Titans Have No Business Committing to GM Ruston Webster

Read between the lines of Titans owner/CEO Tommy Smith's public comments of late, and you start to get the sense that though he publicly has backed general manager Ruston Webster, he's not a big fan of the roster he has put together. 

While Smith told The Tennessean's Jim Wyatt that Webster was "one of his guys," Smith also went to great lengths to criticize the roster, telling Wyatt that there would be a ton of turnover: 

"

The roster is going to look a lot different next year. Players need to be playing to the best of their abilities right now, and that will determine their future. There may be some players whose contracts might be up, but that doesn't mean they're not going to be here. There may be some players with multiyear contracts, but that doesn't mean they're going to be here.

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If that isn't an indictment of the job Webster has done, what is? 

I'm not saying that Webster isn't a fine person, and I'm not saying that he doesn't have the requisite credentials to build a roster. I'm just telling you that the results have been terrible.

Hell, I'll quote you a section of his biography on Tennessee's official website. Remember, this is a team biography meant to place Webster in the best possible light:

"

The 2013 offseason he oversaw a free agency period that brought veteran talent and leadership to an already talented, but young roster. A total of 17 free agents were added to the roster to boost competition and add to the depth of the roster, including G Andy Levitre, RB Shonn Greene, DT Sammie Hill, TE Delanie Walker, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, S Bernard Pollard, S George Wilson, DL Ropati Pitoitua and LB Moise Fokou. 

"

Two years later, is there a single player in that "haul" the Titans are happy with, outside of Walker and perhaps Pitoitua? I would be stunned if more than half of them were on the roster in 2015.

Wyatt wrote a piece in April looking at Titans drafts under Webster, but to my mind he softened the blow a little bit with his analysis. So let's steal his idea.

Here are the Tennessee drafts under Webster (not counting 2010 and 2011, when he was not officially the general manager), and here is how I view them at the moment:

Player	Pick	Snaps	AV (PFR)	PFF Grade	Comments
Taylor Lewan, LT	1-11	359	n/a	+2.2	A fine start on replacing Michael Roos despite fighting injuries.
Bishop Sankey, RB	2-54	312	n/a	+1.6	Has looked fine out of shotgun but hasn't been able to solve known collegiate vision problems to become head of committee despite how bad rest of committee is.
DaQuan Jones, NT	4-112	52	n/a	-2.6	Despite unimpressive play from much of defensive line, has yet to play much of a role.
Marqueston Huff, DB	4-122	207	n/a	+1.3	More of a safety than a corner; has played more as season has worn on but has been steady rather than impressive.
Avery Williamson, LB	5-151	635	n/a	+2.6	I'm not as high on him as some, but he's definitely been a fine pick at a position the Titans needed to fill thanks to failures by previous picks.
Zach Mettenberger, QB	6-178	313	n/a	-8.1	This is why teams generally don't hand over the QB position to sixth-round rookies. Can be a good backup, but limitations were evident in rookie snaps.

The 2014 draft is the one currently saving Webster's bacon, but I'm not very enamored with it.

Lewan is certainly a fine building block. I think the Titans are overly focused on their offensive line, but tackle is the position to do target. My guess is that the Titans are disappointed in what they've received from Bishop Sankey, and I don't know that he's more than a committee back, which is a huge waste of a second-round pick. It's nice to find guys like Avery Williamson in the fifth round, but I don't think he's a building block so much as he as an adequate player. Zach Mettenberger has played like a future backup, though it is early. 

I just don't think the Titans picked any players to build on here outside of Lewan. I'll gladly eat crow on Williamson if he turns into a stalwart linebacker, because I haven't studied him enough to have more than a general gut opinion on him, but I don't think Sankey or Mettenberger would be oft-used parts in a good offense. 

Player	Pick	Snaps	AV (PFR)	PFF Grade	Comments
Chance Warmack, G	1-10	1877	8	-4.6	Solid guard, and bad draft class put the Titans in a bad position, but not the kind of return you're hoping for from the 10th overall pick.
Justin Hunter, WR	2-34	945	3	-7.4	Worst qualifying catch rate in the NFL this season; all tools, no skills. Development has stalled.
Blidi Wreh-Wilson, DB	3-70	775	1	-15.1	One of the worst starting cornerbacks in the NFL this season. Plus tools, minus results.
Zaviar Gooden, LB	3-97	231	1	-5.7	Extremely toolsy linebacker who has been bad enough in limited trials to not deserve an extended one.
Brian Schwenke, C	4-107	1236	4	-23.1	Svelte center who can get to second level, but often gets destroyed in pass-blocking.
Lavar Edwards, DE	5-142	204	1	-5.0	Plays for the Cowboys; hasn't been better than filler thus far.
Khalid Wooten, DB	6-202	0	0	n/a
Daimion Stafford, S	7-248	224	1	-0.3	Mainly a special teamer, pressed into action because of Bernard Pollard's injury

While I am generally on board with selecting the high-risk/high-reward players in the back of the first round and the top of the second, I didn't think Hunter was a good enough risk to warrant dealing a future third-rounder for him. Placed on IR after dealing with a lacerated spleen, Hunter is now staring at being a field-stretching, Devery Henderson-type receiver after his ugly first two seasons. 

Meanwhile, nothing we've seen from Chance Warmack could be described as more than adequate. He is a solid player but not a building block. Zaviar Gooden has neither the playing time nor the results you look for. Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Brian Schwenke have gotten tons of reps but have yet to even prove they can be solid pieces. This draft already looks ugly, but if Schwenke and/or Wreh-Wilson completely wash out, it could become even worse. 

Player	Pick	Snaps	AV (PFR)	PFF Grade	Comments
Kendall Wright, WR	1-20	1986	14	+0.4	Terrific slot receiver with plus elusiveness. Almost feels like he's wasted in this system.
Zach Brown, LB	2-52	1531	14	+0.7	Toolsy and super-fast linebacker. Not a great fit for a Ray Horton 3-4 ILB. Torn pectoral ended 2014 season early.
Mike Martin, DL	3-82	1009	4	+6.8	Titans' inability to get him more snaps has been bizarre. Solid rotational lineman at worst.
Coty Sensabaugh, DB	4-115	1372	4	-9.1	Below-average cornerback; not a bad find for the fourth round, but nothing special.
Taylor Thompson, TE	5-145	592	0	+11.4	A good run-blocking tight end with physical tools to dream on as a pass-catcher. Hurt in 2014.
Markelle Martin, DB	6-190	0	0	n/a
Scott Solomon, DE	7-211	346	1	-11.5	Replacement-level lineman.

Outside of Kendall Wright, who has had a down season, this is a class of players that just hasn't been able to hold on to starting roles.

It looked like the Titans had hit on Zach Brown after his rookie season, but he was a mess in 2013, and the torn pectoral muscle that ended his season may have actually done the Titans a favor by letting them move to Williamson quickly. I have no idea why Mike Martin can't see the field. Taylor Thompson looked like an adequate replacement for Craig Stevens, but the Titans re-signed Stevens instead. Coty Sensabaugh is a below-average cornerback and not really a guy you want starting outside. 

Add it all up, and I count two building blocks (Wright and Lewan) and two solid players (Warmack, Williamson with some benefit of the doubt), along with a bunch of players who are either stretched in starting roles or have yet to have a good season. 

And, honestly, I don't know that players like Schwenke or Wreh-Wilson would have started had it not been for how low the level of competition has been in Tennessee. It's easy to look at snap counts or starting positions and pretend that a player like Wreh-Wilson is "a starter" who justifies the pick, but it's often not as simple as that. Would Wreh-Wilson start in New England? 

I don't think that Smith is playing this wrong at all, publicly. There is no upside to telling reporters that the coach/GM combination you have is failing, even if head coach Ken Whisenhunt has the game-management acumen of an AOL trial CD and Webster's picks and signings have created the roster that Smith so desperately wants to shake up. That just turns the Titans into a circus. 

But looking at the things Webster and Whisenhunt have focused on, I don't have a whole lot of faith in their turning this around. With a focus on fixing the offensive line and continuing to bring in toolsy youngsters without much in the way of football skills, the Titans could find themselves right back in this same position next year. 

Clearly Smith is still learning the ropes of being an NFL owner, and the last thing he wants to do is make rash or impulsive decisions that come back to bite him. But I think his loyalty is misplaced, and if Webster is given a free pass on what we've already seen, the Titans will be worse off for it come this time next season.

Rivers McCown is the AFC South lead writer for Bleacher Report and the co-host of the Three-Cone Drill podcast. His work has also appeared on Football Outsiders and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter at @riversmccown.