[FREE] Bandaging the Titans Offensive Line
What can the Titans do to manage their disappointing OL?
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There’s been a growing sense of animosity towards Titans QB Will Levis.
After a putrid second half in Week One against Chicago, Levis followed that up with another mind breaking turnover that virtually killed any momentum the Titans had against the New York Jets.
Granted, he did improve from Week One to Week Two. And unlike Week One, he wasn’t the reason why the Titans lost, why their offense sputtered, and why they dropped to 0-2 on the season. But the mistakes from Levis are piling up and fans are starting to grow impatient with the former Kentucky star.
However, Levis hasn’t been the *sole* reason why the Titans’ offense has struggled through two games so far. Yes, he’s made some crucial mistakes and has single handedly killed the offense at times.
But he isn’t all at fault.
Offensive line problems a. So how do these problems get fixed, more so are they even fixable in the short term? The bad news is that they aren’t easily fixable, the good news is that they’re manageable.
Offensive Line Problems and Remedy (???)
We knew this offensive line wasn’t going to be saved by the almighty hand of Brian Callahan.
At least not this soon.
Talent deficiencies, inexperience, gelling, there were plenty of red flags for this group in the offseason and there wasn’t much the Titans could do about it. They weren’t going to wish for an All-Pro right tackle or right guard and they weren’t going to magically summon immediate experience for Peter Skoronski and JC Latham.
They simply had to deal with it and work with what they had.
Through two weeks though, it feels like “working with what you have” has turned many fans towards the liquor bottle.
Over the first two games of the season, the Titans have one of the worst pass blocking grades in the entire league, have one of the worst graded tackles in football, and have allowed Will Levis to be pressured on 43.8%(!!!) of his dropbacks through the first 2 weeks of the season.
All this according to PFF.
*Pass Blocking grades through 2 weeks, Titans’ grade is 57.6*
Say what you want about Levis, but this offensive line has done him zero and I mean zero favors so far.
He’s still been able to find guys against pressure, evidenced by his 54.5% completion percentage while under pressure, good for 7th best among eligible quarterbacks.
But Levis is still under pressure far too often.
Granted, you could’ve seen this coming with Nicholas Petit-Frere and Dillon Radunz starting up front. Both are liabilities — especially Petit-Frere — and are two of the best options available if you want your quarterback to get folded like an omelet and destroyed.
But like mentioned earlier, there wasn’t much the Titans could do there but hope and pray, which hasn’t done much for them so far.
When it comes to offensive line issues like these, the Titans can only hang on for dear life and pray they don’t fall off a cliff into the raging river flowing below. Or at least focus on a few schematic changes and hope that alleviates the pain.
One of those changes could come in the way of Levis getting the ball out of his hands quicker.
Levis — according to PFF — has an average time to throw of 2.88 seconds, good for 18th quickest in the league.
That’s quick no matter how you cut it, but he might have to get it out even quicker in order to make things easiest for him and the offensive line in front of him.
Brian Callahan already does a fine enough job at getting the ball out of Levis’ hands anyways, so the adjustment shouldn’t be too crazy.
Another change could be a more involved run game, but that isn’t at the core of what the Titans want to do offensively and honestly, they don’t have the backs to do that anyways. Tony Pollard is a damn good back, but he’s not a bell cow that you give 20 carries to.
That’s what the running back by committee system is for anyways, but Tyjae Spears hasn’t been efficient when he has gotten the ball, so uh…yeah.
There isn’t much the Titans can do to bandage their offense right now. Brian Callahan has done a lot of creative things to help jumpstart this unit and has also presented Will Levis with some good opportunities, but plays just haven't been made and boneheaded turnovers have killed this unit’s ability to score points and remain on the field.
If they can get those mistakes cleaned up, this unit will be fine…barring any shenanigans.
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