Tennessee Titans Should Forget Matt Hasselbeck and Go After Sidney Rice

It doesn't matter who ends up being the new quarterback for the Tennessee Titans in 2011 if there isn't a high-caliber receiver for them to throw to.

The Titans actually have some promising young receivers, but they lack a true deep threat that demands double teams.

Sure, they have Kenny Britt, but who knows what kind of road he's traveling down with all of his recent legal troubles.

In comes a player like Sidney Rice, who is currently an unrestricted free agent.

Rice would completely change the way defenses would have to prepare for the Titans, and Rice hasn't even reached his full potential yet.

What Rice brings to the table is something no other Titans receiver can bring, and that's the rare combination of blazing speed, great hands and a tall frame.

Even if Britt does straighten his act out, how great would it be if the Titans had that duo lining up on the outside?

To make room for a deal like this, the Titans would obviously have to part ways with Randy Moss and Justin Gage, two players who offer very little in their own unique ways.

The Titans could use Nate Washington as your third wide receiver and line up Damian Williams or Marc Mariani in the slot.

One thing the Titans have always lacked as an offense is an explosive wide receiver that can stretch the field.

They may still have one with Britt, but now, there's the opportunity to have two. That would make life so much easier on the future quarterback, and more importantly for Chris Johnson in the run game.

Jake Locker is going to have to grow up sooner or later, and the Titans players have echoed a lot of confidence in him through their workouts during the lockout.

All this talk about Matt Hasselbeck seems like a great fix for the Titans, but you have to remember that Hasselbeck fully intends on being a starter for at least a few more years. That's one of the reasons why it didn't work out in Seattle.

The Titans drafted a quarterback in the first round, and now they have to stand behind their draft pick. They can make those growing pains much less painful if they surround him with explosive weapons.

Some may argue that the Vince Young draft pick didn't work out because he was thrown into the fire too soon, but his immaturity and an inept offense around him contributed to that.

Everything indicates that Locker has the maturity and the heart to start the regular season under center.

It may be a rocky road at first, but did anyone really expect the Titans to be a Super Bowl team after everything that happened in 2010?

This will take some time, but adding a player like Rice to the mix would speed that process up just by simple logic that the team will score more points.

Rice may be arguably the best wide receiver in this free agent class, and it's time for the Titans to make him an offer he can't refuse.