well, and he can run. He’s tall (6-6) but at 259 pounds he’s well-built.

Linebacker Zach Brown, the second-round pick, was also impressed. Of the overall rookie class he said: “One thing you notice is they all have speed. And the tight end, that big boy can run and he is long. That is a disadvantage to the linebackers. Just seeing him, I was thinking, ‘Man, he’s pretty fluid. He’s not bad.’ ”

Like Jim says at the beginning there, we’ll be able to better understand just how far Thompson has to grow once we see him in pads and in scrimmage. But for now we just have to go off what we’ve got, and there’s promise thus far.

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I completely understand ranking the Texans defense number one. They’re one of the best defenses in the NFL and should come back just as powerful as they were last year.

My beef lies with ranking the Jaguars ahead of the Titans.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the Jaguars have a pretty respectful defense. They had a great pass rush this last year and I learned to loathe all the talent their MLB Paul Posluszny possesses. I just don’t see as many budding stars on their defense.

The Titans have the likes of MLB Colin McCarthy, DT Jurrell Casey, DT Karl Klug, CB Alterraun Verner, CB Jason McCourty, all of which I expect to see even more from this upcoming season. They’ve also got a few players from the recent draft that I expect to be impact players, whether it be this year or one in the future. One such case is the new DT Mike Martin. The guy is 300 lbs of pure muscle.

Those are just a few of the players who make a difference. We’re still waiting to see whether DE’s Kamerion Wimbley and Derrick Morgan will show up, as well as whether Michael Griffin can return to his old, awesome form. Williamson doesn’t completely glance over that in his article:

…the Titans are very young on defense and could be poised to improve. Youngsters Jurrell Casey, Karl Klug, Alterraun Verner, Jason McCourty and others are much better players than many casual NFL fans know. Third-round pick Mike Martin should be the perfect complement to the run-stuffing Casey and the lighter pass-rushing Klug in the Titans’ defensive tackle rotation.

I think his biggest problem is he is putting too much weight on the loss of Cortland Finnegan in free agency. I’ve been pretty high on the Titans CB’s all offseason and I see no reason to back down now.

We’ll just have to wait to let the actual NFL season show what the rankings are.

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