Mike Vrabel's time with the Tennessee Titans will always be remembered as a mixed bag. Everyone has heard about the good things that Mike Vrabel did, but few give him enough credit for his role in the downward spiral of the franchise over the last two years.
There were some terrible draft decisions and the A.J. Brown trade, but Vrabel wasn't blameless and as time goes on fans are starting to see that more and more. After being inundated with "Mike Vrabel is a top-5 coach in the NFL." talk for years, fans can finally take a step back and see the forest for the trees.
As the dust settles, one of the biggest issues that fans have with Vrabel's tenure is how much all of the success depended on Derrick Henry.
A few weeks ago there was an amazing visual floating around that showed how often teams were passing on early downs over the last six years. We all know how helpful it is to pass on early downs which is why it wasn't a surprise to see the Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, and the Buffalo Bills as the top-3 teams in the NFL.
Can you guess who was 32nd on that list? That is right, the Tennessee Titans.
Mike Vrabel's identity was to run the ball as much as possible, grind out a one-score game, and hope that you had enough of an edge in penalties and on special teams that you squeaked out a win. When the Titans had a Hall of Fame running back at the top of his game and a really good offensive line, that worked, but that can't last forever.
We know this was a Mike Vrabel thing and not something that the coordinator was bringing to the table because it was something that we saw with three different OCs under Vrabel.
As soon as Derrick Henry was out of his prime (which is either 2021 or 2022 depending on who you ask), relying on Henry to carry the offense wasn't a viable option. That didn't stop the Titans from trying, and this Steve Palazzolo tweet highlights just how willing the Titans were to run an aging running back into a brick wall behind a bad offensive line.
Most runs vs. 8 or more defenders in the box, last three years (red zone excluded):
— Steve Palazzolo (@PFF_Steve) May 28, 2024
Derrick Henry 373
Alvin Kamara 226
Najee Harris 221
Christian McCaffrey 221
Josh Jacobs 208
Nick Chubb 208
That tweet should make Tennessee Titans fans feel even more convicted that things are going to get much better with this new coaching staff.
Sure, the new offense is going to be different stylistically and schematically from what the Titans were running with Mike Vrabel in charge, but that won't be the biggest improvement. The biggest improvement will be the use of common sense, which was something that the previous coaching staff lacked.
Running into stacked boxes, running the ball on early downs, giving receivers massive cushions on 3rd and short, confusing personnel decisions, and several other issues should be something that the Titans don't have to deal with in 2024 and that should help things across the board.
However, it is becoming clearer and clearer that there is massive room for improvement on the offense and there are reasons to believe that fans are going to get to see that this year.