Return to the world of the living with Mariota
To understand the problem of the Titans, it is enough to ask a simple question: How long has it been since I watched a complete game of this team? The answer from most people will be very similar: "I don't remember". Of course, this does not include what their own fans might say, who have stoically endured the downpour for years, although I suspect that some of them are starting to use the zapping button too freely on Sunday afternoons.
The team's records have not even been terrible except for last season, when they finished with a grim 2-14. Before the descent to hell, there was a long pilgrimage through the purgatory of indifference. Over a decade since Steve McNair and Eddie George ceased to be the standard-bearers of a team that had earned its prestige through character. Since then, they have subscribed to the utmost transparency, a state of being without being that they only woke up from when Jeff Fisher and Vince Young ended up fighting, while the rest of the world watched in astonishment as a barroom brawl ended with both of them being kicked out.
So, it seems that the choice of Mariota and Green Beckham in the draft, or the signing of Orakpo and Perrish Cox in free agency, have a much more important goal than making them a winning team, or starting a rebuilding that will lead them back to the battle for the ring. The Titans are looking, above all other goals, to stop being transparent. To return to the map, so that at least one fan can consider tuning in for a while on a Sunday afternoon out of curiosity to see how they play.
To get an idea of what the future may hold, you just have to remember Mariota's face when he heard on television that he had been chosen by them with the second overall pick in the draft. It was a resigned gesture of sadness. A "Something has to die", "Oh, no, Whisenhunt!" "What does it feel like to be transparent?" and "Where is Tennessee?" all mixed together in one fateful moment. And all of us who witnessed the college draft live felt sorry for a kid who was chosen for his media appeal and talent but who will hardly be able to develop his potential in a team full of uncertainties and that wants to turn him into a savior or a sacrificial victim at the altar of sacrifices.
Because the biggest problem for the Titans is not whether they are good or bad. It is whether they will be able to return to the world of the living.
The team's three keys by Pepe Rodríguez
1 The absolute and total protection of the asset that is Marcus Mariota. This guide talks about the 2015 season, but in Tennessee, the goal cannot be anything other than to keep their newly established franchise QB away from the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day and from Mondays of adverse results. Patience, protection, careful nurturing, and no headaches with Mariota.
2 The defensive signings will have to bring strength to a group that truly needs it. It is likely that they had to overpay for several of them, but it was necessary for them to bring some talent to a unit that was very poor in that aspect. With Searcy, Orakpo, or Cox, they may not become elite, but it is clear that they have a different face.
3 The development of talent in skill positions will be another key to the year. Bishop Sankey or Kendall Wright, as well as Justin Hunter, deserve some patience, but they have also been joined by Dorial Green-Beckham. The feeling is that there is a lot, but a lot, of talent there, which will eventually show which direction it goes. Again: a year of patience.
The best
1 The youth and potential of key positions in the offense.
2 There will be no need to talk about QBs in the next draft for Tennessee.
3 A pass rush that can be important with Casey, Morgan, and Orakpo.
The worst
1 Everything is potential, but true elite is not glimpsed.
2 The secondary is unbalanced, which even hampers McCourty.
3 Asking for patience in the NFL today is a chimera.