The Tennessee Titans have a crowded backfield at the moment. The team is trying to remain balanced while not having Marcus Mariota run the ball as much which means their running backs are getting a lot of work at the start of the season. However, do not expect a leader to emerge from the group. In order to always have fresh legs on the field, head coach Ken Whisenhunt is pushing a committee approach to the unit.
The Titans have Bishop Sankey, Terrance West, Dexter McCluster, Antonio Andrews and fullback Jalston Fowler all in the mix for rushing yards. The backfield is crowded and carries are hard to come by through three games this season. The Titans currently rank 10th in the league in rushing. Statistically speaking, Sankey is the leader with 126 yards and a touchdown, while McCluster is the most versatile of the bunch with 113 yards rushing and 61 yards receiving. Whisenhunt is in no rush to identify a leader of the group just yet as he likes the even rotation for Mariota to work with.
"What's wrong with what we've been doing in the first three weeks running the football?" Whisenhunt said, via the Tennessean.
From the players perspective, they do not seem to mind the rotation. McCluster ran for a career-high 98 yards against the Cleveland Browns, but then had just 15 yards in the other two games. Sankey has been on and off the field as well while they have yet to really release West into the offense just yet. McCluster told the media that as long as the team is winning games, he does not care about the rotation.
"We go with whatever is working," McCluster said, via the Tennessean. "As a running back, you have to be ready because it can change from game to game or even during the course of a game. You never know who's going to be getting the ball."
The run game is getting more exposure as the Titans have yet to really let Mariota run the ball despite knowing his versatility on the field. Whisenhunt told the media that right now he likes how the quarterback is throwing the ball in the pocket and sees no need to change that just yet. That is welcomed news for the wide receivers like Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter who are seeing an increase in numbers so far this year. While the quarterback made a few throws that were questionable when there was running opportunities, Whisenhunt is going to stick with what is working.
"I'm kind of torn with that," Whisenhunt said, via ESPN.com. "I mean, he's doing a pretty good job of throwing the football in the pocket and making some plays. You're right, there was an opportunity there on that one play where he just missed Delanie to run with it and probably run quite a long ways. But had the throw been to Delanie, Delanie probably would have run quite a long ways with it. I really think that that is going to come at some point. I don't think that we're going to try to force it."
