October 9, 2011; Pittsburgh,PA, USA: Tennessee Titans offensive linemen Jake Scott (73), David Stewart (76) and Mike Otto (66) take the field before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE

The Tennessee Titans will be revamping the offensive line this offseason. They been very open about that. The question is, how much do they need to actually fix this line? As of now, the Titans have three starters under contract who started for them in 2012: LT Michael Roos, OG Steve Hutchinson, and RT David Stewart.

Most of the questions concerning the offensive line are around whether the Titans will retain Hutchinson or cut him. Hutchinson had a decent season for the Titans but ended it on IR. Hutchinson has been dealing with injuries more often than not on the backside of his career. Hutchinson is due $5 million in 2013. What the Titans decide to do with him will vastly affect every move they make this offseason. But let’s not get into that. Back to the subject at hand.

The Titans will go after a starting offensive lineman in free agency, guaranteed. Who it will be is another question. People like to point to OG Andy Levitre as a solution, and he could very well be, depending on how much the Titans are willing to spend.

OG Leroy Harris will be a free agent and all signs point to the Titans not re-signing him. OL Fernando Velasco is also set to be a free agent, but the Titans

Don’t forget about me… Credit: Fernando Medina-USA TODAY Sports

should want to bring him back. Velasco had a +12.9 rating with over 1,000 snaps in 2012 according to PFF. He also comes in as their 5th best OL set to be a free agent this year. It would only make sense to bring him back to play center.

Let’s take a look at what we have with the re-signing of Velasco: LT Michael Roos, LG Steve Hutchinson, C Fernando Velasco, RG- EMPTY, RT David Stewart.

Looking at things as if Hutchinson doesn’t leave Tennessee, the Titans only have one hole to fill, something they could easily accomplish in free agency, leaving the draft open to whatever the Titans desire.

Obviously, everything depends on what the Titans are planning to do with Hutchinson and whether or not they think they can grab two starting offensive lineman in free agency or whether they’d like to roll the dice on trying to get one of them in the draft.

Protecting QB Jake Locker and making running lanes for RB Chris Johnson are priorities for the Titans as they make a push for the playoffs in 2013. It’s just hard to guess how a team known for its stingy habits, regarding its offensive line, will address said issue.

What moves do you think the Titans will make to fix the line?

You can find me on Twitter @JustinLStewart

Oct 11, 2012; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans kicker Rob Bironas (2) celebrates kicking the game winning field goal against the Pittsburgh Steelers with teammate center Leroy Harris (64) following the game at LP Field. Tennessee defeated Pittsburgh 26-23. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

The Tennessee Titans offensive line was a glaring weakness during the 2012 season that was on exacerbated by injuries. Fortunately for QB Jake Locker and RB Chris Johnson, it looks like measures will be taken to assure that 2013 is not a repeat.

But let’s hear it from the horses mouth. Here’s general manager Ruston Webster, courtesy of John Glennon of the Tennessean:

Our offensive line, with all the injuries and issues we had, I think that really affected us,” Webster said. “That’s something we have to make more solid, more reliable. We have to get better. I think it will be hard for us to get better on offense until that area improves.

That is encouraging news. The Titans have a history of being stingy with their offensive line, and that quote doesn’t necessarily mean their going to go crazy and draft somebody in the first round to anchor the center of the line, but it might.

If nothing else, it shows hope. Last year the Titans passed on all sorts of offensive line talent after bringing in the likes of Chris Myers in free agency and having a chance to draft Peter Konz and David DeCastro. Obviously, they paid the price. Bringing in Steve Hutchinson wasn’t a bad move, but it was a only delaying the inevitable. The Titans may not even have Hutchinson this next season, thanks to another knee injury to an ever aging guard.

That’s probably the first priority,” Webster said of bettering the offensive line. “That’s something we’re all looking at, looking at our options in all different areas and planning on making that better.

Whether or not the Titans break the bank to strengthen the line, I’m at least glad to hear that they realize they need to do a better job of protecting their two biggest investments: Jake Locker and Chris Johnson.

You can find me on Twitter @JustinLStewart

Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (8) takes a snap from center Fernando Velasco (61)

If I Were GM Part I: Interior Offensive Line

            This is the start of the other series I’ll be writing about the Titans leading up to the draft- “If I were GM”.  Free Agency, the Draft, contract negotiations, and even coach hiring should all make an appearance.  But today we’ll start with the most obvious weakness on our team- the interior offensive line.

One of the biggest WTHs of this team is the interior Oline- with a speedster running back and a young QB, plowing resources into the interior Oline should be a no brainer.  CJ2K is a back that NEEDS a fantastic Oline; if you give a hole that gets a normal runningback 5 yards, CJ will take it 20.  If a normal back gets 10, CJ gets the 80 yard TD.  On the other hand, he has no leg power; once he’s been hit well, he’s going down.  He can’t take a 2-yard gain for 5, or run straight into no holes and drag people for 5 yards.  Giving him 50 million and then skimping on the interior offensive line is like buying a Maserati in New York City.

Add in a young QB, and it really becomes shocking.  Locker has essentially had no run game to rely on this entire year.  The only time the run game was decent was when he was injured; before that, Palmer’s switch to a zone system got us nothing, and once Locker came back, 3 more Olineman went down.  But look at a QB like Russell Wilson; he leaned very heavily on “Beast Mode” and the run game early in the year, and is now playing fantastic.  Why, you ask?  Because he could lean on the run game, he (and the Seattle coaches) could focus on improving his skillset and knowledge one step at a time.

Russell Wilson wasn’t asked to carry his entire team at the beginning of the season; he still isn’t now.  Rather, he was asked to acquire/improve/perfect one aspect of his performance each game- first focus on the play action plays, then work on the short timing passes, then on the 2 minute drill, then on mid range timing, etc, etc.  In apposite, Locker has essentially had the entire playbook dumped on him, and been asked to power the whole damn team.  Not only is that a recipe for disaster, it’s going to kill Locker’s development.  Rather than being able to focus in on each piece, and perfect them, he has to try and improve at everything all at once.

So that’s why the interior Oline is our biggest weakness, and we need to fix it.  CJ’s value is drastically limited, Locker is being badly developed and overwhelmed, and honestly, we just suck.  Oh, and let’s not forget that when we suck on offense, the defense ends up on the field for 40 minutes each game.

Guard

     Right Guard is, in my opinion, the biggest hole on our team.  This is where I would go all out this offseason- go for a high level free agent, or spend a 1st/2nd in the draft.  Leroy Harris is a bum that’s just never improved, Deuce Lutui is average, and everyone behind that (as the last few games have shown) is crap.  Luckily, there are two premier options available in this year’s draft; the fantastic Andy Levitre, who’ll be entering free agency from the Bills, and Chance Warmack, perhaps the highest rated guard to come out of college since our own Steve Hutchinson.

Between the two, I’d go with Levitre.  First and foremost, Levitre is a proven commodity; the Bills offensive line has been a top pass blocking unit for years, even with its troubles at left tackle, and the Levitre-Wood combo has paved the way for Fred Jackson to resurrect his career and CJ Spiller to average an NFL record 6.5 yards a carry.  We know we’re getting a premier performer in Levitre.

Second, as good as Warmack is, I’m not comfortable taking him in the top 10.  If we were picking around 15, it would be a different story.  But with the high end talent available along the defensive line this year, I’d rather grab a prospect like Bjoern Werner or Demontre Moore, giving us a real rotation at defensive end and a replacement if Morgan walks after the 2013 season.

Below these two are actually a number of options that would significantly improve our interior offensive line: Matt Slauson, Ramon Foster, and Louis Vasquez are all above average starters that we could plug in and not worry for years.  Chilo Rachal is a young guy who wasn’t ready when he came into the league, but has stepped up in Chicago this year and still has immense physical potential, but he’s riskier than the previous three.

At left guard, Hutchinson was good enough– just like Mawae, he’s definitely not playing like he used to, but his play was more than acceptable, especially in “good stretch” of our run game this year.  At the same time, he’s only got one year left on the contract he signed with us, and should definitely retire at the end of that contract.  If we don’t cut Amano, I think he could make a solid move back to left guard- he was an above average left guard when Mawae was here, and his physical skillset is clearly better suited to guard.

But, as always, accepting Amano is accepting the bare minimum.  And the only interior Olineman on our team I’m sold on right now is Velasco, who should be at center.  This year’s guard class is strong from top to bottom, and I’d prefer to see us take at least a 4-5th (like Alvin Bailey) round developmental prospect to replace Hutchinson next year- it’ll let us save a hefty amount of money by cutting Amano, and give us a player with some upside.  Amano is a mediocre starter (maybe slightly above average at guard), and that’s all he’ll ever be.  I’d rather gamble on someone new developing behind Hutchinson (and learning from three hall of famers) than stick with average Amano.

Center

     Center is our next weakness, in a way.  Luckily, there is a very simple solution for us- resign Fernando Velasco.  After a few shaky games at the beginning of the year, Velasco has turned into a legitimate top-10 center in the league.  His progress and abilities have been noted by PFF and Football Outsiders, and resigning him would finally solidify a position of immense frustration.  Under NO circumstances do we allow Eugene Amano to come back and suck it up.  If we don’t cut Amano (which we should), then we damn well better put him back at guard.

Behind this are not many good options; Evan Dietrich-Smith, Phil Costa, and Brian De La Puente are the only options I’d pursue in free agentcy.  Of those three, the last two are restricted free agents (although they were undrafted, so unless a higher tender comes down, we can snipe them).  All three look to be slightly above average players.  While that’s nothing to write home about, it’s certainly better than Amano.  I still think, however, that resigning Velasco is the best option.  He’s looked as good, if not better, than these three, and will probably cost the same, if not less.

This draft is not so fantastic, especially at the top end, for centers.  Barrett Jones would be fantastic, but he’s projected to go in the 20-35 range; too late for our first round, but too early for our second round.   Khaled Holmes of USC is a projected 2-3 pick, but I’m not sold on him at all.  There are some mildly intriguing guys late in the draft, like the enormous Graham Pocic, but not many centers with the power you’d like to see in our man-blocking run game.

Retaining Velasco is the safest and, likely, highest value option we have.  I’ll be very disappointed if we let him get away in free agency, and even more disappointed if we stick with Eugene Amano.  As helpful as having a veteran center who can call adjustments and read defenses is, Amano’s physical talent just isn’t there.  The value he could give Locker in the passing game doesn’t offset his inability to get push in the run game, and his tendency to get completely blown up by a pass rusher 1-2 times a game.