The Tennessee Titans signed Austin Hooper and traded for Robert Woods in a flurry of moves, but they aren’t the only starters that the team has added this season.
It sounds like Jamarco Jones is going to be given a real chance to start at left guard for the Titans this season.
Monday morning, Mike Vrabel gave a press conference at the NFL Owner Meeting and it was the first time where he was asked about the free agency additions that the team has made this offseason.
While the reigning Coach of the Year is notoriously tight-lipped, he did actually speak a lot about the signing of Jamarco Jones. In fact, it seems like Vrabel might have had a big influence in signing the guard.
.@Titans HC Mike Vrabel has a long history with lineman @jjones_74 — he recruited him to @OhioStateFB. pic.twitter.com/cHLFmUZOfG
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) March 28, 2022
Jones was someone that Ohio State recruited and signed in the 2014 recruiting class. If that school and that time frame ring a bell, that is because Mike Vrabel left Ohio State to start his career in the NFL that season (meaning he recruited Jones).
Why Jamarco Jones might be a starter for the Tennessee Titans
Vrabel seemed to have fond memories of Jones when he was asked, but there was a pretty important nugget of information in his praise. In the clip above, Vrabel says that their plan for Jones is to give him a chance to battle for the left guard position.
The biggest reason why this is important is that it means that Mike Vrabel isn’t going to try to force Dillon Radunz to play left guard. Instead, it makes sense to leave Radunz at tackle (his best position) and let Jones play at his best position instead of forcing him into a battle for the right tackle job.
If that stands, then it means that the implied offensive line would look like this heading into training camp:
Left Tackle: Taylor Lewan
Left Guard: Jamarco Jones/Aaron Brewer camp battle
Center: Ben Jones
Right Guard: Nate Davis
Right Tackle: Dillon Radunz
I don’t know if that is a top-10 offensive line, but I do think that it puts the Titans in the upper half of the league, especially if Taylor Lewan is back to his pre-2021 form.
It is still possible that the Titans address the offensive line in the 2022 NFL Draft, but the Titans have done a great job filling the three needs that they had after signing Ben Jones and Dontrell Hilliard. With their five biggest needs filled, the Tennessee Titans can truly be patient and let value come to them in the draft and over the rest of the offseason.