Tennessee Titans: The Music City’s Sleeping Giant- Exotic Smashmouth

Things in the Music City are starting to get interesting as the Tennessee Titans have a roster trending upwards.

The tired moniker of “defense wins championships” is nothing but wind in 2017. While John Elway brought a Lombardi to Denver on the strength of a historic front a year ago, the perennial superpowers of the last ten years have been built to put up points in bunches.

The Patriots have gone to six straight conference championships in large part because of Tom Brady’s ability to defy time and the rules of logic. The Steelers have ridden the most explosive offensive triplets of their generation right along with them. The Packers haven’t missed the playoffs since 2008 thanks to the tricks and treats of Aaron Rodgers.

While the same dominant aerial assaults have selfishly reserved their spots to the winner’s circle annually, two men from Nashville have offered their own take on the same idea.

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A punchline a year ago, Jon Robinson and Mike Mularkey have constructed a sleeping giant in the AFC affectionately dubbed “exotic smash mouth”. Zigging while the rest of the league zags, they are building the next annual contender set to bully the pass-happy NFL.

The Trenches

It all starts up front. While the ballyhooed unit in Dallas draws the headlines, Robinson has constructed a dominant front five of his own.

There might not be a more talented tackle tandem than Taylor Lewan and Jack Conklin. Although he struggles with the high-end speed rushers, Lewan is a smooth, technically sound blindside protector with light feet and a decisive punch. He’s excellent sealing the edge on the outside zone plays Tennessee likes to run.

Passing on allegedly more talented Laremy Tunsil a year ago, Robinson set the tone for his vision by taking the meanest tackle in the draft. Conklin has already emerged as an all-pro opposite of Lewan. He’s just scratching the surface of what he can become. A true big mauler, he stonewalls smaller edge rushers without strain.

Josh Kline and Ben Jones are two rock-solid, steady-Eddie’s who fortify the unit. Although they specialize in powering down on gap plays, they were more than proficient on both inside and outside zone plays, which they ran more of as the year went on.

The Running Game

The bruising attack goes through their two rugged tailbacks acquired last offseason. Cast out of Philadelphia, DeMarco Murray rediscovered the no-nonsense, one-cut style that made him a rushing champion in Dallas.

He doesn’t make defenders miss, but takes what’s blocked and fights for extra yards. As good as Murray was last year, Derick Henry should start to cut into his snap count in 2017. Similar stylistically, Henry offers the kind of explosion that jumps off the tape to his arsenal.

The Signal Caller

It isn’t just about the running game. Marcus Mariota is the right man to direct this attack. While he played with “handicaps” in terms of passing concepts early on, the former Oregon Duck grew into a more complete quarterback as the year went on.

He has the pocket presence and anticipation that you just can’t teach. He displays a lighting quick release and exercises great judgement of when to use his gameplan-wrecking athletic ability outside of the pocket. He’ll need to continue to grow as a progression passer in year three.

What’s Different

The biggest “yeah, but” of last year’s attack was the lack of game-changing talent on the outside. Teams would stack bodies in the box, creep their corners up on the line in press-man coverage, and play single high coverage all day because Tennessee didn’t have any receivers that could make them pay for it.

Robinson went all in to amend this in the draft, taking smooth Corey Davis and trading up for slot-specialist Taywan Taylor with two of his three first picks.

Both fit well with Mariota’s quick-rhythm, timing based game. Davis has the size and speed to threaten deep on the max-protect, play-action shot plays Terry Robiske likes to draw up. Both need to hit the ground running to enlight this one-dimensional passing game.

That isn’t to say this offense isn’t without it’s share of “what if’s”. They’ll need plenty of things to flip their way in order to enter the ranks of the league’s premier offenses. This team can’t afford for Mariota to suffer another season-ending injury.

They don’t have a ton of depth, even on the offensive line. Corey Davis will have to be more Amari Cooper than Kevin White early on. Even so, there’s a ton to like about an emerging offense so stylistically different than any other offense in the NFL.

In the day of spread offenses and nickel defenses, Jon Robinson and Mike Mularkey are offering their own counter-revolution, a callback to the football of ten years ago by the name of exotic smashmouth. The early returns are encouraging.

Their vision is clear: a hard-nosed team built through the trenches that can steal the lunch money of the unsuspecting league.