Gästebuch » Titans Fan Guide: Showdown Saturday

Edition #4 Ohio State at #9 Penn State 7:30 PM ABC- This game has settled the playoff fates of these two teams and Big Ten in the past couple of years. College GameDay is in town. Ohio State is 4-0 and coming off a ho hum 49-6 beatdown of Tulane while PSU is also 4-0 with a come from behind 63-24 victory over Illinois (no really Wesley Woodyard Jersey , Illinois was leading in the third quarter). Ohio State is missing stud defensive end Nick Bosa as he got injured in the TCU game. Can the Nittanny Lions use the raucous 100K+ crowd to upset the Buckeyes again? Both QBs have put up monster numbers. It will be interesting to see which defense shows up. Ohio State prospects to watch1. Dre’Mont Jones 6’2 295 DL RS Junior- A disruptive force in the interior of the defensive line. Pass rush ability is a plus. Holds up well at the point of attack. Had a stellar game against TCU a couple of weeks ago. Lateral agility is among the best in the country. Fundamentally sound as most Buckeye DL are under the tutelage of Larry Johnson, Sr. 2. Dwayne Haskins 6’2 214 QB RS Sophomore- A legit Heisman contender that waited for his turn until this year. He’s blown up immensely with multiple touchdown games both running and passing. A plus arm. Inexperience will show at times with some silly throws. A much better passer than JT Barrett and we saw glimpses when he came in relief during the Michigan game last season. Has shot up the boards at a rapid pace. 3. Kendall Sheffield 5’11 185 CB Junior- The next star in line of a cornerback factory that is Ohio State. Laterally adept. Ball skills are on point. Excellent at covering the receiver all the way through the route. The leader of a youthful but extremely talented secondary that could the best in the country. 4. Isaiah Prince 6’6 310 OT Senior- The man in charge of blocking the blind side for Mr. Haskins. Is one of the better tackle prospects in the country that no one talks about. Shows a remarkable ability in the short areas. Footwork is not a plus nor a negative either. Middle round type that could develop into a starter at the next level. Penn State prospects to watch1. Trace McSorely 6’0 195 QB RS Senior- A carbon copy of Johnny Football with better passing ability and an attitude to match. Not much of a future at the NFL level as a QB due to size questions, unfortunately but a fun college QB. 2. Juwan Johnson 6’4 229 WR RS Junior- A similar type of prospect to Allen Lazard / Kelvin Benjamin. A big body receiver that will box out smaller defenders but isn’t the most athletic guy there. McSorely’s main target regardless of situation and score. South Carolina at #17 Kentucky 7:30 PM SEC Network- Yes, you read that correct. Kentucky is. ranked. in. football. It’s actually the first time that both Kentucky and Duke are ranked in the top 25 together since the 1950s. South Carolina is 2-1 with a cancelled game due to Hurricane Florence. Kentucky is 4-0 after a 28-7 win over Miss State last week. Could be the fun game of the day if things break right.South Carolina prospects to watch1. Deebo Samuel 5’11 215 WR RS Senior- Deebo is one of the most dynamic athletes at receiver in the nation. He’s South Carolina’s version of Percy Harvin. A do it all weapon for the Gamecocks that also returns kicks. Above average route runner. Quicker than fast. A guy who is willing to out tough the defender for a contested ball despite being 5’11. Profiles similarly to Kendall Wright. 2. Bryan Edwards 6’2 205 WR Junior- One of the best receivers in the SEC that hardly anyone talks about due to his teammate Samuel. He’s a physical force of nature that can go up and get it. A solid athlete that can stretch defenses vertically if needed. Kentucky prospects to watch1. Josh Allen 6’4 230 EDGE Senior- No, the current Bills QB did not transfer to Kentucky to play defense. This Josh Allen has been rising up the boards in a similar fashion, though. He’s a pretty good athlete for the position and should test well. Flashed a ton of potential over the past few weeks. Can set the edge and play the run well. Not the most fundamentally sound but is improving. 2. Benny Snell 5’10 223 RB Junior- Snell is probably the most underrated running back in the country due to the depth of the class and the program he plays for. A physical power back that can pound the rock at least 30 times without fatigue. Pass blocking is a plus. Vision and IQ are a plus as well. Rarely has yards for loss on his resume. #7 Stanford at #8 Notre Dame 7:30 PM NBC- Stanford is coming off a thrilling 38-31 win over Oregon last week due to some poor officiating. Notre Dame is 4-0 with a not that close 56-27 win over Wake Forest. Notre Dame has a solid defense to cover the Cardinal star RB Bryce Love. Stanford loves to use the just throw it up to the big guy play all the time in its passing offense. Which offense can gear up the fastest? Stanford prospects to watch1. Bryce Love 5’9 196 RB Senior- Has home run speed. Footwork is a major plus. Makes an effort as a pass blocker despite his frame. Has a supernatural ability to sniff out the correct angles when lanes are clogged up. Has struggled a bit in 2018 for some reason. 2. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside 6’2 222 WR Senior- Baby Mike Evans. That’s all. He has had a tremendous start to the 2018 season and should be drafted in the middle rounds. Notre Dame prospect to watch1. Te’Von Coney 6’0 240 LB Senior- He has enough athleticism to be a sideline to sideline defender when needed. A playmaker for the legit Fighting Irish defense. Football IQ and tackling ability are major pluses. Ole Miss at #5 LSU 9 PM ESPN- Strength meets strength in Baton Rouge. The high powered Ole Miss offense gets another shot at a top five team after failing miserably against Bama. The LSU defense is pretty solid as well. A revenge game for LSU HC Ed Oregeron. Ole Miss is 3-1 while the Tigers are 4-0. Can the Ole Miss offense unlock the stingy LSU defense enough to score a bunch of points? Can the LSU offense keep up if their defense fails?Ole Miss prospects to watch1. D.K Metcalf 6’3 225 WR RS Sophomore- Metcalf has done nothing to dissuade me from him being WR2 on my board. He’s a physical specimen. A sound route runner with a ton of deep ball ability. Arguably one of the best receivers in the entire nation.2. A.J Brown 6’1 225 WR Junior- Projects to be an excellent slot weapon at the pro level. He knows how to run routes and when to vary his speed and depth in each route. 3. Greg Little 6’5 325 OT Junior- Little is the best offensive tackle prospect in the country. Has the potential to be a franchise type of left tackle in the pros. Lateral agility and size are huge pluses. IQ is a plus. Laremy Tunsil who? He has that kind of potential and talent. LSU prospects to watch1.Greedy Williams 6’1 182 CB RS Sophomore- Williams has the speed and athleticism thing down pat along with the height. Lateral agility is a major plus. Can keep up with any receiver in the nation. Has consistency issues that pops up every now and then. Among the best corners in the nation.2. Devin White 6’0 240 LB Junior- Next man up to take the star linebacker turn in Baton Rouge before going pro. White has flashed a bunch over his first two years. He’s now the leader of the defense. Height may be an issue at the next level but the athleticism isn’t. Plus character and work ethic. Somewhere between Duke Riley and Kendall Beckwith.3. Nick Brossette 6’0 221 RB Senior- The heir apparent to current Washington Mascot That Shall Not Be Named RB Derrius Guice. He played really well in the season opener against Miami. A different type of back than Guice. More of a thunder type of back. This was essentially the 2018 version of the 2017 Browns game. Coming off a big emotional win Cheap Malcolm Butler Jersey , the Titans went on the road, played a bad team, and completely laid an egg on the offensive side of the ball. I specify “the offensive side of the ball” because the Titans defense deserved to win this game. The Bills offense averaged just 3.5 yards per play. Were there frustrating moments where the Titans defense struggled to tackle Bills backs LeSean McCoy and Chris Ivory? Sure. There’s no doubt that Wesley Woodyard and Kenny Vaccaro were missed, but any time your defense holds a quarterback to 4.3 yards per attempt and allow just 3.3 yards per carry on the ground, that’s a pretty good day. The Titans defense didn’t allow a single Bills drive of more than 47 yards all game.Special teams were good as well so this loss belongs squarely on the Titans offense. Turnovers led to 10 of the Bills’ 13 points, making the Titans offense as much a hindrance as a help in this game. This is a painful loss for a team that appeared to be putting it all together a week ago. Here are the winners and losers from the game.WinnersAdoree’ JacksonJackson was excellent in coverage all game and made one of the biggest plays of the day when he popped the ball away from Andre Holmes and grabbed the interception Womens Wesley Woodyard Jersey , setting up Ryan Succop’s go ahead field goal in the 4th quarter. It was a huge play and Jackson continues to be one of the best players on the Titans defense.Derrick HenryHenry hasn’t had a great start to 2018, but he was the best part of the Titans offense in Buffalo. He finished with 56 yards on 11 carries with many of those coming after contact. He played really well in this game and I have no idea why he wasn’t used more.Malcolm ButlerI rarely even saw Butler during the game which is usually a good thing for a cornerback. He also was a part of a pass defense that allowed just 79 (79!!!) passing yards. At the very least, Butler avoided getting torched for a long touchdown this week. That alone qualifies as a win for him given how his season has gone so far. Ryan SuccopSuccop was money today. He went 4 for 4 on field goal attempts, including a 54 yard kick. He’s having another good season and when you look at the kicking struggles around the NFL it’s nice to have someone you can count on in a big spot. LosersMatt LaFleurWe just spent the last few weeks praising the Titans offensive coordinator, but he deserves some heavy criticism this week for a game plan that seemed to lack much of a plan at all. Most confounding to me, was the lack of interest in sticking with Derrick Henry on the ground when he was clearly the more effective back. Lewis struggled to get going all game and put the ball on the ground for a costly turnover. I don’t think they should have benched him outright http://www.titansfootballauthentics.com/logan-ryan-jersey-authentic , but I certainly thought we should have seen more Henry.I also thought the lack of designed runs for Mariota was strange. I know the Titans don’t want to over rely on their quarterback’s legs, but he’s a very effective weapon that could have helped in a game where not much was effective for the offense. The defense did enough to win this game, but the offense let them down.Kamalei CorreaCorrea had a really really really bad game. First, he lost contain on the backside of a Josh Allen bootleg which allowed the Bills quarterback to get free and take it in for a 17-yard touchdown. As the backside defender against a mobile QB, you simply can’t have that happen, especially on a 2nd and 10 play. Correa also dropped what looked like it would have been a huge pick-6 on the busted fake field goal attempt by the Bills. The ball goes right off his hands with nothing but green grass ahead of him.He tacked on an inexcusable unnecessary roughness call for hitting Josh Allen on the sideline. It was a brutal day for Correa.Nick WilliamsWilliams made a big play with his long punt return that set up an early field goal http://www.titansfootballauthentics.com/jayon-brown-jersey-authentic , but he dropped an easy touchdown on a beautiful throw from Mariota. It’s the second week in a row the Titans have had a back breaking drop from a wide open receiver. It didn’t cost them last week, but it caught up with them in Buffalo. If Williams catches that ball it’s almost certainly an ugly Titans win that we’re talking about instead of an ugly Titans loss.Williams also failed to cross the face of Bills nickel corner Taron Johnson which caused Mariota’s interception. Those are two huge swings in this game and they are both concentration lapses that just can’t happen.Marcus MariotaFirst, I don’t think Mariota played terribly. The interception was really on Nick Williams and of course he was once again let down by a huge drop, but he certainly didn’t play well either. The 14 of 26 for 129 yards stat line isn’t going to get it done. The Titans QB appeared rattled by the Bills early pressure in this game, often looking uncomfortable in the pocket. Mariota passed up several opportunities to take deep shots down the field as the Bills appeared to be willing to sit back and make the Titans string together short completions rather than risk giving up a chunk play. It was just a very safe and, frankly Youth Kevin Byard Jersey , boring effort from the Titans quarterback on a day where they needed more from him. He also took a terrible delay of game penalty on a 3rd and 4 that was followed by timeout and then a sack that forced Succop’s field goal back to 54 yards. The kicker bailed him out, but that was a terrible sequence from Mariota. Taywan Taylor and Dion LewisThe one way the Titans were going to lose this game was to give up dumb turnovers and help the Bills anemic offense out and that’s exactly what these guys did. The Bills did a good job ripping at the ball every time they tackled, but these weren’t helmet-on-the-ball type fluke fumbles, they were just sloppy plays by two guys that the Titans need to be playmakers.