(04-24-2022, 08:28 PM)Bullseye Wrote: Considering how they have thoroughly dominated us over the years, this will seem a lot like whistling past the graveyard or wishful thinking saying this.

But I could see the tacks taking a major step back offensively this year.

First off, they could easily lose WR AJ Brown.  Things have purportedly grown nasty between Brown and the front office, and the contract negotiations are at a stalemate.    If he's gone this year, and Julio Jones continues his decline, the tacks's WRs may not be much of a threat. 

On top of this, QB has been problematic for them.  While Tannehill has been a good fit in that run first attack, I still don't believe he has the full confidence of the tacks or their fanbase.  That 3 INT performance at home against the Bengals didn't help matters at all.  Plus, he will be 34 this year.  The laws of football physics are bound to catch up to him sooner or later  because of this, some observers have theorized the tacks could go QB in the first round of the draft this year, which may stop them from addressing another area of need on the team.  Of course, if they trade brown, they will most likely get a first round pick for him this year.  But it'd likely be at the bottom of the first round (unless you are the Jets), because you can have a rookie WR on a 5 year contract cheap).  At th bottom of the first round, they will likely miss out on most of the stud Ts and the top tier of WRs.  Keep in mind, their tackles were a train wreck last year.  Without Henry last year, they could not pass protect worth anything.

Speaking of Derrick Henry, rpr predicted Henry would start to decline last year.  For the first time, he missed significant time due to injury.  Was it the start of an overall decline or was last year an aberration?  We shall see, but even assuming it wasn't, without the quality WR play and the quality OL play, it'll be harder for him to dominate as he has done throughout his career.

The tacks are still a very good team and are exceptionally well coached.  But I could see a scenario where they aren't quite as good because they lost brown, missed on the T out of Georgia a few years back, Taylor Lewan has fallen off, and Tannehill will be less able to hurt opposing defenses than he was last year.  The dropoff could be dramatic if Derrick henry is not as durable as he has been.

To be honest, I hope I am right and this is the beginning of the end for those bastidges!

Personally, I don't see any way they lose A.J. Brown. He's their entire passing game. If they let him go, they deserve to be really bad. What they need to do is find a quality #2 and #3 receiver and a TE to compliment him. 

I know it appears as though Tannehill has struggled, but he basically only has one receiver to throw to (Brown.) Henry was out most of last season, so the running game struggled and Tannehill's O-Line looked like garbage. I keep hearing that the Titans might take a QB in this draft, but what they need to do is upgrade the O-Line and find Tannehill some receiving options at WR and TE. The Julio Jones trade really set them back. That was a good lesson though. Never give up that much for an injury prone WR with nothing left in the tank. 

I hope they do continue to decline. The division should be wide open this year, if they falter. Houston is still Houston and I'm not sold on Matt Ryan as an effective QB for the Colts. The last few games I watched him play, he was awful. He reminded me of Phillip Rivers at the tail end of his career. 

If we can come out of this draft with a dominant edge rusher, a #1 receiver who can stretch the field on a consistent basis and a franchise Center, I believe we might have a shot at being decent in 2022.

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