What Jake Locker's Tennessee Titans Presesason Performance Has Revealed

The time appears to have come for Tennessee Titans sophomore quarterback Jake Locker, who has been named the Week 1 starter (according to ESPN.com via the AP).

Still, Locker must finish out this preseason strong, as he has shown up with very different performances in each game.

Tennessee fans are hoping that the 24-year-old can be Titans' star of the future, but that remains to be seen. For now, all we can go on is the minimal playing time he got last season as well as the last three games of the preseason.

With that in mind, here are four of the most important things that Jake Locker’s preseason performances have told us.

Locker Still Needs to Work on His Accuracy

Through three preseason games, Jake Locker has completed exactly half of his passes. If we take away the stinker of a second game in which he completed only 36.4 percent of his passes, Locker would be hovering around 55 percent, which isn’t terrible.

Still, watching Locker’s performances — especially the second game — show that he is struggling with accuracy issues. His interception against the Buccaneers was woefully overthrown, and another pass that he forced into double coverage should have been picked off.

The good news is that a lot of quarterbacks struggle during the preseason with their completion percentage and manage to have great seasons. For instance, Aaron Rodgers has completed only 48.8 percent of his passes for the preseason.

Titans fans can only hope that Locker will be able to shake his problems with accuracy by the start of this season.

Jake Is a Great Athlete

One of the most attractive things about Jake Locker’s game is his great athleticism and ability to make plays with his feet. Locker rushed for 1,783 yards in his college career at the University of Washington and has shown that he can still run on NFL defenses.

This preseason, Jake is at the top of his team in yards per carry with 8.8. While he only has four carries in his three games, it still shows an ability to make plays when the team needs them.

In Locker’s worst passing game of the preseason against the Bucs, he made the play of the night with his feet. With the Titans down 7-0 and on the march, Jake ripped off an impressive 21-yard run reminiscent of his college days.

The point is that Jake Locker has shown that he is still very mobile and can make plays for the team when they need them. That should be a huge asset for the Titans and is something that Matt Hasselbeck cannot do.

He Is Maturing as a Pocket Passer

Too often last season, Locker looked uncomfortable in the pocket and ran from pressure much too early.

So far in this preseason, he has looked much more comfortable and seems willing to stay in the pocket despite pressure. Just check out Jared Cook’s spectacular catch in the second quarter of last night’s game.

Locker is under serious pressure and ends up getting hit at the end of the play, but manages to pump fake and complete the throw. This is a good sign for Locker and is hopefully one that will stick as he moves on to the regular season. 

It is also comforting to see that Locker has only run the ball four times in his last three games, which shows that he is starting to become more comfortable taking pressure in the pocket.

It’s always worrisome when young quarterbacks rely on their ability to scramble too much, because it leads to injuries and doesn’t allow them to develop their passing game adequately.

Locker Should and Will Start over Hasselbeck

It appears that it has already been decided that Locker will start in the Titan’s first game against the Patriots, but this preseason has made it obvious that starting Jake is the right decision.

While Jake has struggled with his accuracy, he has shown development from last season as well as an ability to win games any way possible.

The Titans could always wait another season to start Locker, especially since Hasselbeck is still under contract, but that isn’t the right move for a few reasons.

First, Jake only needs so much more practice time. It seems about time that he gets real playing time to develop. While backing up a very good player like Hasselbeck is good for Locker’s development, there is only so much that he can learn before he needs real game experiences to build upon.

Secondly, Locker seems to give Tennessee about the same chance of winning as Hasselbeck does. While Matt has completed slightly more of his preseason passes so far, Jake has made up for it with his 35 yards rushing.

Neither quarterback is ready to take the Titans to the Super bowl, so Tennessee may as well develop their young talent.