Jake Locker to this point... (ongoing)

Discussion in 'Tennessee Titans and NFL Talk' started by RollTide, Sep 16, 2013.

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  1. HeadOnASwivel

    HeadOnASwivel Pro Bowler

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    I don't mean to beat a dead horse here with another Locker thread, but I just need to vent a bit.

    I'd like to address the ineptitude of the front office and coaching staff. I think it's clear they don't know how to handle a young quarterback. That's not to say that Locker has no responsibility for his poor play, he does, but I feel the larger issue is how he's being coached and our offensive philosophy.

    First let's discuss the offensive philosophy of the franchise. We hear over and over from Munch, Loggains, etc. that "we want to be a run first team", but what does that mean exactly and why?

    Well when you hire a guy who played guard for years of course he's more inclined to want to run the ball, believe me all o-lineman love being physical and pound the rock. But in our case it's worse than that... Not only do we have a former o-lineman as coach but he learned under Jeff Fisher; he's easily one of the most conservative coaches in modern football, and therein lies the problem. Why is Jeff Fisher's philosophy still being implemented, is it some sort of legacy that we pass on year after year? No, it shouldn't be but clearly it is, and there is no reason for it. You choose the identity of your team, you don't inherit it from a former coach and front office. It just seems like Fisher's conservative nature has permeated the entire franchise and it's seen as almost the thing to do, it's just the way we are. Fisherball should not be permanently stamped on this team's game plan, but it is.

    I can kind of understand why some teams namely Northern teams such as the Stoolers, Browns, Bengals, Bears and so on are still run heavy. It's because they have to deal with the elements come playoff time and you must be able to run when the weather turns sour. So I get why their philosophy doesn't change much. Being in Nashville and playing mostly Southern teams and in domes vs. our division there is no reason why we have to run the ball as much as we do. And yet here we are, with the same old predictable, easy to scheme against offense.

    The problem is the league is evolving away from this conservative nature of offense and we are going to be on the outside looking in if things don't fundamentally change with this team. Do any of you honestly think we can just keep trying to salt away 7 point leads in the 3rd quarter, relying on our defense to bail us out? I knew Houston would come back in the 4th, hell even the Stoolers made a 4th quarter push. It's just the nature of the passing league the NFL has morphed into.

    Now on to the staff and how Locker is being coached. Look I'm not there in the meetings or on the practice field so I can't say Locker is being coached poorly, but I have my suspicions. The front office has failed Locker thus far because of terrible coaching decisions. You hire friggin' Chris Palmer, an NFL bust out of the CFL to mentor your hand-picked 8th overall pick and the new leader of your franchise? That was a huge mistake, and don't tell me it's because of the shortened off season and their weren't better candidates out there, that's bull crap. Then after you fire him, you hire Dowell Loggains a totally young and unproven coach who has learned under the same old conservative offensive philosophy as Mike Heimerdinger and Jeff Fisher? I'm sorry but that is a recipe doomed for failure. It seems as though Loggains is more than happy playing Fisherball, but worse than that is how predictable we are offensively. It's run, run, pass on 3rd and long and punt, over and over. If we do somehow throw on 1st down and gain no yardage as a result, we are running on 2nd down almost 100% of the time to say out of 3rd and 10. If I can see it, you damn well know D-coordinators see it.

    I don't understand how you use the 8th over all pick on a quarterback just so he can manage the game. I know Locker has flaws, I'm not looking at this situation blindfolded, but he has got to be given the the chance to become a great quarterback and you can't get there when the staff is afraid to let you actually play the position. Is he going to make horrible decisions throughout his career, yes of course but so does every other quarterback? I mean look at Eli Manning, the dude makes god awful decisions regularly but does that mean they stop letting him throw and become a heavy run team, no. You know what, sometimes we have to make mistakes to learn from them and get better, this applies to everyday life but it's the golden rule when it comes to grooming a quarterback? With a new quarterback you are going to have growing pains, there is no way around that, but you have to be willing to accept those hardships and not try to cover them up.

    What really makes me mad though is the fact that other teams have more faith in their young quarterbacks than we do in our 3rd year quarterback. The Jets, Bills, and Raiders are letting their quarterbacks play and learn from mistakes, not trying to cover it up and protect their fragile psyches. I just wish Locker was given the same trust to run the offense, score points and evolve from his mistakes.

    This is my long way of saying we have to give Locker every opportunity to succeed or fail, by letting him throw the ball, any other scenario is unfair to he and the franchise. I hate to say it but watching the Titans play now is extremely boring and I love nothing more than watching them on Sundays. It would sure be nice to see us put up some points so we don't have to hope that a 3 point lead will hold up.
     
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  2. Clark

    Clark #ShoutboxAlley4Life

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    TL;DR
     
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  3. Anthony4Titans

    Anthony4Titans Starter

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    There's something I've never really understood about the NFL. All this emphasis on only one quarterback running the offense. What really would be so bad about having multiple threats at qb? Why is it so taboo to sub quarterbacks in and out for certain situations without fear of a freakin controversy and hurt feelings? Personally, I'd like to see situations where the coach feels free to sub them in and out as situations dictate? Meaning critical downs and varying styles of defense, etc. Other sports can do it. Why not football? Take basketball for instance. You don't expect the starting pg to play the whole game and be exempt from being benched during the game. I know it is different, but I think there could be a good balance to it if the media and fans wouldn't make such a big deal of it then maybe the players themselves wouldn't take it personally. I know people will say it disrupts rhythm and bullcrap like that, but really it seems like it could keep defenses out of rhythm too.

    Quarterbacks have bad games like anyone else. Why is it considered a slap in the face of a quarterback to sub him out when he's having a bad game and why does it have to mean it is permanent and crushing to their psyche? It's the whole mindset of the media and fans that perpetrates this imo. Is protecting a quarterback's ego more important than winning games?
     
  4. Alex1939

    Alex1939 Space Invaders Champion

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    I don't agree with everything I read. But I agree that a run first philosophy is generally speaking the wrong philosophy to have in this era. Especially when prioritizing where to spend salary cap money.


    I still wonder what our team would like if we had made trade the Cardinals did for Carson Palmer. Or if Bud had won the QB race for Manning. At least Bud tried.
     
  5. JCBRAVE

    JCBRAVE goTitans 2019 Survivor Champion

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    Based by the title I knew I could skip all that mambo jumbo.
     
  6. Clark

    Clark #ShoutboxAlley4Life

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  7. JCBRAVE

    JCBRAVE goTitans 2019 Survivor Champion

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    Bernard Pollard and Kendall Wright keep saying how Jake is the teams leader, how he's a solider and they trust him. IDK how that continues with 2 QB's playing.
     
  8. SlidePiece

    SlidePiece Starter

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    Loggains said he was going to simplify things, but that doesn't mean that you have to become so predictable. I'm beginning to think that he's simplifying things for himself. I don't know that we have a capable offensive mind in the building, and that's very disappointing if true; I don't want to circle back around to Fisherball because the coaching staff has nothing else. I wish we could find find a happy medium between the run and shoot and the current run or bust offense.

    The defense is lights out, but the offense can't put points on the board....stop me if you've heard this one before.
     
  9. TitanJeff

    TitanJeff Kahuna Grande Staff

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    True. I pointed this out earlier. But he did practice, watch film and receive coaching during any of that time he wasn't recovering from an injury. That should give him an advantage over a guy in his second season with the same number of starts.
     
  10. xpmar9x

    xpmar9x The Real Slim Shady

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    I didn't read it all, too lazy... but I likely agree lol
     
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