Tennessee Titans Fantasy Football Player Projections, Rankings and Commentary

Its a make or break year for Jake Locker. He must convince the new Titans brass that he is the team’s future at quarterback. Fortunately he has new head coach Ken Whisenhunt on his side, who worked wonders for Philip Rivers last season. Photo: Icon Sportswire

Data as of July 11 | Current Cheatsheets | Current Projections

NR = Not ranked

QB Jake Locker

Three years into his career, Locker faces a season in which he must convince the new Titans brass that he is the team’s future at the quarterback position. Taken in the 1st round of the 2011 NFL Draft, Locker finally appeared to be turning the corner last season before suffering a Lis franc foot injury that landed him on season ending injured reserve. In the seven games that he appeared in, Locker completed a career-high 60.7% of his passes for 1,256 yards with eight touchdowns and just four interceptions. One obstacle Locker faces is his own inability to remain healthy, having missed 14 games over the past two seasons. New head coach Ken Whisenhunt helped revive Philip Rivers career in San Diego and the hope is he can get Locker on track in 2014. However, with a mediocre group of receivers, Locker’s prospects aren’t great. Consider him as a waiver wire add since there are plenty of other quarterbacks with more upside.

RB Bishop Sankey

With Chris Johnson no longer in their plans, the Titans used a 2nd round pick in the draft to acquire Washington’s Bishop Sankey. At 5’9” and 209 pounds, Sankey isn’t a pile mover but he proved durable in college despite having been handed a heavy workload. Adept at catching the ball, running between the tackles and with solid yet not great speed (4.49-40 time), Sankey should quickly ascend to the top of a Titans running back depth chart that consists of Shonn Greene, Dexter McCluster and Jackie Battle. With that type of competition, we’re banking on the rookie approaching the 300 touch mark in a Titans offense that has loaded up along the offensive line in recent years and should rely heavily on the run with the still unproven Jake Locker at quarterback. Sankey rates as the top rookie running back in dynasty formats and as a low end RB2 with upside in 2014.

RB Shonn Greene

You don’t always get what you pay for. After signing Greene to a hefty three-year, $10-million contract with $4.5-million in guarantees, the Titans watched as the former New York Jet struggled mightily in his first year in Tennessee, rushing for a career low 295 yards on 77 carries. Greene missed five games after getting a knee scope early in the season and never was a factor other than in Week 16 when he rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Having undergone knee surgery in May, Greene figures to be ready for training camp and he will square off against Jackie Battle for the right to backup rookie 2nd round pick Bishop Sankey with Dexter McCluster also expected to get touches out of the backfield. While we expect Greene to hold onto his roster spot, he rates as nothing more than a low end RB4.

RB/WR Dexter McCluster

In one of the most astoundingly stupid moves of the offseason, the Titans signed McCluster to a three-year, $9-million contract with $4.5-million in guarantees and another $3-million available through incentives. For reference sakes, the Browns acquired Ben Tate on a two-year, $6.2-million contract with $2.5-million in guarantees and $1.5-million available in incentives. It says something when the Cleveland Browns read the market better than your team did. Rant OVER. Do we like McCluster in 2014? Not a chance. Not big, not fast, not that shifty, McCluster has done nothing to warrant any expectations of a breakout season during his fifth year in the league. This is the perfect example of somebody thinking they can buy the restaurant on the corner that has failed 100 times and turning it into a moneymaker. Not happening. If Andy Reid can’t get much out of McCluster, what makes you think Ken Whisenhunt can? And, no, we don’t care that Whisenhunt turned Danny Woodhead into a fantasy factor last year in San Diego. Woodhead is good. McCluster…

WR Kendall Wright

Taken in the 1st round of the 2012 NFL Draft, Wright has put together a solid two year run in Tennessee. The 5’10”, 195 pound Baylor product has locked down the slot receiving position for the Titans, posting 94 receptions for 1,079 yards and a pair of touchdowns last season after catching 64 passes for 626 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie. If there is one thing missing from Wright’s game, it is his ability to generate big plays, having averaged just 10.8 yards per reception in his career with six touchdowns. Looking ahead to 2014, Wright should once again approach or surpass the 1,000 receiving yard mark given the lack of depth the Titans possess at the wide receiver and tight end positions. We wouldn’t be surprised to see his production take a slight dip given that a large part of his targets last season came from noted dump off artist Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is no longer a Titan. We like Wright as a low end WR3 in standard scoring formats and move him up in PPR leagues.

WR Justin Hunter

If there is one wide receiver on the Titans roster capable of emerging as a true leading wideout, it is Hunter. Taken early in the 2nd round of the 2013 draft, Hunter contributed little during much of his rookie season before posting a pair of 100 yard games in Weeks 12 and 14. The 6’4”, 203 pound Tennessee product finished his rookie season with 18 receptions for 354 yards and four touchdowns, averaging a healthy 19.7 yards per reception. While Hunter has all of the physical tools required to be a number one wide receiver, what he is lacking is experience. And it would also be nice if Jake Locker could provide some deep ball accuracy. We love Hunter’s upside in dynasty formats but in 2014, we would hedge our bets in redraft leagues. Add him as a mid-tier WR4 with major upside.

WR Nate Washington

Eight years into his career, Washington has established himself as a solid pro, serviceable as a starter but really best used as a deep threat in a reserve role. After topping 1,000 yards in 2011, Washington has posted 746 and 919 yard seasons while scoring seven touchdowns over the past two years. If there’s one thing that is for certain it is that Washington will end up carving out some type of role with the Titans in 2014, whether it is because of his deep speed or because of injuries. However, with the Titans committed to developing Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter and having added Dexter McCluster in the offseason, we expect Washington to have a reduced role in 2014 which makes him waiver wire material in all but the deepest of leagues.

TE Delanie Walker

In his first season as a full fledged starter, Walker didn’t disappoint, finishing the season with career highs in receptions with 60, yards with 571 and touchdowns with six. That was good enough to finish as the 12th ranked fantasy tight end during his first year in Tennessee. With a new coaching staff led by Ken Whisenhunt, Walker is expected to see lots of action in 2014 as the Titans have pledged to run plenty of two tight end sets. While this all sounds great, we aren’t buying into Walker as a potential breakout candidate at 29 years of age (30 by opening day). He rates as a solid mid-tier TE2 with little risk but not much upside.