Tennessee Titans: So last year I picked the Titans to be the best team in the NFL, and as much as people forget this, I was actually correct The Titans ran away from opponents last year. More of the same? (13-3). They have a really good and really young offensive line (that is anchored by 38 year old center Kevin Mwae, he is important) and that offensive line has produced two straight years of being a top 6 rushing offense. At WR Justin Gage is still their best WR, and I’m not sure that that’s a good thing, I don’t know that he would even make most NFL rosters, let alone start (though I do think he’s serviceable). Their passing attack will not be stellar. In all honesty I actually think they should start Vince Young. He’s had a turnover-prone preseason, and I imagine that’s how he’d be in the regular season as well. But they have a good line and probably a good defense (in a second we’ll discuss) and I think will be able to afford a few mistakes out of Young before he starts to get some confidence and momentum back and can make this team his own. In all honesty I don’t see 39 year old Kerry Collins leading this team to the Superbowl and as a result I’d start looking elsewhere, what Young can do with his feet and arm and everything may well bring more to the table come the playoffs than Kerry Collins. If he can’t then I dunno, start looking at Patrick Ramsay? There are a few question marks on this offense, I hope I can become their starting WR though (Paul Williams). Defensively they’re basically the exact same team as last year except for one very large, very dickish difference. Football outsiders did a thing showing that over the past three years in the games Haynesworth missed to injury the Titans were like a 20% worse defense. Or maybe more, I don’t really understand DVOA all that well, last year they went from -3.8% to -22.1% DVOA with and without. Ummm… so there’s that. His replacement Javon Haye (or injured Jason Jones) are probably not as good. But aside from Haynesworth, their defense is quite good and their secondary in particular is good, young, and improving with the really good Michael Griffin anchoring it very effectively. They’ve a young linebacking corps led by Stephen Tulloch at MLB who appears to be improving and already pretty good. I mean, this is a solid defense unless you believe that the threat of Albert Haynesworth stepping on people’s heads was the sole reason they were amazing the last couple years. But he WAS really good, so they should drop off. One other cause for concern is that, though the titans are young, they were also spectacular uninjured last season. Shockingly, there’s something of a correlation between being not injured and having a good season. That presumably won’t last, though I do think the Titans draft well and have decent depth. This is a team with quite a few question-marks entering the season, and it’s reasonable to assume that some things won’t work out as planned (whether it’s injuries, people stepping up at the DT or WR positions, QB issues, etc.). It’s still likely one of the better teams in the NFL though by virtue of a good O-line, good RBs, good coaching, top 15 front 7 and a good secondary. Fantasy Potential: Nobody surprising I’d say. At WR I’m scared of Nate Washington who is going high in a lot of drafts. He’s already injured and he was secretly horrible for the Steelers, leading the team in drops despite being 4th in targets. I’d say Gage and possibly me are their best WR options. I like both their RBs and think Lendale might be better value if he’s going late and bars in Tennessee aren’t serving Patron. Their defense should be good but not absofuckinglutely incredible. Outlook: Umm… 10-6? They’re a playoff team but probably more beatable than last season Houston Texans: So the Texans are returning an offense that was injured last year, was young last year, and still was the 3rd best offense in Houston looking to improve this year and it looks promising. the NFL. All 11 starters are the same, if Shaub can stay healthy (which is admittedly a big “ifâ€) then one has to think that they’re dangerous. Defensively they’re not even terrible, their secondary is pretty good. Defensively they’re not even terrible, their secondary is pretty good. Unfortunately their D-line is still built mainly for the passing game and so a team with a good run game should eat them alive (like the Viqueens did in preseason and, presumably, like the titans will do in the regular season).Nonetheless, they have a decent secondary and two good Des and really this team should destroy any team without a good offensive line. The other thing about the Texans is that they’re really building through the draft and through youth. Demeco Ryans is still getting better, as (it appears) is Mario Williams who made the probowl last season. There’s not really a position on the team that doesn’t have a young guy who one could HOPE would develop into a great player (most notably Amobi Okoye, who is 22 despite entering his 3rd NFL season!) but so far hasn’t really shown much. Personally I think Slaton is going to be good, I like Shaub (and Orlovsky could probably be a worse backup, as could Grossman if he makes the team) and their line is really young and probably developing. Alex Gibbs is also really amazing at producing good offenses, particularly rushing attacks and presumably that will happen again. Last year they went 8-8 in a pretty good division and probably would have done a little bit better if Sage Rosenfels hadn’t had the funniest quarterback performance of the year by someone not named Jake. Fantasy Potential: I like everyone associated with their offense but so does everyone fantasy-wise. I’m not sure I have any sleepers, I think their offense is probably rated about right. I’m not convinced their defense is top 12 in the NFL. Outlook: 9-7 as a young team gets better, they may even surprise with one more win. BM
