Tennessee’s defense safe—for now

By Marc Hudgens  |   Wednesday, April 09, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Tennessee Titans
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While everyone in Nashville has been talking about receivers and Pacman Jones this offseason, the Tennessee Titans' defense has taken a hit here and there.

Last season’s defense was outstanding, so maybe fans are automatically expecting the same in 2008.

Maybe not. Although the team signed defensive end Jevon Kearse, an all-time Titans great who was most recently with the Eagles, it lost a few from the front seven. Most notably is the departure of starting defense end Antwan Odom, who is now in Cincinnati, then backup DE Travis LaBoy (Arizona) and reserve tackle Randy Starks (Miami). No matter how you cut it, that’s a lot of losses along the line.

In spite of that, the defensive line should be at least as good as last season if only for the reason the Titans held onto tackle Albert Haynesworth, and terrific end Kyle Vanden Bosch remains. The linebacking corps, led by the underrated, highly accomplished Keith Bulluck, will lock down the middle and the Titans return all of their secondary; additionally, Tennessee's secondary got a boost when it recently added former Raiders cornerback Chris Carr. The defense is young and talented, with the eldest members being few in number and in their early 30s.

But what about 2009? Certainly Tennessee has some semblance of a master plan for the future as far as reloading defensive talent goes. And the Titans will need to stick to said plan as much as possible to buy time for the offense to rebuild. If the Titans happen to draft a top receiver, the popular mock-draft pick being Cal’s DeSean Jackson, it might take a couple years to bring him up to speed. During that time, the offense will be one-dimensional (like it was last season) and predictable, so the defense will have to carry the team if there’s any chance of another playoff appearance.

But for this upcoming season, fans can expect good things from the defensive side of the ball. What happens after '08 is anyone's guess, though.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He ...
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