If there are three things that have gone right for the Tennessee Titans so far this season, two of them are very well hidden. In Ken Whisenhunt's first season in charge, the defense has disappointed and the quarterback has imploded. Expectations weren't that high entering the year, but the promise that Locker had shown in 2013 before being injured feels like it lives in a different dimension and that Week 1 win over the Kansas City Chiefs is similarly vague. It's always dangerous to overreact to teams at this stage of the season, but the signs aren't good for the Titans.
The one positive for the unit is the improving play of the offensive line.
Ahead of the 2013 season, the Titans invested in two reputable guards. One, left guard Andy Levitre, was signed to a big contract in free agency. Another, Chance Warmack, was one of the top picks in the 2013 NFL draft. For different reasons, Levitre and Warmack struggled in their first seasons with the Titans. Levitre battled through injuries and inconsistency, while the game appeared to be moving too fast for Warmack. Now, in their second seasons, both players have significantly improved and the offensive line as a whole has been better, even if it's still not where it could be.
Why is this important to note for fantasy owners?
Well, one of the negatives for the Titans so far has been the absence of touches for running back Bishop Sankey. Sankey was the first back taken in the 2014 NFL draft, but he had just eight total touches through the first two weeks of the season with six of those coming in Week 1. While Sankey sat on the sideline, Shonn Greene rushed for 111 yards on 20 carries. Greene has good vision, but he is very limited physically. His production was largely a result of excellent blocking from his offensive line. Therefore, it was no surprise that Sankey was productive when given more touches in Week 3.
On 11 total touches, 10 carries, Sankey had 70 total yards. He had 25 more yards on two carries that were negated by holding penalties.
It's hard to call Sankey's play something that has gone right because he hasn't been on the field, but this was definitely the first game where his potential was shown off. He showed off good vision, burst and quickness running behind an offensive line that manhandled one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL. The only major issue with his play in this game was his lack of playing time as Green still received 10 carries while McCluster took away plenty of snaps on passing downs in the second half.
Sankey was given two carries in a row to start the second quarter. His first was a well-blocked run off right tackle that he cut back for a good four yard gain. His second carry went for 11 yards.
On that 11 yard carry, the Bengals are daring the Titans to throw the ball with seven defenders pressing the offensive line and one more in press coverage in the slot. Sankey is aligned behind Locker in a pistol formation. This is important to note because the Titans plan to leave not one, but two defenders unblocked to the right side of the formation. With Locker's athleticism, these defenders are more likely to hesitate at the snap to create a numbers advantage on the other side of the field.
Sankey initially looks to run inside the right tackle or cut back outside, but there are multiple defenders in both areas of the field to stop him at the line of scrimmage. Instead of staying with his initial movement, Sankey quickly plants his right foot in the ground and pushes off so that he is sliding sideways at the same speed of the offensive linemen in front of him.
While Sankey didn't find a hole to attack, this initial movement effected how his blocking set up to the left side of the offense.
Ultimately, Sankey runs behind his pulling center, number 62 Brian Schwenke. Schwenke locates the free linebacker and adequately connects with him to allow Sankey to accelerate past his inside shoulder. Sankey's patience, vision and quickness allowed him to get to the second-level of the defense beind effective blocking. Once on the second-level, he is tripped up from behind, but maintains his balance long enough to fall forward for a first down.
After being well contained on his next two carries, Sankey didn't see the ball again until the start of the third quarter.
Again, Sankey lined up in the pistol behind Locker. However, this time the defense wasn't pressing the line of scrimmage. Instead each defensive back was at least six yards from the line of scrimmage and two of the team's linebackers were five yards off the line of scrimmage. This space was something Sankey was going to be able to take advantage of.
The rookie running back has enough space to run inside of the tight end blocking the edge to the left side, but he is intelligent enough to read the positioning of the outside defender and use that to create an even bigger gain. The tight end has lost his assignment, as he has been beaten to the inside, but Sankey plants his right foot and cuts outside quickly, turning the leverage in the blocker's favor and finding his way to open space in the flat.
Much like Giovani Bernard who starred on the same field for the Bengals, Sankey is much quicker than he is fast. His quickness and balance allowed him to easily transition from an interior run to an exterior run without losing any speed, while his burst allowed him to get to the sideline from this point. Sankey was able to get 18 yards on the play because of good blocking from his receivers downfield.
The dominance of the Titans' offensive line wasn't consistent throughout the game, but against some very talented pieces, they made a number of eye-catching plays.
On Sankey's next carry, he was able to gain four yards without having to really do anything because his offensive line simply grabbed the defensive line and pushed them four yards down the field. The Bengals linebackers didn't have to move forward, because as soon as they took one step they were engulfed by a swarming pile of bodies.
The Titans ran a lot of zone and off-tackle plays that put the offensive line in the position to have more penalties, so it's hard to say that they were at their best, but their effectiveness on the whole was very promising for Sankey's potential moving forward.
Sankey followed that play up with two nine-yard runs off delayed handoffs. On the first, shown above, he skipped through a good hole before making a decisive cut past a blocker downfield for a first down. On the second, he had another clean hole into the secondary, but was confronted by a defender quickly and forced to skip past him to extend the play close to the first down line. Sankey's quickness in tight areas and his ability to quickly read the defense to make good decisions was consistently being highlighted.
Those are the traits that should allow Sankey to be consistently productive when he inevitably becomes the feature back in Tennessee. On his longest run of the game against the Bengals, a run that was rightfully negated by penalty, Sankey showed off those traits.
Even though this run didn't count, and it's important to note that Sankey likely only got outside because one of his key blocks was ruled illegal, how he finished the play is still noteworthy. When he got to the end of the yards that were given to him, he used his vision and quickness to be decisive and attack space further down the field. He didn't simply go down when contacted either, he fought his way through contact and powered his legs to keep moving forward until the whistle blew.
Sankey may not ever become a powerful back, but having that physical, aggressive approach will allow him to get the most he possibly can out of his rushing attempts.
Greene will likely remain the goalline back for the foreseeable future. McCluster will likely remain the receiving back for the foreseeable future. Yet, sooner rather than later, Sankey is going to become the most prominent running back in the Titans backfield. Whether that means taking carries away from Greene or snaps away from McCluster is unclear, but it would be coaching malpractice to continue to keep him on the sideline so often.
Other Thoughts from the Tape
At the time of writing, there is some talk about the Miami Dolphins benching Ryan Tannehill. This seems like an absolutely absurd idea. Tannehill hasn't been as good as he can be this year, but the real problems remain with the supporting cast. He has had at least three touchdown passes dropped by different receivers, with at least double-digit drops on the season which would add at least 150 yards to his total production. Tannehill may be sat down for Matt Moore, and Moore may play well because they face the dreadful Raiders this week, but the young quarterback is a good buy low option for the long-term.
Giovani Bernard and LeVeon Bell are both exceptional backs who should continue to be productive for this season and seasons to come. Eddie Lacy is the one star back from last year's class that hasn't really played to the same level he did previously. His first two weeks were easily explained because of the defenses he faced, but he would have expected to be better against the Lions. Lacy is worth monitory, but for now there shouldn't be any widepsread panic or rash trade decisions.
Emmanuel Sanders is a much better fit with the Denver Broncos offense than Eric Decker ever was. Sanders already has 25 receptions for 334 yards this year, but the endzone has alluded him. That should change as the Broncos' schedule gets easier.
Antonio Brown scored two touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers. Two redzone touchdowns. Winning in those areas is one of the traditional concerns with a receiver of Brown's dimensions, but this shouldn't be considered a flash in the pan. Brown had a couple of drops on redzone passes last year that could easily have been touchdowns. Dropping the ball isn't about your size, it's about the quality of your hands and focus. Brown typically doesn't lack either of those things.
Blake Bortles made his first appearance for the Jacksonville Jaguars this week and he's set to make his first start next week. Bortles is a significantl upgrade over Chad Henne, but that's not really saying much. His ball placement was very erratic against the Colts and his decision-making was maybe even worse. He threw two interceptions and should have been the cause of a safety when he held the ball too long in the end zone. Bortles has a lot of talent, and a week of preparation should significantly help him, but right now he looks like the developmental passer that we were promised.
Philip Rivers is playing the quarterback position as well as anyone right now. His ability to negate the pass rush and diagnose the defense at speed is allowing different receivers to prosper. The loss of Danny Woodhead for the season will hurt, but Rivers should be able to adapt. After relying heavily on Antonio Gates in Weeek 2, his biggest plays in Week 3 went to Malcolm Floyd and Eddie Royal. Royal and Floyd joining Gates means that only one receiver is the odd man out from last year's impressive group, Keenan Allen.
Sticking with San Diego, tight end Lardarius Green finally found his way onto the field in a more prominent role for the Chargers. Green made a number of impressive plays at important times, but still needs to surpass Gates on the depth chart to carry real value for fantasy owners. At the very least, this is a promising sign for a very talented player who appeared to be out in the cold in previous weeks.
Woodhead's absence should also make Donald Brown a more attractive option, Brown looked good for the Chargers against a fairly resilient run defense in Buffalo.
On the other side of that game, Sammy Watkins was held to just two receptions for 19 yards against the Chargers. Part of that was the impressive play of the Chargers cornerbacks, but only a small part. The main reason Watkins didn't produce was the inept play of his quarterback. Manuel played relatively well in this game on the whole, but couldn't find Watkins when he was open. It was a recurring issue that can't continue if the Bills want to push for a playoff spot.
Frank Gore's lack of usage is incredibly frustrating for the 49ers. Against the Cardinals in Arizona, they essentially asked Colin Kapernick to win the game on his own from the start. Gore had a handful of carries and so did Carlos Hyde, but for the most part they were forgotten. While the 49ers may be getting carried away with their receiving options now, this approach doesn't seem condusive to sustainable offense. Gore should return to being a heavily featured part of the offense, or at least split more carries with Hyde.
On the other side of the ball, Drew Stanton has made a strong case to be considered the best backup quarterback in the NFL. More importantly, he's making a legitimate case to take Carson Palmer's job. Chances are Palmer will reclaim his starting spot once he is healthy, but Stanton's physical presence is greater than Palmer's is at this stage of his career.