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The AFC South division has been one of the worst in the NFL in recent years, though it is steadily improving. The Colts, Texans, and Jaguars all figure to be solid teams in 2016, and the Titans are improving as well.
Tennessee added a franchise quarterback in Marcus Mariota with the second overall pick last year, and they have continued to add pieces to their team adding to the rebuild. It’s coming about slowly, but the Titans do appear to be heading in the right direction.
The Colts will face the Titans twice in 2016, with the first meeting coming in Tennessee in week seven. That game will be the third against AFC South opponents in a four-week span (all three games are road games), which should prove to be a very key stretch of the season. The second meeting between the two teams will be in week eleven at Lucas Oil Stadium, with the Colts coming off of their bye week.
In order to get a better look at the Titans heading into the 2016 season, Music City Miracles - SB Nation’s site covering the team - provided us with some analysis:
Tennessee Titans
Notable free agent additions:
C Ben Jones, WR Rishard Matthews, S Rashad Johnson
Notable free agent departures:
S Michael Griffin
Trades:
Acquired DeMarco Murray
Draft picks expected to contribute as rookies:
Jack Conklin, Kevin Dodd, Derrick Henry
Biggest offseason addition:
DeMarco Murray
Biggest storyline heading into training camp:
Can the Titans make “exotic-smashmouth” an effective way to score points in 2016? They are committed to power football. The NFL has moved to a pass happy game. Defenses are playing more and more nickel and dime. The Titans think they can take advantage of this by going with a power lineup.
Under-the-radar storyline heading into training camp:
Ray Horton moved on this offseason. That leaves Dick LeBeau as the man calling the shots on the defensive side of the ball- most people thought LeBeau was calling the shots last year. It turned out he wasn’t. How much different will the 2016 version of the defense look?
Notable injuries heading into training camp:
2nd round pick Kevin Dodd had foot surgery in May. He is supposed to be ready for camp. Derrick Morgan is also still recovering from shoulder surgery.