The Tennessee Titans have kicked off a new era for the team as hope is high with young talent on the roster thanks to key draft picks. Marcus Mariota enters the quarterback picture as competition kicked off Tuesday with Zach Mettenberger for the starting spot. Dorial Green-Beckham also joins the team for a wide receiver battle, but early injuries could impact who gets to the top of the depth chart.
The Titans began OTAs on Tuesday and one player not active was Green-Beckham as the second-round draft pick is currently dealing with a hamstring injury. According to the Tennessean, Green-Beckham suffered the injury during rookie mini-camp and it is still lingering heading into OTAs. Green-Beckham is expected to be a big part of the offense in 2015. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt told the media that the wide receiver has a great attitude, but he has no idea how he is on the field thanks to the injury.
"I've been impressed with how he's handled himself since I've been here," Whisenhunt said, via the Tennessean. "He's worked very hard at it. He's been a good guy. I just want to see him on the field. I haven't seen a lot of him. ... He needs to lose a little bit of weight, but there's no question about the skill set -- why we got him. You see some of those things."
Green-Beckham is competing for a starting spot in the wide receiver rotation that he stands a good chance at winning. The Titans loaded up on offensive fire power which could push certain players out. Justin Hunter will be a starter for the team while NFL.com's Gregg Rosethal has Harry Douglas filling in at the No. 3 spot. That leaves Jacoby Ford, Hakeem Nicks and Kendall Wright battling for position. Certain players could end up being released as a result making OTAs and training camp very important.
While there will definitely be competition at the wide receiver spot, there might not be much of one at the quarterback position. The Tennessean reports that while Mettenberger is operating under the belief there is a battle for the top spot, the starting job is Mariota's to lose. The rookie worked with the first-team offense during all of the first day of OTAs as several players were left very impressed by Mariota's skill set. Mariota is downplaying the idea, making it clear that he is simply focused on improvement.
"We both have the mentality that we just want this team to get better, and competition will drive that at every position," Mariota said. "It allows you to be a better football team ... As we continue to move forward we will continue to back each other up and do our best to compete against each other."
