With the Titans offense often sputtering in the red zone because of their lack of passing a lot depends on the leg of the kicker.  The good thing for the Titans is that they have one of the best placekickers in the NFL.  The 30-year old Rob Bironas is coming off a great season in 2007 which the Titans hope he can duplicate.  Bironas played in all 16 games for the Titans last season and he made 35 of 39 field goals (89.7%).  Bironas also made all 28 of his extra point attempts.  The Titans can’t afford to leave many points on the field and they won’t because of Bironas’ very strong right leg.  Bironas has now played in 48 games in his NFL career and he has connected on 80 of 96 field goals (83.3%).  He has also nailed 90 of 92 (97.8%) extra points in his career.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  A

The Titans have added Alge Crumpler and Dwayne Blakley from the Falcons which should help improve TE production in 2008.  30-year old Alge Crumpler was Michael Vick’s safety net in Atlanta and he will likely serve the same role for Vince Young in Tennessee.  Crumpler played in 14 games for the Falcons last season and he caught 42 passes for 444 yards (10.6 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  Crumpler has the size (6′2″, 262) and a great set of hands to exploit defenses over the middle of the football field and he should have a good year for the Titans in 2008.  Crumpler has now played in 108 games in his NFL career and he has caught 316 passes for 4,212 yards (13.3 avg) with 35 TD grabs.

Bo Scaife has been a solid player for the Titans in his career and he will likely get a lot of playing time as the Titans’ will likely use a ton of 2-TE sets.  Scaife played in all 16 games for the Titans last season and he caught 46 passes for 421 yards (9.2 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Scaife will likely match his 2007 production in 2008 with the Titans.  Scaife has now played in 46 games in his NFL career and he has caught 112 passes for 1,064 yards (9.5 avg) with 5 TD grabs.

28-year old Dwayne Blakley is a great run blocker and that’s when he’ll get most of his playing time.  Blakley played in 12 games with the Falcons last season and he caught 7 passes for 48 yards (6.9 avg).  He won’t catch a lot of passes this season but he will help the running backs get a few extra yards with his blocking this year.  Blakley has now played in 59 games in his NFL career and he has caught 21 passes for 189 yards (9.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  B

The Titans added WR Justin McCareins as a free agent to a WR corps that needed much more than that.  27-year old Justin Gage is the #1 receiver by default.  He’s a big guy at 6′4″, 212 pounds and he has a good set of hands but he doesn’t make a lot of game changing plays.  Gage played in 16 games for the Titans last season and he caught 55 passes for 750 yards (13.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  It will be interesting to see if Gage can improve on his 2007 performance as it was a career year for him.  Gage has now played in 65 games in his NFL career and he has caught 119 passes for 1,658 yards (13.9 avg) with 6 TD grabs.

29 year old Justin McCareins returns to the team where his career started and he will be hungry.  He is also a big receiver at 6′2″, 215 pounds and he’s fearless in competing for throws over the middle of the field.  He played in 16 games for the Jets last season and he caught 19 passes for 232 yards (15.5 avg) without a TD grab.  McCareins was in the dog house the last couple of seasons in New Jersey with the Jets so it will be interesting to see if he’s rejuvenated with a return home.  He has now played in 100 games in his NFL career and he has caught 210 passes for 3,264 yards (15.5 avg) with 16 TD grabs.  McCareins has also carried the ball 6 times for 34 yards (5.7 ypc) in his career.

Roydell Williams will be the #3 WR for the Titans if he can hold off Brandon Jones for the job.  Williams played in all 16 games for the Titans last season and he caught 55 passes for 719 yards (13.1 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for a loss of 17 yards.  Don’t expect Williams to be running the ball anytime soon and like Gage he’s coming off a career season so it will be interesting to see if he keeps playing well in 2008.  Williams has now played in 40 games in his NFL career and he has caught 84 passes for 1,139 yards (13.6 avg) with 6 TD grabs. 

Brandon Jones will battle for the #3 WR job for the Titans and he has looked pretty good in training camp so far.  Jones played in 9 games for the Titans last season and he caught 21 passes for 248 yards (11.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 37 yards (18.5 ypc).  Jones could surprise this season for the Titans who have expected much more out of him.  Jones has now played in 35 games in his NFL career and he has caught 71 passes for 931 yards (13.1 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  He has also carried the football 4 times for 41 yards (10.3 ypc) in his career.

The Titans also like 24-year old Biren Ealy.  He is a big guy at 6′3″, 207 pounds so the Titans like his size as they run a lot of plays that would benefit a player like him.  Ealy played in 4 games for the Titans last season and he caught 1 pass for 6 yards.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  C-

Ahmard Hall will almost surely be the starting fullback for the Titans this season.  He is 5′11″, 242 pounds and his main job with the Titans is blocking for the running game.  Hall played in 11 games (4 starts) for the Titans last season and he carried the ball 1 time for 8 yards.  He also caught 9 passes for 60 yards (6.7 avg) last season.  Look for the Titans to give him the ball a little bit more in the 2008 season to reward him if he blocks well.  Hall has now played in 25 games (11 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 8 times for 29 yards (3.6 ypc).  He has also caught 24 passes for 198 yards (8.3 avg) in his career.

Converted linebacker Jeremy Cain appears to be #2 on the depth chart at fullback right now for the Titans.  It was probably a good move for Cain who hasn’t done much on defense for the Titans.  Cain played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Titans last season and he made 1 whopping tackle.  The 6′1″, 235 pound Cain will need to save his NFL career on the offensive side of the ball as he wasn’t much of a linebacker.  Cain has now played in 17 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has made 9 tackles.

Casey Cramer has good size at 6′2″, 250 pounds but he hasn’t done much in his career to date.  He played in 5 games (1 start) for the Titans last season and he didn’t get a chance to touch the ball.  He has now played in 27 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 2 passes for 8 yards (4.0 avg).

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  D+

The Titans will likely try a Thunder and Lightning type of offense like the Atlanta Falcons used to run.  The Thunder will be LenDale White who really stepped up last season for the Titans.  But, he’s a one trick pony as he’s a power runner between the tackles and that’s pretty much his whole game.  White played in 16 games (all starts) last season for the Titans and he carried the ball 303 times for 1,110 yards (3.7 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  He also caught 20 passes for 114 yards (5.7 avg).  With rookie Chris Johnson behind him this season look for White to play a little bit less in 2008.  White has now played in 29 games (16 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 364 times for 1,354 yards (3.7 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  He has also caught 34 passes for 174 yards (5.1 avg).

The lights finally went on last season for Chris Johnson at East Carolina as he didn’t play that well in his first three seasons there.  Johnson started 13 games last season for East Carolina and he carried the ball 236 times for 1,423 yards (6.0 ypc) with 17 TD runs.  He also caught 37 passes for 528 yards (14.3 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  The Titans will use Johnson a lot in the passing game as he has home run hitting ability.  He also will handle a lot of the running on sweeps and screens due to his speed.  Johnson will get to split the playing time almost evenly with LenDale White as he doesn’t have as many limitations to his game.

Chris Henry was a complete bust for the Titans as a rookie.  The Titans took him early in the 2007 NFL Draft based on his athletic ability instead of watching game film as Henry was never that good of a player in college.  Henry played in 7 games (0 starts) with the Titans last season and he carried the ball 31 times for 119 yards (3.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 6 passes for 53 yards (8.8 avg).  If Henry gets a lot of playing time in 2008, the Titans will likely be picking high in the 2009 NFL Draft.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  C-