This was definitely a surprising draft, DeCastro was waiting for us at #20 to boost our interior offensive line and Webster decided to pass on him.
I was shocked.
I saw DeCastro as a perfect and permanent solution for our interior offensive line problems. He has the potential to be a Pro Bowler for the next 10-12 seasons; he is all you look for in a NFL guard. Also, as many of us thought, drafting Kendall Wright was not a top priority for the Titans and for some others it was a reach and there were good value WRs in the second or third round.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how our offensive line would have been with DeCastro and Konz plugged in with the best pair of tackles in the league, Roos and Stewart, and an experienced and smart Pro Bowler like Hutchinson.
Now the draft is gone and I’m starting to like this pick, specially when I think as a defensive coordinator facing the Titans.
So you line up your defense and your priority is to defend CJ, you know he can hit a home run from any point of the field. Your first guess would be to put 8 men in the box to stop the running game and bottle up CJ. This will mean you have 1 safety and 2 corners to cover Titan’s wide outs. No defensive coordinator will take the risk to cover Britt man to man the whole game. For me, a healthy Kenny Britt is definitely in the mix for being a top 10 WR in the league; he will destroy you if you decide to cover him man to man, and so the remaining safety will have to help with long routes.
In the other side of the field you have Kendall Wright lined up and he is facing single coverage. Bad idea, this guy could be defined by the word “separation”, he is a lot faster than a 4.6 second in the 40 yard dash, he is a playmaker that makes people miss and he will be a constant threat in the deep ball. He will stretch the field in a way the Titans haven’t seen since Derrick Mason left and this means more free space for CJ to get back to CJ2K mode. Are you sure you want to cover him man to man the whole game?
And there is even more, now add Jared Cook to the equation and there is no way you send a linebacker to cover him all over the field. The “Cookie” is a mismatch to any linebacker in the league; he is just faster, taller and his athletic ability is in another level. So you will definitely need safety help or even a cornerback help.
If that is not enough reason to be scared, let Washington line up wide and put Wright in the slot. Nate comes from his first 1,000 yards season and he proved to be tough, fast and dependable. He can stretch the field too and open up some more gaps for Chris Johnson.
Bottom-line, the happiest Titan should be Chris Johnson, he will not face 8 men in the box. He will have more space to run as the season develops and teams realize you can’t stop this receiving corp. with single coverage. But if any team takes the risk of doing that, Hasselbeck or Locker would be pleased to pass for more than 300 yards in that game.
So now the questions defensive coordinators have to ask themselves when game planning are:
Do I prefer to get rushed all over by CJ? Be burnt by Wright’s speed? Be crushed by Britt’s strength? Or be shocked by Cook’s athleticism?
There may not even be a right answer.
I know, we may have finally found a scary offense.
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