Fantasy Football: DOs and DON’Ts of Drafting Tennessee Titans (Part 1 of 4)

Dec 23, 2012; Green Bay, WI, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker (10) (right) rushes with the football as Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews (52) (left) chases from behind during the first quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The Tennessee Titans aren’t known for having a multitude of fantasy studs (like, say, the Atlanta Falcons), but there are definitely a few players who can help out your fantasy team. Let’s examine the Titans in terms of when to draft the notable players on a position-by-position basis.

For Part 1 of this series, we’ll consider the quarterback position.

Jake Locker, Average Draft Position: 220

Jake Locker currently sits near the bottom of the quarterback rankings, no matter what website you’re looking at. In redraft leagues, he’ll likely find himself a free agent. Is Jake Locker a draftable player this year?

Let’s take a look at last year. In 2012, Locker missed five full games, parts of others, and finished 28th* at quarterback in fantasy scoring with an average of 7.8 points per game* (including the games he missed).

Locker recorded 2,176 yards passing with 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Those numbers went along with 291 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. His best game came Week 3 against Detroit when he passed for 378 yards and two scores. Additionally, Locker carried the ball for another 35 yards.

Unfortunately, Locker hit 300 yards only one other time the rest of the year. He matched his two passing touchdowns just once more. In fact, Locker scored just seven touchdowns in his other nine games. Even if Locker had played in all 16 games (and kept the same scoring pace), he would not have produced the touchdown totals that win fantasy matchups.

This year, I expect things to be much different. The Titans have thrown out Chris Palmer’s complicated, ill-fitting system, along with Chris Palmer himself. They’ve implemented an offense tailored to fit Locker’s strengths. While the offense does look to be centered on the run, Locker will have every opportunity to make plays.

There will be plenty of play-action passes which leads to one-on-one coverage. Even short screens can turn into big gains with Kendall Wright and Chris Johnson’s ability to make plays in open space. Not to mention the threat Locker poses with his legs. Remember, he ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash at the combine, faster than Cam Newton (4.58), Russell Wilson (4.55) and Colin Kaepernick (4.53).

I’m not advocating you draft Locker to be your starting quarterback; don’t forget about him, either. When you get to the last few rounds of your draft, it doesn’t hurt to take a chance on Locker, especially if you don’t land a top-tier QB in the early rounds. In dynasty formats, I think Locker is a great draft-and-stash.

*For the purpose of this analysis, we’ll assume standard scoring (1 point per 25 passing yards, 4 points per passing touchdown; 1 point per 10 rushing/receiving yards, 6 points per rushing/receiving touchdown).

Agree? Disagree? Leave your comments below.

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