The Titans have lost 24-year old RB Javon Ringer for the rest of the year due to a fractured hand.  Ringer played in 12 games for the Titans this year and he carried the ball 59 times for 185 yards (3.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also has caught 28 passes for 187 yards (6.7 avg) this year.  Ringer has now played in 35 games in his first three years with the Titans and he has carried the ball 118 times for 472 yards (4.0 ypc) with 3 TD grabs.  He has also caught 35 passes for 231 yards (6.6 avg) so far in his career.  22-year old rookie RB Jamie Harper will replace Javon Ringer as Chris Johnson’s top backup in the Titans’ last three games.

With #1 WR Kenny Britt out for the year, the Titans are going to need some of their younger WRs to step up.  Nate Washington is the current #1 WR for the Titans and he has caught 29 passes for 399 yards (13.8 avg) with 1 TD grab so far in 2011.  The Titans really need Lavelle Hawkins and Damian Williams to step up this year.  Hawkins has caught 14 passes for 133 yards (9.5 avg) so far this year.  Williams has caught 10 passes for 99 yards (9.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs so far this year and he has a much higher upside than Hawkins does.  Marc Mariani gets most of his work on special teams for the Titans as he has only caught 4 passes for 18 yards (4.5 avg) so far in 2011.  The Titans need the WRs to step up to help the offense stay semi-balanced the rest of the year.

The Tennessee Titans are averaging a pitiful 66.6 rushing yards per game so far this year and 3.0 yards per carry.  The Titans hope the return of blow-up, blocking fullback Ahmard Hall will help kickstart the Titans’ running game.  Chris Johnson held out after the lockout and it’s showing in his play so far this year.  Johnson has played in all five games for the Titans so far this year and he has carried the ball 83 times for 250 yards (3.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 18 passes for 116 yards (6.4 avg) so far this year.  That just isn’t going to get it done!  Javon Ringer hasn’t had much success running the ball either, to say the least.  Ringer has played in four games for the Titans so far this year and he has carried the ball 18 times for 31 yards (1.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 10 passes for 63 yards (6.3 avg) so far this year.  The Titans would like to give the ball to Ringer more, but he has to earn those touches.  Rookie Jamie Harper has played in four games for the Titans so far in 2011 and he has carried the ball 4 times for 12 yards (3.0 ypc).  He has also caught 1 pass for 21 yards this year.  The Titans need the RBs to pick up the pace starting tomorrow against the Texans.

The Titans have lost starting safety Chris Hope for the next 4-6 weeks due to a broken forearm.  He has played in 2 games for the Titans so far this year and he has 10 tackles.  29-year old Jordan Babineaux will take over Hope’s starting spot until he’s ready to return to action.  Babineaux has played pretty well so far this year for the Titans, so they think he will do a good job while Hope is out of action.  He has played in all 4 of the Titans’ games so far this year and he has 15 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception (he returned it 97 yards for a TD against the Browns), defensed 1 pass and he has 1 tackle for a loss.  The Titans are in good hands with Babineaux.

26-year old RB Chris Johnson held out after the lockout and it has appeared to hurt his game.  In his first three years with the Titans, Johnson played in 47 games in which he carried the ball 925 times for 4,598 yards (5.0 ypc) with 34 TD runs.  He also caught 137 passes for 1,008 yards (7.4 avg) with 4 TD grabs in his first three years with the Titans.  This year though, Johnson hasn’t been able to shake of the rust.  He has played in all 3 games for the Titans so far this year and he has carried the ball 46 times for 98 yards (2.1 ypc) and he has also caught 13 passes for 91 yards (7.0 avg).  The Titans hope that Johnson gets back in gear starting this weekend against the Cleveland Browns.

27-year old Vince Young will be either traded or released before the 2011 season starts.  He has proven to be very childish in his career and the Titans just couldn’t stand by him any longer.  Young played in 9 games for the Titans last season and he completed 93 of 156 passes (59.6%) for 1,255 yards with 10 TD passes and 3 INTs (98.6 QB Rating).  Young also carried the ball 25 times for 125 yards (5.0 ypc) last season.  Young played in 54 games in his first five years with the Titans and he completed 689 of 1,190 passes (57.9%) for 8,098 yards with 42 TD passes and 42 INTs (75.7 QB Rating).  Young also carried the ball 264 times for 1,380 yards (5.2 ypc) with 12 TD runs for the Titans.  At least Coach Fisher won’t have to deal with Vince Young’s drama anymore.

38-year old Kerry Collins is a Jeff Fisher favorite, so if he wants to keep playing the Titans would likely want to keep him.  Collins played in 10 games for the Titans last season and he completed 160 of 278 passes (57.6%) for 1,823 yards with 14 TD passes and 8 INTs (82.2 QB Rating).  Collins also carried the ball 10 times for 1 yard (0.1 ypc) last season.  Collins has now played in 195 games in his NFL career and he has completed 3,439 of 6,163 passes (55.8%) for 40,441 yards with 206 TD passes and 195 INTs (73.9 QB Rating).  Collins has also carried the ball 372 times for 687 yards (1.8 ypc) with 10 TD runs in his NFL career.

23-year old Rusty Smith had a rough rookie year for the Titans.  Smith played in 2 games for the Titans last season and he completed 20 of 40 passes (50%) for 200 yards with 0 TD passes and 4 INTs (25.0 QB Rating).  He will likely stick as the Titans’ #3 QB.

VERDICT:  I see the Titans bringing back Kerry Collins & Rusty Smith for 2011.  If the Titans draft a QB in the first or second round, I think Collins will start at QB in 2011.  If the Titans bring in a veteran QB like a Donovan McNabb (or someone like him) then look for Collins to be the backup in 2011.

33-year old WR Randy Moss just wasn’t worth the risk with hindsight always being 20/20.  Moss has played in 7 games for the Titans this year and he has caught 5 passes for 62 yards (12.4 avg).  Overall this year, Randy Moss has played in 15 games with the Patriots, Vikings and Titans and he has caught 27 passes for 375 yards (13.9 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  The only good thing that Moss has really done for the Titans is that he has really helped Kenny Britt improve both his focus and his ability to dominate.  That is impressive seeing how Britt and Moss play the same position.

The Tennessee Titans have placed 28-year old center Eugene Amano on the Injured Reserve List due to a shoulder injury.  Amano played in 13 games (all starts) for the Titans this year and he has played in 108 games (52 starts) in his first seven years in the NFL.  The Titans will turn to 25-year old Fernando Velasco to replace Amano at center the rest of the year.  Velasco has played in 13 games (1 start) for the Titans so far this year and he has played in 14 games (1 start) in his first two years with the Titans.  The Titans are likely going to miss Amano quite a bit in the last three games of the year.

Even though the Titans have lost five games in a row, they are still only 2 games behind the Jaguars in the AFC South.  The got two games left with the Colts and they need to win them both.  To do that they need Chris Johnson to pick up the pace again.  He has 6 100+ yard rushing games so far this year but he hasn’t played well the last couple of weeks.  In his last  two games, the 25-year old Johnson has carried the ball 20 times for 58 yards (2.9 ypc) and he has also caught 4 passes for 16 yards (4.0 avg).  Johnson has now played in 12 games this year for the Titans and he has carried the ball 236 times for 1,026 yards (4.3 ypc) with 9 TD runs.  He has also caught 29 passes for 119 yards (4.1 avg) without any TD grabs.  The Titans need Johnson to get back into a groove if they are going to make a late run at the playoffs.

Vince Young got yanked from the game last weekend as he played awful against Pittsburgh.  Young is owner Bud Adams’ choice to be the starting QB and he’s the guy who signs the checks.  Young has completed 20 of 27 passes (74.1%) for 220 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs (91.6 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 9 times for 42 yards (4.7 ypc) so far this year.  But it seems to me that head coach Jeff Fisher is still partial to Kerry Collins.  Collins replaced Young last Sunday and he played pretty well against a tough Steelers’ D.  Collins completed 17 of 25 passes (68%) for 149 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT (80.2 QB Rating) last weekend.  It will be interesting to see if Coach Fisher continues to have a quick hook with Vince Young when things aren’t going good.