Bishop Sankey Will Overtake Shonn Greene as Starter in 2014

Bishop Sankey was the first running back taken in the 2014 NFL draft, and the Tennessee Titans will give him the opportunity to make plays early on in his career.

After letting go of Chris Johnson this offseason, the Titans were known to be in the mix for a running back in the draft. With a current depth chart at the position of Shonn Greene, Dexter McCluster and Jackie Battle, it was obvious that there was a need for an upgrade.

Yes, Johnson was the starter last season, but take a look at the production from these three individuals last season:

Player	Attempts	Yards	TD	Rec	Yards	TD
Shonn Greene	77	295	4	6	39	0
Dexter McCluster	8	5	0	53	511	2
Jackie Battle	36	142	1	4	36	0

At this point, Greene is likely the starter, though, Tennessee head coach Ken Whisenhunt will soon learn that Sankey is the far better option. Greene lacks any explosiveness in the run game, and his hands out of the backfield are just so-so.

His yards per carry have also decreased each of the past three seasons, all the way down to a career-low of 3.8 in 2013. Greene simply isn't a home run hitter. He doesn't break many tackles and gets dropped at first or second contact.

Chris Schneider/Associated Press

While he was semi-productive with the New York Jets in 2011 and 2012, he's already a shell of that running back. Players at this position don't have a particularly long shelf life, but Greene's regression has been quite fast.

By the middle of the 2014 season, Whisenhunt and offensive coordinator Jason Michael will realize what they have in Sankey.

The University of Washington product is fast, elusive and knows how to make himself small when running behind blockers. He's a very good pass-catcher out of the backfield, showing the ability to both make catches in the flat and outside his body. Better yet, Sankey knows how to pass-block. This will be crucial in keeping quarterback Jake Locker, a UW product himself, on his feet.

Titans general manager Ruston Webster has already outlined what he envisions Sankey's impact on the team to be. He said, via Adam Jude of the Seattle Times, "What he brings to us is a great deal of versatility, vision, feet, the ability to catch the football — which is what we were looking for."

Sankey is the type of back that the Titans will be able to run their offense around. He's not really a bruiser, but he's more than capable of gaining yardage on first and second down. Greene might see time as the third-down back after conceding the starting role to Sankey somewhere near the middle of the season.

Pro Football Focus' Mike Clay agrees:

The element he will add to Tennessee's offense is something the team will never get from Greene. The Titans have succeeded in the past when Johnson was able to gain consistent yardage. As soon as he started a trend of getting stopped near the line of scrimmage, the offense as a whole faltered. Greene will do exactly that.

Sankey can bounce outside and keep his feet moving. His first cut when eluding defenders is very strong, which will bring excitement to an offense that was anything but exciting last season.

The benefits of installing Sankey into the offense prominently from the start are obvious. Greene had a few good years in the past, but he isn't the future running back for the Titans. Sankey can (and will) make an impact right away.

So big of an impact, in fact, that Whisenhunt and Michael will have no choice but to name him the starter.