The Titans don't think McCluster

The Tennessee Titans "We never intended for Dexter to be a major pass-protector," Croom said. "He's been a very willing guy. We work on his technique so when the situations come up that he may have to pass protect he'll be OK in that. He will definitely use the cut block technique, which we cannot use on ourselves in practice. But he will use it in games, so that will help him. Dexter will be in situations where he will have the advantage a great number of the times." Dexter McCluster didn't take any big shots that I saw during the Tennessee Titans practice against the Atlanta Falcons in Georgia on Monday. But in padded practices through the first 10 days of camp, he's gotten knocked off his feet plenty of times. Listed at 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds, McCluster needs to be in space to use his quickness against a defense. Carries and catches in more traffic will go to Bishop Sankey and Shonn Greene. Even so, watching him work has lead a lot of us to wonder how he will survive NFL hits even if he's only taking a handful of the kind of shots we've seen in practices. Ken Whisenhunt's said it's not a concern. Running back coach Sylvester Croom echoed that recently and explained further. "I'm not concerned about that at all because what he'll do is, the thing he and I have talked about, is make sure he stays low enough where they don't target his core," Croom says. "When we get to running where it gets low, he'll make them come down and play on his level." Upon having that conversation, I saw snapshots in my head of times I saw McCluster take big shots in camp, and sure enough he's been upright. In a practice setting, players are urged to stay on their feet and keep others up too. In a game, McCluster will typically be heading down when big contact can arrive. He's also not going to be asked to get in the way of giant pass-rushers very often. Note: Note: He was drafted by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Dexter McCluster is a wide receiver for the Titans of the National Football League.

Jake Locker change better

Tennessee Titans We've covered the Tennessee Titans QB Jake Locker questions pretty thoroughly in this space. Tennessee Titans And we’ll hit them over and over once training camp starts, looking for any tidbits that offer any new degree of answers. Tennessee Titans In Mike Sando’s thorough run-through that places NFL quarterbacks into tiers based on his conversations with 26 people in the know including general managers, former GMs, evaluators, coordinators and coaches, Tennessee Titans Locker ranked 31st, ahead of only the Jets' Geno Smith. Tennessee Titans "We'll see," a former GM said. Tennessee Titans "Guys like Locker can be run-around guys. To me, Jake's die has been cast." His die has been cast. In other words, we’ve seen what he is a guy who’s a great teammate and worker who can flash, but isn’t always accurate or poised, can try to do too much and tends to get hurt. Tennessee Titans The Titans don’t think his die has been cast, they think he can still blossom into a franchise guy. So what can change him? Tennessee Titans The coaches and scheme: Coach Ken Whisenhunt is regarded as a quarterback guru, but that may be a bit inaccurate. Tennessee Titans Plenty of offensive coaches could have fared well guiding Ben Roethlisberger, Kurt Warner and Philip Rivers, right? Whisenhunt failed to help the Cardinals find and develop a replacement for Warner in his one big test of development. Tennessee Titans He is, however, a very good schemer and playcaller. Perhaps he, offensive coordinator Jason Michael and quarterback coach John McNulty can pull stuff out of Locker we haven’t seen and help him blossom. Health: Say Locker's luck changes and he stays healthy and gives the Titans 16 games. He's not a guy who lacks confidence when you speak with him, but he does seem to get swallowed up by the moment sometimes. Perhaps he can put together a stretch like he did at the start of 2013 when he was getting progressively better. If it’s uninterrupted by an injury, his confidence can grow and a switch can flip. Tennessee Titans The running game: Tennessee Titans The Titans expect to run the ball better without Chris Johnson getting the bulk of their carries. Bishop Sankey is likely the primary back, but they’ve got better situational ability with a group. Dexter McCluster offers a new dimension as a pass-catching back, and Sankey is good at running routes, too. A healthy Shonn Greene can covert short-yardage situations. Tennessee Titans Bob Bostad is the new coach of an underachieving offensive line that now has starting caliber players, which means the group should improve. That should translate into better protection and a better run game, Tennessee Titans two things that can alleviate pressure from Locker. The defense: Coordinator Ray Horton is converting the Titans to a 3-4. If the Titans can rush the passer the way they believe, they can stall more drives and force more turnovers. If the offense gets the ball back more often and with better field position Tennessee Titans an area a good crop of return men can help as well Tennessee Titans things will get easier for the quarterback. Tennessee Titans Most of this, of course, is about making the things around Locker better, so that Locker can be better. Final thoughts ... Tennessee Titans In today's NFL you need more A than B. Tennessee Titans If the Locker die is cast, we’re talking too much about B. Tennessee Titans