TitanInsider Board

I just want to start the Locker Era, I think after a few starts, he is really going to start to shine and lead us to AFC South titles, and maybe a AFC championship as well.

Wow, Lee, you lost me.

With Hass the team was 9-7 last yr.......the fact that he was 1-5 against the better teams is not b/c he wasn't good enough, it was b/c the team wasn't good enough.

Houston - 1 game he threw for 300 yds , 2:0 TDs/Ints......granted he stunk it up the first time they played
New Orleans - didn't play much in the loss
Atlanta - he threw better completion percentage and comparable stats to Locker....in a loss
Cinn - 275 yds, 2:0 TDs/Ints in a loss
Pitt - 260 yds, 1:1 TDs/Ints in a loss

The above are not poor efforts by Hass in the games in which we lost to good opponents. The teams beat us b/c they were better. You mentioned that Hass wouldn't "fair well" against the Steelers, Patriots, Packers.....who would? Those are cream of the crop teams and we aren't yet. Against the Texans you mentioned the 41-7 score. Did Hass play defense which allowed Houston to score?

I did watch the preseason game......and it was just that.....a preseason game. You really can't put much stock into it. Did you notice that when Locker came in to play that Seattle switched out a bunch of their starters on defense? You didn't mention anything about that in your analysis. If you were a coach and developed any opinion of your two QB's after that game, then I suspect you wouldn't be a good coach.

You say that "every other team is going with the guy that they drafted for a reason." That's because in the vast majority of cases they don't have the option. As far as it being a "waste of time", playing an aged veteran may not win you a bunch more games but it is not a waste of time to prepare your future QB more and more.

As far as taking us to the SB? Locker nor Hass is not going to do it this yr. Both would have a hard time this yr to getting us a wildcard slot with the team that we have now. He's a 2nd yr QB who is going to make a lot of mistakes......not to mention that the team is not great right now. The team as a whole is a borderline Wildcard fighter.......who has potential in the next 1-2 more yrs to be a playoff contender.

I fully expect that at some point Locker will take over. I'm neither in Hass' or Locker's camp to start right now. I would be happy with whomever the staff chooses. I just wonder what peoples mindsets are. Some people like Blue2468 above just want to get on with process which is fine. But I really question the mindset of those that want to go with Locker b/c they believe that Hass played bad or Locker was far and away the better option.......cause he really wasn't. His ceiling is without a doubt higher, but as of right now he isn't clear cut better.......the reason why I know is b/c the staff clearly has not made the choice to switch.

I don't know what to tell you, other than I don't think you have a good read on what Hasselbeck is at this point in his career. When the Houston Texans played us 1st team against 1st team last year, it was not even close. The Texans game you mentioned was Hasselbeck playing against the Texans 2nd/3rd team. You have got to be realistic and view things objectively. If you're trying to tell me that Hasselbeck was better than Locker in the Atlanta game last year, I'll go ahead and tell you to rewatch that game, because you couldn't be more wrong there. That game was hard to watch, and the Atlanta defenders had no trouble whatsoever against Hasselbeck in that game.

And you don't put any blame on Hasselbeck for being 1-5 against teams with a winning record last year? "It's not because he wasn't good enough" do you really believe this? You can't keep making excuses for him, i.e. "Did Hass play defense", if you go by this rational, he would never be pulled in favor of Locker because the losses would never be his fault. Just to refresh your memory, he did lose to the 0-12 colts last year. So maybe he does deserve some blame? I know all of this sounds mean, however it's just reality. It's what happens to every QB at some point in their career, and it's that time for Hasselbeck. Why did the Seahawks let him walk? Especially when the only other option they had was Tavarious Jackson? You're conceding that he wouldn't fair well against our schedule this year....so what's the point in starting him?

I don't know what to tell you if you're going to keep making excuses for Hasselbeck and against Locker. That sounds like a biased opinion to me. It's not just that one preseason game on which I'm forming my opinion. It's also that yes, Hasselbeck can't beat good teams, it's the fact that he faded tremendously down the stretch last year, and it's the fact that he has more interceptions than touchdowns in the past three seasons. And lets not forget that he hasn't completed a full season in a long, long, time. He is 37 yrs. old. How many teams are going with a QB that is 37 yrs. old? Why didn't they pick up Hasselbeck when he was a free agent last year?

We drafted Jake Locker 8th overall in 2011, there's no point sitting him for another year behind a guy that will not get us to the playoffs, much less be healthy enough to complete a full season. This team won't do that, no team would, so you might as well get used to it. Locker is without question the better option. If Hasselbeck were to start, it would be an ugly season. Jake Locker is more than capable of holding his own, he's already shown us that. At some point every Rookie QB has to play, and teams are now electing to play them immediately. They are doing this for a reason. And that reason is not because they missed out on Matt Hasselbeck or some other 37 yr. old QB. Munchack said repeatedly during the offseason that the choice would become obvious...I think it has become obvious.

Lee,

As I've said before. I'm not saying that Hass should start. What I am saying is that we know what's going to happen. We all know that Locker has the higher ceiling. We all know that Locker is the future. We all know that Hass is going to get worse, not better. We know that Locker will start at some point.

The only thing that I am saying is that some fans think the choice is obvious and that Locker should start b/c he is by far the better option. The Titans own staff, who see these two on a daily basis, haven't seen such a separation. They have far more intel than we do. They have much more coaching prowess than we do. They haven't decided it yet. (Although I think it may come soon)

My whole purpose of this thread was to ask 2 questions: a) why does the Locker/Hass thing really get us fired up when we already know the outcome? and b) What's the rush? Since the team is not built to make a run right now and we have the luxury of not having to throw a young QB in quickly.

I wish that I knew the future like you do, I'd be rich. How exactly do you know that this team is built for a run? Any team can get hot at any point. If that were the case the Titans should take the year off and wait until next season.

The rush is they need to get locker into game situations. I attend almost every training camp session and it is blatantly obvious who the superior QB is. The coaching staff is giving Hasselbeck due diligence. If they want to be successful this season under this offensive scheme locker has to be the guy. My opinion only.

First off, the Titans staff is never going to come out and say to the public that one player is far superior to the other. They are trying to be as respectful to Hasselbeck as they possibly can, because he deserves that. When Locker is named the starter for the season, they'll more than likely say that the competition was too close to call really, however we've decided to go with Locker because we drafted him to be our franchise QB, and we think he's ready. When in reality anyone with an objective outlook can see that he provides much more opportunity for this offense. His talent level is far superior to Hasselbeck's.

"b) What's the rush? Since the team is not built to make a run right now and we have the luxury of not having to throw a young QB in quickly."

"We all know that Locker has the higher ceiling. We all know that Locker is the future. We all know that Hass is going to get worse, not better. We know that Locker will start at some point."

You've just told me that we, in fact, don't have the "luxury" of not having to throw a young QB in quickly. BTW it's not "quickly" anymore, he did back up Hasselbeck for the entirety of the 2011 season. Quarterbacks rarely sit for even an entire year anymore, much less two. You don't have the luxury of sitting Locker when the guy in front of him isn't going to take us to the playoffs. You have told me that, so....How is that not a waste of this team's and its fan's time? Munchack only signed a three year deal. Do you think he can afford to have a below average season this year? You've already admitted that we would with Hasselbeck starting, most can see that one coming. So I think that time is a little more of the essence than you may actually think.

And not to mention that, if we did indeed start Hasselbeck, we would run in to the inevitable 1-5 switch to Locker at about week 7. That wouldn't make Munchack look very good now would it? If we somehow did have any chance of the playoffs this year, that would have gone out of the window.That screams of something Fisher would do, because we've seen him take that approach more than once with Kerry Collins. Munchack hasn't shown himself to be a Fisher clone, and I think he'll keep on his own path when it comes to this QB situation.

VY failed because he was a head case. Locker is no Vince Young. He may struggle at times but I don't expect a Young type failure, Jake is a winner and a competitor, the polar opposite of the other #10

Dan,
Ben started with a team that was deep and full of really great players. As of right now we have a young receiving corps, a young QB, young and lesser experienced DT's, a likely lesser NFL pass rush, several starting CB's that are unproven as #1's, very young but talented LB's, an interior o-line that underperformed last yr, and average safetys. We have really good potential in the coming yrs, but we still have areas that need improvement. There's no guarantee that we won't make a playoff run or go to a SB, but there's a reason why all the ESPN talking heads rank us in the middle of the NFL pack.

Lee,
Great post. I can't really respond. I have just grown tired of hearing people being impatient. Even before the season began last yr, they were yelling for Locker to start.