NASHVILLE, Tenn. – He took the blame for wasting the second pick of the second-round in 2016 on Kevin Dodd and now Jon Robinson is swallowing the remainder of a one-year $9.5 million guaranteed contract for Vic Beasley.
Photo: Jon Robinson by George Walker, The Tennessean via pool.
And while I respect a guy willing to say, “My bad” I’d much rather be respecting one who could find a pass rusher.
Robinson, in his fifth year on the job, drafted one-trick pony Harold Landry in the second round in 2018. He inherited Jurrell Casey, Derrick Morgan and Brian Orakpo. [Unlocked]
Who’s the second-best pass rusher Robinson has brought in? There is no clear choice and the names are hardly good ones – Jadeveon Clowney, Cam Wake, Kamalei Correa.
Mike Vrabel and his coordinator for his first two years in the job, Dean Pees, took delight in scheming up pressure. Sometimes, the way Vrabel spoke of it, it seemed as if he almost preferred it to having a big-time edge rusher.
Now, with Pees retired and Landry and Clowney as the primary edge guys, the Titans have seven sacks in seven games and get no regular pressure. They’ve got no one who demands any sort of extra attention from an offensive blocking scheme, and the most fearsome player along the front is second-year first-rounder Jeffery Simmons.
Robinson went outside the box here with a reclamation project in Beasley. But did he have competition from any other teams anxious to get a player the Falcons announced they wouldn't be looking to re-sign -- an unusually strong move in a divorce that would have happened naturally in a matter of weeks? If it took that much guaranteed wasn't it a warning sign? What mechanisms in the must-love-football test proved faulty in this miss?
Derick Roberson, Tuzar Skipper and/or Wyatt Ray stand to replace Beasley Sunday against the Bears. I feel comfortable guaranteeing they will play harder than Beasley did. Much harder.
This indicates Tuzar Skipper ranks ahead of Wyatt Ray on the Vic Beasley replacement chart. Roberson on 53 and presumably ahead of both if healthy. #Titans https://t.co/kZdudgPYFI
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) November 3, 2020
And out of that effort, perhaps we will see some good things.
But premier pass rushers generally arrive from high draft picks or big trades.
The post-Jevon Kearse, post-Kyle Vanden Bosch, (post-Jason Babin?), post-Jim Washburn Titans have relied for too long on makeshift plans and schemes.
They can’t fix it this year, they have to survive it.
Then it’s time to alter the way of thinking and do what it takes to go get somebody who can change games by hitting quarterbacks.
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