Hasselbeck and Locker are battling it out in Tennessee. (US Presswire) |
There are, as always, several quarterback battles to watch as training camps begin around the NFL. The Titans have one of the more interesting battles, with Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Locker basically being a 50/50 proposition for who ends up starting the season.
Give the early edge to Hasselbeck, who appeared on the Titans first unofficial depth chart when it was published on the team's website.
"I am really proud of both quarterbacks. We are very pleased with both of them," offensive coordinator Chris Palmer said recently. "They're even. It is a competition right now. Coach Munchak has made that statement and when the time comes and everyone is comfortable with who the starting quarterback is, then Coach Munchak will announce it."
Hasselbeck being on top of the depth chart right now isn't the end-all, be-all. There's, um, training camp where Locker could potentially separate himself as the leader. Of course, Hasselbeck could also push himself ahead of Locker as well. They are, after all, "even."
Locker makes more sense for this Titans team, in my opinion. He has a bigger arm and could begin to grow with first-year wideout Kendall Wright, who's improvisational ability (having played with Robert Griffin III in college) would fit well with what Locker can do on the run.
However that might not matter. As Matt Rybaltowski pointed out on Tuesday at our NFL Rapid Reports Blog, Hassy's relationship with head coach Mike Munchak is likely to give him an advantage leading up to the start of the season.
"The performance of both QBs in preseason games will have minimal impact on Munchak's decision," Rybaltowski writes. "Munchak and offensive coordinator Chris Palmer are more concerned with how the QBs handle film sessions, make presnap reads and adjust to the changes with the playbook."
All of those things are Hasselbeck's forte, much more so than Locker, who's the definition of a raw(ish) playmaker. The Titans also went 9-7 with Hasselbeck starting all 16 games in Munchak's first year, and it would seem like the more standard (albeit perhaps not more logical) move to roll with Hasselbeck until things take a turn for the worse.
In other depth-chart-related news, it's a little surprising to see Kendall Wright listed as the third "WR2." It's not surprising at all, however, to see Nate <span data-shortcode=" data-canon="Nate Washington" data-type="SPORTS_OBJECT_PLAYER" id="shortcode0"> listed as WR1, with Kenny Britt as the first WR2.
The best guess here is that a) Britt ends up getting a multiple-game suspension, and b) Wright ends up taking his spot on the depth chart by the time the season starts, at least while Britt's missing.
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