The news coming out of today's Tennessean's see you in late-July preview is that Justin McCareins is likely going to have a starting job when the Titans open the season.It's hard to say if that's good news or bad news. The good news version is that Tennessee has brought back a receiver who was a outstanding deep threat the last time he was in Tennessee. He's reunited with his former offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger. For a team that didn't go deep very often in 2007, McCareins could help solve the problem.
The bad news version is that McCareins will turn 30 this season, he has caught one touchdown and less than 700 yards in his past two seasons combined, and he was phased out of the Jets offense because he had serious problems with drops. As Jim Wyatt points out, the fact that McCareins was able to step in and immediately retake a starting job says as much about the team's problems at wide receiver as it does bout McCareins' talent.
Four years ago, the Titans tried to fix their wide receiver problems for the forseeable future, drafting Courtney Roby (second round), Brandon Jones (third round) and Roydell Williams (fourth round). Roby's no longer a Titan, while Williams and Jones have proven injury prone. Both are still trying to become starters. Since then, Tennessee has draftted four more wide receivers--none of them have caught a pass in the NFL.
There's still time for fourth-year pros Brandon Jones and Roydell Williams to escape the bust label, while Paul Williams, a 2007 third-rounder, and 2008 fourth-rounder Lavelle Hawkins are very young. But right now, 2007 undrafted free agent Biren Early is running as the No. 3 receiver ahead of all of them. That says something for Early, but it also says something bad about the Titans' recent drafting.
