2. The Tennessee Titans finally move into the 21st century
I talked about the Tennessee Titans creating space through formations in the last slide. Luckily, it looks like that is exactly what Arthur Smith is planning on doing in 2019.
The biggest upgrade this offseason was adding Rodger Saffold to the offensive line, but the biggest addition is a tie between Adam Humphries and A.J. Brown.
While I think they are really good players, it is less about the caliber of their talent and more about what investing that much ($9 million per year to Humphries and a 2nd round pick in Brown) means for the Titans offense.
Both of those players are at their best in the slot and with plenty of boundary options available, GM Jon Robinson decided that the best decision for the Titans was seemingly to make sure that the Titans had true slot receivers ready for 2019.
I have no doubt in my mind that A.J. Brown can play on the outside in the NFL, but I do have concerns about Humphries playing there. So the ideal solution based on the talent the Titans have is to come out with this line up:
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OL from left to right: Taylor Lewan, Rodger Saffold, Ben Jones, Kevin Pamphile, Dennis Kelly (or Jack Conklin if he is fully healthy, which we haven’t seen)
Skill positions and QB: Marcus Mariota, Corey Davis, A.J. Brown, Adam Humphries, Delanie Walker, Derrick Henry.
Being two-deep in the slot and four deep on the boundary seems like a great place to be if you are going to play a lot of 3WR sets which is what you almost have to do in the NFL today to be successful.
All that space opens up the run and creates easy, quick passing options for the quarterback. The commitment to WR is nice to see, but the biggest part of this is the receivers they decided to commit to.
For the first time in a long time it looks like the Titans are shaping the offense to be modern while still retaining the physicality that they want to define them.
TL;DR: Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson and new OC Arthur Smith seem to be building a modern offense that will show a lot of three wide receiver sets. That step forward should make life easier on everyone from Marcus Mariota to Derrick Henry.