Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.For a team that is now built around its franchise quarterback, the Tennessee Titans sure don't do a lot to help him out.
The day the Colts drafted Peyton Manning, they already had Marvin Harrison. But they also made sure that they gave him other targets. Between Brandon Stokley, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, Manning has always had a plethora of quality pass-catching options.
Tom Brady may not have had Pro Bowlers at wide receiver until Randy Moss and Wes Welker showed up, but between David Givens, Deion Branch and Troy Brown, he always had a set of very reliable targets.
Vince Young may not be the passer that those guys are, but it's also fair to say that Justin Gage, Roydell Williams and Brandon Jones are also one of the worst lineups of top three receivers in the league. According to Football Outsider's statistics, Gage was the only Titans wide receiver who was above-average in 2007, everyone else was a below-average receiver. Considering that Gage was the unwanted No. 4 receiver on the Bears roster in 2006, the Titans deserve some credit for a clever bargain basement pickup.
On the basis of his 2007 production and his size/leaping ability, Gage is the likely No. 1 receiver for Tennessee heading into the season. It's asking too much of Gage, who has the talent to be a pretty good No. 2, but he's what the Titans have, so there's not really much of a choice.
The player who was supposed to be in that role by now is Brandon Jones. Injuries ruined Jones' 2007 season, but he showed a lot of promise in 2006. If he can figure out a way to stay healthy, he has the size/speed combo to be a decent No. 2 as well. And if he could do that, Williams would get a chance to use his speed more to be a solid No. 3. But right now, Williams is ahead of Jones on the depth chart, although an ankle injury has limited him for quite a while during the offseason.
But it's a sign of how bad the Titans receiver corps has been that Justin McCareins, who was released by the Jets after several disappointing seasons, returned to Tennessee and almost immediately became a starter. McCareins was successful as a Titan several years ago, but at this point, he'd be a No. 3/No. 4 receiver on a team with a solid receiver corps.
There are several puzzle pieces here that have to come together to fix some of the Titans passing problems. If Vince Young improves his deep ball accuracy and his patience in the pocket, if Alge Crumpler helps fill the possession receiver security blanket role that the Tians need, and if Jones and Williams can finally take the key steps forward that we've been waiting to see since they were drafted in 2005, than the Titans passing problems could all be fixed in 2008.
If may seem like a lot to happen, but at this time last year, there were lots of questions about the Titans defense. The emergence of Albert Haynesworth fixed those problems very quickly. Maybe the offense can go through the same transformation in 2008.

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