Da'Quan Bowers took a tumble and is still available to man up the line on day 2, and if the Titans want a big man in the middle they could even look at Stephen Paea. It seems there's more options to shore up the d-line in the second round than there would have been to grab a quarterback, where Andy Dalton is the last solid name on the list. Unless you consider Ryan Mallett. Which I don't. Bust goes the weasel.
Anyhow, we shall chug on with my all-time favourite Titans of the last nine years. This group features perhaps the Titans' best ever first round pick since coming to Tennessee, a claim I hope I'll someday be able to make about Locker, too...
#4 Will Witherspoon
2010-present
Titans Career
92 combined tackles, 3.0 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 8 deflections, 2 interceptions (11 yards)
All-Time Career
833 combined tackles, 23.0 sacks, 9 forced fumbles, 59 deflections, 11 interceptions (115 yards, 2 TDs)
Witherspoon wasn't lightning in a bottle in his first season with the team, but he landed the unenviable role of replacing Keith Bulluck as the veteran presence of the linebacker corps, and to his credit, I'd say he did pretty well.
Some say that he was a liability, but frankly, pretty much every player on our defense was a liability at one point last year. Nobody had a stellar season other than Babin, and he himself was reprimanded for false start penalties.
Put simply, I'm happy to have Witherspoon there at linebacker, and though I don't know how much longer he can hold up, I'd be happy to see him stick around for a while.
#3 Peter Sirmon
2000-2006
All-Time Career
343* combined tackles, 5.0 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 7 deflections, 4 interceptions (101 yards, 1 TD)
* Tackles since 2001
Pardon me for my continued nostalgia boosting. Sirmon was never anything spectacular, but I appreciated him for what he was: a blue chipper guy who I would consider an overachiever. He was better on the outside than as a middle linebacker, where he would finish his career.
Other fun things to know about Peter Sirmon: he's stuck around with Tennessee, now a linebackers coach for the Vols. He is also one day off sharing a birthday with me (February 18th), and was born in Walla Walla, Washington, which is one of the most fun places in the world to say. Makes me think of Looney Tunes cartoons.
And finally, the concept that he ran 32 yards for a pick six in 2002 is quite surprising to me. I don't remember him as ever being the most expedient man on the field.
#2 David Thornton
2006-present
Titans Career
366 combined tackles, 2.0 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 17 deflections, 2 interceptions (16 yards)
All-Time Career
728 combined tackles, 5.0 sacks, 10 forced fumbles, 22 deflections, 5 interceptions (24 yards)
It's hard to believe that a dude who I used to think of as a Colt through and through, has now been in Tennessee for longer than he was in Indianapolis. He had last year robbed by injury, and at this point it's unclear what kind of contribution he can make anymore.
But I am still chirpy with Thornton for the way he came onto the scene in '06, becoming a tackling machine for the next three years before he started to miss games. His coverage skills would have come in useful last year, though it's funny I should be saying that when you consider that Witherspoon has more than twice as many career interceptions and a crazy 59 deflected passes in the same amount of seasons. I appear to be contradicting myself massively here.
What was the point I was making? Oh yeah, I wasn't making one. Good.
#1 Keith Bulluck
2000-2009
Titans Career
1,038* combined tackles, 18.0 sacks, 14 forced fumbles, 57 deflections, 19 interceptions (192 yards, 1 TD)
All-Time Career
1,069* combined tackles, 18.0 sacks, 14 forced fumbles, 59 deflections, 21 interceptions (199 yards, 1 TD)
* Tackles since 2001
Well, shucks. Don't that just give you a shock? K-Bull claims consecutive awards for being not only my top Titans linebacker, but through years of loyal, productive service, he earns claim as my favourite Titans defender, to boot.
In overall rankings, he's somewhere behind McNair and George in the murky bronze medal competition. Because clearly, he was simply one of the Titans' finest defenders, a stalwart at linebacker and a leader on defence.
When Cortland Finnegan was jawing off, it was Bulluck who smacked him in the helmet and got him back into focus. When the Titans were suffering a heart-breaking, gut-wrenching 0-59 loss to New England, it was Bulluck who was the only one still giving a damn. When the Titans appeared in primetime on Monday Night Football in New Orleans, it was Bulluck who snatched three interceptions to earn the nickname 'Mr. Monday Night' (though I don't think that one ever stuck).
Actually, one of the things I found most shocking while doing all this was finding out that, for all of Bulluck's interceptions, he's only ever returned one for a touchdown. And funnily enough, it was only from eight yards out against the Cowboys in his rookie season. Ancient history.
Anyhow, while some of my other favourite players will disappear into the annals of history as time goes by, Bulluck's reputation as one of the Titans' best ever defenders should remain solidly for years to come. He deserved more accolades than he ever got, a victim of a small-market team, but he just went out and performed, consistently, for a decade.
For that, we salute you, Bulluck, and shall always recall with fondness your energy, your heart, and your pimpin' red gloves.
No comments:
Post a Comment