Growing pains: the Titans have been forced to rebuild their front four on defense—and so far, the results have been mixed

Football Digest, Jan, 2005 by Mike Beacom

DURING A FIRST-QUARTER series in Week 3, Tennessee Titans defensive end Antwan Odom drove the Jacksonville Jaguars' Maurice Williams seven yards back, where the right tackle collided with quarterback Byron Leftwich. With the pocket collapsing, Leftwich took flight and fell into the arms of veteran defensive lineman Kevin Carter. The pressure Odom applied earned the sack for Carter. It was the kind of play fails living in the Music City have grown accustomed to since the team re-located there from Houston in 1997. But this year, it's the kind of play fans haven't seen often enough.

For a long time, the Titans have hung their hat on the defense. It's what has given bucket reputation in the league. It's what got them to a Super Bowl in January of 2000, where they held a Rams offense that had scored an NFL-leading 526 points to just 23 points. And sure, quarterback Steve McNair earned co-MVP honors last season, but there is no question that the most valuable part of the 2003 Titans was their defense.

In the offseason, the front four took a hit when defensive end Jevon Kearse and defensive tackle Robaire Smith left via a free agency. It wasn't that Tennessee wanted to rid itself of the two, or that team owner Bud Adams wasn't willing to open up his wallet; Tennessee simply did not have available cap space to fit either player into their budget. That also meant the Titans had no money to shop for veteran replacements. So they rebuilt the old-fashioned way. They stockpiled as much talent as they could find in April during the NFL draft weekend.

The result: three defensive end prospects--Odom, Travis LaBoy, and Bo Schobel--and defensive tackles Randy Starks and Jared Clauss to help alleviate the headache caused by Kearse's and Smith's departure. Of the team's 13 draft picks, five were defensive linemen, including four of the first six selections. Said defensive line coach Jim Washburn of the strategy. It was critical because we didn't have the money to go out and get guys off the street." According to Washburn, the thinking was: find three guys to replace Kearse. It was a philosophy Tennessee believed could work because the team felt secure with its other three starters.

During his first two years in the league, Carlos Hall garnered 17 starts at defensive end filling in for the off-injured Kearse. Considered a pure speed rusher, Hall is a watered-down version of his mentor, with less name recognition and talent but the same basic tools. Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth is one of the game's most agile inside linemen, whose pursuit of the ball never stops. Many pro scouts believe down the road Haynesworth will spend at least a few February weekends in Honolulu. Veteran Kevin Carter has two Pro Bowls under his belt from a nine-year career in which he's thrived at defensive end. Before the season began, Carter was moved inside to complement Haynesworth.

With those three players, Tennessee needed only to find someone to shore up the left defensive end spot. But the team's three-for-one experiment hasn't quite paid off, as injuries and inconsistent play forced the team to re-shuffle, After the first quarter of the 2004 season had wrapped, the results were less-than-encouraging. The Titans were fled for 23rd in the league in run defense and fled for 19th in team sacks. That after the unit had ranked No. 1 in run defense in 2003 and had allowed fewer than 90 rushing yards in each of the three previous seasons. That after the Titans had finished among the top 10 in the league in sack production the past two years.

"I think they're good up front, says one AFC personnel director. "The main thing is, on a defensive line you want a pass-rusher. They got one. Do they have two tackles to play the run? Yes. The other end is the question mark."

Early on that player was Odom, who bumped Jaqua Thomas from the starting lineup shortly before the season began. It was the first time since 1999 (Kearse) that the Titans had started a rookie defensive lineman on the opening day of the season. Odom showed some promise, but wasn't consistent enough for Tennessee to feel good about the unit as a whole, nor was he able to supply the every-down pass rush abilities the Titans went shopping for.

"I see him more of a power, slippery, rangy-type," says the AFC personnel director. "He might be able to get that burst off the edge but I don't see him as a sudden guy off the corner like Hall or Kearse. That's rare."

Rare indeed, which is why the Titans switched Carter back to defensive end for a Monday night game the Green Bay Packers. The Titans won that game convincingly and limited running back Ahman Green to 33 yards. Carter's versatility has allowed the Titans to play him at both positions while the rookies made progress.

Pulling double duty is nothing new for Carter. It's a tactic the Titans tried some last year in their Turbo package, which placed the unit's four fastest pass rushers on the field at the same time. To make room for Hall and Kearse, it meant moving Carter inside; a change he embraced. No longer quick enough to win five-yard sprints to the corner Carter has learned to swim and bully past centers and guards on his way to the quarterback.