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Tennessee Titans new OC will be huge for the offensive line

By Will Lomas

NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 30: The Tennessee Titans offensive line faces the Indianapolis Colts defensive line during the second quarter at Nissan Stadium on December 30, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 30: The Tennessee Titans offensive line faces the Indianapolis Colts defensive line during the second quarter at Nissan Stadium on December 30, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee Titans new hire could be a huge factor in determining changes on the offensive line.

I think we all agree that the Tennessee Titans offensive line was average, if not outright bad this offseason.

Part of that falls on the head of former OC Matt LaFleur and his habit for calling runs early and often, only to put the Titans in 3rd and long. That predictability killed the offense for much of the early part of the year.

The other issue is that some of those offensive linemen just aren’t fits for the zone blocking scheme that the Titans wanted to employ. Specifically, Quinton Spain and Ben Jones who seemed to struggle to be effective early in the season. I’m not sure Josh Kline is going to be great in any system that doesn’t feature Russ Grimm.

So, that brings up the question whether the Titans should try to bring in a coordinator who stays away from zone blocking schemes all together. In fact, that might end up being better for Derrick Henry too.

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If the Titans want to maximize the talent they have, then maybe going away from a ZBS is best. That would allow them to keep Quinton Spain in the fold at left guard (which Taylor Lewan would love) and use him in a system what works for him, same goes for Jack Conklin.

Sure, the Tennessee Titans have to look hard at what Ben Jones and Corey Levin can be in this offense. But in a man blocking scheme, Conklin and Spain are much better fits on paper.

With the Titans desperately needing to find an OC to help put up more points and protect Marcus Mariota better, quick passes and a better run game should be key. So maybe it makes more sense to find someone who runs something different than what LaFleur ran instead of trying to find a different version of the same guy even if it hurts the continuity of the offense.

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A final sub plot to watch, is what happens if the Titans do something crazy like finding a great OL coach to be the new OC? Rarely do OL coaches become head coaches or even have the aspiration to do so, would a coach like Mike Munchak (but probably not him) be a dark horse to take over the OC job because of the impact he could have on the protection and the run game?

I don’t know but this next OC search could either be exciting or a boring promotion from within with little upside. Either way, it will be interesting to see how Vrabel handles this with the eventual Dean Pees departure looming.

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