SUMMARY: During the 37-7 thumping by the Jaguars yesterday, a few things became obvious to me.

1. Vince isn't close. He is slow making reads. He stares down receivers. He's horribly inaccurate for stretches during the game. Though we should expect a few performances like this as Young matures, I don't buy that such games won't shake his confidence if things don't get better soon. And with the tough Ravens D coming to town next week, I don't things get better anytime soon.

2. The Titans run defense is as bad as any I've ever witnessed. Ever. With the score 34-0, the Jaguars were not disguising anything offensively. Yet the Titans still gave up 79 more rushing yards for a 6.1 yards per carry average. If some of you thought rookie Stephen Tulloch would be an upgrade, guess what?

http://www.gotitans.com/artman/publish/article_001828.shtml

What do you think about this article? Post your comments below.

Overall, I think there are some good points. I have to respectfully disagree with you about Fisher being fired if he doesn't win at least 4. I think the fact that the team has been in 5 of the 8 games speaks volumes considering that the current talent level is well below normal NFL talent.

Vince Young is not ready, I agree. Could this impact his confidence?...Perhaps. Here is the thing that you have to look at it. Vince is struggling because he is a rookie QB in the NFL (the hardest position to learn in the NFL) and he was considered a project (not NFL ready) to begin with. Do you really think that you will see improvement next year if Fisher and Chow leave? He will be as far if not further away if that happens. They absolutely have to stay regardless of whether they win another game or not. Vince will improve as the year goes on, but if you change the offense after the season, he is back to square one. He is too early in his career to adapt to that kind of change. Like it or not, we must stay the course and invest next years 41 million wisely....haven't said that...if the next 8 games are like the one this week....nobody should survive....even Bud should give up ownership.

Other random thoughts: David Givens...bust. We must draft Calvin Johnson...I think he is the answer to our WR solution. I still think Brandon Jones is going to be a good one. Chris Hope, Kevin Mawae, and David Thornton have been excellent acquisitions. 3 out of 4 is not bad.

One thing to think about is if you don't have confidence Fisher is the one to return the team to the playoffs, this is really the best time to make the move. A new head coach means new coordinators and two years before the team is comfortable with the schemes.

So if Bud extends Fisher into '07 and then fires him after next season, then you have '09 until this team is ready.

Same goes for Reese. The Titans will go into '07 with a ton of cap room. If you are going to make a GM move, that would be the time to make it, IMO.

In my opinion, i just think we need to completely clean house.

Typical fan post. 'Givens a bust'. Or ... maybe he had a hammy that was slow to heal ... got healed and then tore ligaments in his thumb ... might it be that we have nowhere near enough information on Givens yet to make a call.

As for VY ... he wasn't near it yet. But that was a tough matchup zone that really ate him up. I'm not ready to go where you went yet Jeff ... but no doubt this last week gave pause for concern.

Run defense. Absolutely awful. Hard to know where to start other than to say that AH is exactly like AJ ... can't live with 'em ... can't live without 'em. Al being out just makes us all soft and gooey inside.

Secondary. I think Hill is much maligned for no reason. And if AJ can keep out of the bars, train his spit to fly in the direction of empty pavement, show up in time for meetings, and just generally act as if he was 25, not 15, we've got two good young corners. We've also got a heckuva good safety in Hope, and some potential sitting on the bench in Lowry, Fuller, and Finnergan. Personally, I don't get the LT fetish ... I'd have the three young 'uns on the field trying to figure out what we have got.

And speaking of that. Time to put Lendale in the starting lineup. I question whether he is anything more than a plugger. But only way to find it out is put him out there and let him rip. Same with Tulloch. I agree with TJ on his Sunday performance ... but again, better to learn now than later what he has and doesn't have.

Plenty of issues to resolve. Troupe ... talent or bust? We need to know.
Stewart and Roos? Bookends or deadends? We will see. Jones, Roby, Williams? Do any of them have any more than #3 wide out written on their card? Play em and find out.

And of course, Fish, Schwartzy, Chow and the gang ... can they or can't they. 8 games left to tell the tale. Plenty of things of interest to watch.
Patience is the only requirement.

I am giving Givens a Bust because the doctors cleared him to play 2 weeks ago, yet he is not willing to go out there...Thus, he is inactive. This is football, and if you aren't willing to put it on the line with your teammates, I consider you a bust. If that makes me a typical fan, that so be it, but 8 catches for 104 yds is on pace for 16 catches and 208 yards. I don't believe any receiver deserves 325k per catch or 25k per yard. I have to go with busts until proven otherwise. jmo.

I've been saying it all along...CALVIN JOHNSON to the TITANS or maybe dwayne jarrett but naah CALVIN JOHNSON!

I've been saying it all along...CALVIN JOHNSON to the TITANS or maybe dwayne jarrett but naah CALVIN JOHNSON!


You assume he will be on the board when we pick.

no not really i actually thing the 49ers would grab him, we would have to trade up in all honesty becausse there are other teams obviously, who need a guy like him

49ers have a better record then us.

Aikman started out his first game with a 28-0 shutout loss against the New Orleans Saints. The following week against Atlanta, Aikman threw his first touchdown pass, a 65-yard completion to Michael Irvin, but the Falcons intercepted two of his passes and won the game. The next few weeks were not any better. First, the Washington Redskins sacked him four times, intercepted two passes, and held him to only six completions in his first home game. Then the Giants came to Dallas and only allowed Aikman to complete one pass before knocking him out of the game with a broken finger, which sidelined him for 5 games. During that time, the Cowboys ended up winning their only game of the year. However, when Aikman returned, he showed the league why he was worthy of being picked with the first choice of the NFL. In a close game against the Phoenix Cardinals, he threw for NFL-rookie record 379 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown pass that gave Dallas a 20-17 lead with 1:43 left in the game, but the Cardinals came back on their next drive to win the game. With the exception for a 17-14 loss against Miami, the Cowboys never came close to winning another game for the rest year, and were finished off with a 20-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers in their final game with Aikman throwing 4 interceptions.

Aikman finished with an 0-11 record (155 of 293 for 1,749 yards, 9 TDs, 18 INTs)

doesnt mean they will at the end of the season, anyway, i dont assume CJ will be on the board when we are choosing, im just hoping that in someway we end up getting him

So that is your standard for your football team to lose 75% of the time and be close in half your losses? A 50% blowout rate when we lose is pretty good for you then?

What the hell grade should jeff fisher get an A+? We are like the damn mets of the early 60s. And if our talent level is so poor why have you not demanded reese's firing?

Someone has to be responsible for this team stinking so bad the last 2 seasons. It's not fate, it's not meant to be we suck because BOTH reese and fisher have not been doing their damn jobs.

It was fisher who pushed volek out the door. It was fisher who brought in collins and started him with a week of preperation and it was fisher who decided to go with young. It was reese who drafted all these lame players that you call below normal.

He really is because he was terrible his first 2 seasons. 9 TDs with 18 ints his first year and then 11 TDs with 18 ints his second year. Very few QBs start off that poorly and still amount to anything.

It was fisher who pushed volek out the door. It was fisher who brought in collins and started him with a week of preperation and it was fisher who decided to go with young. It was reese who drafted all these lame players that you call below normal.

Don't be so sure. I think deep down Fisher really wanted Volek. I believe Adams making Reese take Vince changed the entire season. For all practical purposes, we were done the minute that happened. It may pay dividends in the future, but for now all this hand wringing about the team is futile. We are stuck with a QB that is clearly not ready to play in the NFL, and we will just have to wait until he is. The trouble is, players hate losing, and when you are 2-6, you are going to see guys start going through the motions, but not giving everything they can. Growing pains. As far as Fisher, it will come down to whether he wants to remain here and coach the "Vince Young Era".

Ithink changes need to be made on the staff and maybe Reese but not Fisher. Schwartz MUST be replaced and an aggressive DC needs to be hired maybe Wiiliams will be available if Washington cleans house this year. It's interesting to me that no one ever talks about our OLine coach here. The OL has been terrible for at least 3 years but Munch gets a pass. We cant run the ball or protect the QB. The OL needs to show drastic improvement or Munch needs to go. Many here wanted VY to start and I'm not saying it's bad but we got just what we all really expected a very inexperienced QB who will take some time to learn the game in the NFL. The experience will be very valuable over the next couple of years but it wont get any better this year. Keep Fisher change the DC, spend the 41M to get some players and we will be in the playoffs within 2 yrs.

I think the reason Munch is getting a pass is because most of us feel that the reason for poor O-line play isn't poor scheming or technique, it's old players who should give way for the young players of the future.

So that is your standard for your football team to lose 75% of the time and be close in half your losses? A 50% blowout rate when we lose is pretty good for you then?

Of course that is not my standard (I am paying 2 grand a year to watch this), but you are naive if you did not think it was going to take a few years to get out of Salary Cap Hell. This franchise Tennessee/Houston has never won a super bowl, and they kept the team together to try and make a championship run. The penalty was that we would have a few years after the run with teams that lost most (nearly all except #53) of their star power. Having said that, we would be better if our last few years of drafting would have been decent, and they must be called subpar at best. I agree that Floyd Reese should be held accountable, but you can not blame Jeff until he gets the title of GM/Head Coach. Floyd gets the final say. Lets take a look:

2002 - Albert Haynesworth, Tank Williams, Rocky Calmus, Mike Echols, Rocky Boiman, Jake Schifino, Justin Hartwig, Darrell Hill. Haynesworth has undeniable talent, but there are issues. Tank was a good pick but has had injuries, Boiman ok for a late rounder and Hartwig was a nice pick. Lots of misses in this draft.

2003 - Andre Woolfork, Tyrone Calico, Chris Brown, Rien Long, Donnie Nickey (he traded up for this stud), and Todd Williams. This is perhaps our worst draft over the past few years. No starters. Chris Brown could have been a star, but injuries kept him down.

2004 - Ben Troupe, Travis LaBoy, Antwan Odom, Randy Starks, Rich Gardner, Bo Schobel, Mike Waddell, Jacob Bell, Rob Reynolds, Troy Fleming, Jared Clauss, Eugne Amamo, Sean McHugh - Lots of picks here. Jacob Bell has been solid. Troupe shows flashes, LaBoy can pass rush when healthy. Odom still has potential, but will we see it. Amano is worthy, but the rest are either gone or should be gone

2005 - Adams Jones, Michael Roos, Courtney Roby, Brandon Jones, Vince Fuller, David Stewart, Roydell Williams, Damien Nash, Bo Scaife, and Reynaldo Hill. This has been the best draft. Jones is a talent much like Haynesworth, but there are issues. Roos is going to be a great one. I am a huge Brandon Jones fan, Reynaldo Hill was a great pick in the 7th, and is clearly the best corner outside of pac even though we have drafted many higher. Bo Scaife has been very good and David Stewart looks promising at Tackle. We need more drafts like this one. Roby and R Williams have not been all that and I heard great thing prior to the injury for Fuller, but where is he now? Like I said, no many misses with this one.

2006 - Vince Young, LenDale White, Calvin Lowry, Stephen Tulloch, Tarna Nande, Jesse Mahelona, Jonathan Orr, Cortland Finnegan, Spencer Toone, Quinton Gather - This one is too early to call as the verdict is still out on all of the ones playing, but Finnegan looks like a solid late rounder, and I was happy that if they did not think Nande couldn't play, they didn't keep him for years like that did with Echols. You can draw your own conclusions about Vince and LenDale. I don't have a clue yet, but I do wish Vince would use his legs a bit more.

Conclusion, 1 good draft, 3 bad drafts, and 1 who knows. Is that enough to keep Floyd Reese? My guess is no, but I still have 41 million reasons to think that if we don't screw up Vince that we could compete for the playoffs in 2007.

sorry for the length, and I apologize if I missed anyone of the draft picks. I did the majority from memory.

We got out of cap helll in part by by adding 5 significant free agents this year and another veteran player last year. Granted givens hasn't done a thing but he signed a 5 year contract so it is too early to judge him. We added thornton, hope and robaire smith to the defense and it seems we are only worse. How is that? We gave up a 3rd rd pick for travis henry and he has done some good things.

I'm not saying that thornton-hope-robaire-givens-henry-mawae are equal to all the players we lost but they make up for it some. Then there is the fact we drafted high 2 years in a row.

I look at our defense and just can't believe we are so bad. KVB and bulluck are pro bowl caliber guys. Hope, thornton and robaire smith are good players. Pacman has played well we know he has talent. Haynesworth is a good player and was with us for almost 4 games. Is this really the least talented defense in the nfl? We have not even had that many injuries. I have to blame the coaching staff for those failures.

I agree the free agency signing were a big plus, but rarely doesn't anyone in the NFL win with a rookie QB. I can only thing of Pittsburgh with Big Ben, maybe Marino?. I think with McNair this was an 8-8 team....not bad, not good, but Vince in not ready. He might be ready next year, but if we wait until next year to play him...I don't think he would be ready. This season is not going to get us to the playoffs...might as well as get Vince prepared for the NFL. I like KVB, Starks, Haynesworth, and Smith on the line. I am still waiting on LaBoy and Odom to play to their potential. I think Thornton and Bulluck are excellent. Hope and Pac are great and Hill to me would be a good nickel. Lamont is not good, but in reality we are pretty solid at 8 of 11 positions win Albert plays, but we have absolutely no depth which is needed to win in the NFL> I agree the defense should be better than it is playing. I contend that we fire Schwartz and Bud and Steve Underwood should probably can Floyd Reese. I still think we have more issues on offense. We need to replace a couple on the line, and we got to have WRs catch the freaking ball. I am not ready to give up on Chow even though it appears the NFL has been a large learning curve. Chow has to stay with Vince or we are looking at another large learning curve for Vince next year. We can't afford that.

The Qb issue....

We are not supposed to be starting a rookie QB billy volek is supposed to be our QB. Kerry collins started a game before he even knew the playbook. Fisher could have done a better job of smoothing things over with billy at least until we had a few games under our belts and who knows maybe volek might have played well enough to keep the job.

So what if billy acted like an egotistical jerk and has a jerk for an agent. It would have been better for the team if he had started those first 3 games. Fisher's line was that volek didn't want to compete but the competition should have been determined on whether volek played well or not early in the season. I can't believe that volek is happier backing up phillip rivers as opposed to starting here so he also blew it.. We lost to a jets team that is next to last on defense and to a miami team that has a horrible offense.. With just average QB play we could have won one or both those games.

The defense..............

As for our defense you admitted that we are "solid" at 8 of the 11 positions with haynesworth which means we are solid at 7 positions without him right? And you said you like starks. So why are we 32nd in defense? Depth doesn't matter that much because we have had few injuries to our top people. Bulluck, hope, KVB have not hardly missed a play. Hill has been healthy and so has pacman. I don't think finnegan is a below average nickel back.

There is no reason we should be last in the league in defense. We are giving up almost 8 more yards per game to to 31st best defense. that is pathetic! Jeff fisher is responsible for that defense. He is the head coach. You cannot say that this is a well coached team when the defense is in shambles.

You assume he will be on the board when we pick.

Well, who has less wins, and what are their needs? Houston? RB?? Adrian Peterson... Not gonna make the same mistake twice, are they?

Then there's a bunch, like Miami, us, Buffalo, GB, DET, etc... Detroit, Miami, GB or Buffalo will fight for Brady Quinn. We don't need him.

Calvin is ours...

assuming Det, Buff, Miami and GB fight for Quinn, only one gets him. Leaves 3 others needing playmakers.

Based on what I have read, currently we would have the #9 pick because at this point in the season we have played the toughest schedule in the NFL. Of course this could change. #9 would not get C Johnson.