Titan Sized
FanSided

What should the Tennessee Titans do with Jack Conklin

By Will Lomas

HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 01: Jack Conklin #78 of the Tennessee Titans blocks J.J. Watt #99 of the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on October 1, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 01: Jack Conklin #78 of the Tennessee Titans blocks J.J. Watt #99 of the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on October 1, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

One of the Tennessee Titans biggest questions.

As much as many Tennessee Titans fans don’t want to admit it, there is a big question about what to do with Jack Conklin moving forward.

The best way to describe this situation in a few words is this:

-Tennessee has an All-Pro right tackle in Jack Conklin.

-Jack Conklin struggled to regain his form through a surgically repaired knee and concussions.

Both of these things are true and honestly we don’t know which one we will see on the field next year. Obviously you hope that Conklin returns to peak form and return to his All Pro status at right tackle.

More from Titans News

On one hand, I don’t believe knee injuries have too much of a long term impact on what players do on the field, especially if they happen to a younger player. On top of that, knee injuries are notorious for taking about 8 months to get healthy and then another year for a player to get back to what they used to be.

On the other hand, Conklin has some deficiencies in his game. While he has great hands and is a strong force for the run, he sometimes struggles with speed rushers off the edge. Maybe it makes sense to move him inside just in general because of his skill set.

Having someone with the athleticism to pull and the brute strength to dig out defensive tackles, is an ideal fit for what you want in a guard. In fact, his athleticism would actually make him more impactful at guard than at tackle.

In a ZBS, the guard is often asked to “climb” to the second level which means if there isn’t a DL for you to block you move up and try to wall off a linebacker. Conklin should absolutely be able to do that for the Titans.

Still, just because guard is important in this scheme doesn’t mean that offensive tackles are useless. They are still asked to reach the EDGE on outside zone runs and hold up in pass pro against opposing EDGEs.

More from Titan Sized

Enter Dennis Kelly.

Is Kelly a future All-Pro? Probably not, however he has been really solid in pass protection. In his 185 pass blocks he has allowed just one sack and no additionally QB hits. If you do the math and turn that into a full season, that is 3 sacks allowed (rounding up) which would rank about 12-15th among right tackles.

So, is that a perfect solution? Well yes and no. On one hand you don’t have the same upside at RT with Kelly that you do with Conklin, but if you move Conklin to right guard you get rid of Josh Kline.

Kline allowed 4 sacks in 2018, which ties him for 35th out of 54 guards that played half the season or more according to PFF.

In his first two years combined Conklin only allowed 4 sacks in nearly 1,000 pass snaps. I would imagine that he would do better inside than out, which means that he would almost definitely be an upgrade there.

Ultimately the Titans have to find a way to keep Marcus Mariota clean and get Derrick Henry going in the run game. That involves improving AT LEAST one interior OL position. This is a way to do this without spending any extra money and without needing to teach someone a whole new scheme.

This moves gives the Titans continuity in some capacity and it keeps the good chemistry in that locker room. If Conklin will do that for the team, I think that move makes the most sense on paper.

Home/Titans News