When the Tennessee Titans picked Alabama running back and Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry in the second round of the draft a coupe of weeks ago, they exacerbated a problem they were already dealing with; too many running backs.
As of right now the Titans have seven running backs under contract and on the team and I’m not a math wiz, but there’s only one football any of these guys can carry at a single time. Somebody is going to need to hit the road and if the Titans’ only keep four running backs on the roster, it’s going to be three somebodies. So who?
Before I get into that, let me say this isn’t a criticism of the Titans drafting Henry. If they were going for just the best guy on their board at that moment, there’s no question he was it. The took him with the 45th pick in the draft an there’s no way that Henry, at 6-foot-3 and 247 pounds of pure freight train, wasn’t at least the 45th best player in the draft. I would argue he’s much better than that.
The issue comes from the trade the Titans made with the Philadelphia Eagles for DeMarco Murray, who they immediately signed to a four-year, $25 million contract. That’s a damn good contract for a player like Murray and the Titans were smart to make the deal. When you add another running back to the picture when you already have a guy like Murray, it’s usually a guy like Murray’s backfield mate in Philadelphia, Darren Sproles. Murray is the Thunder and Sproles is the lightning. In the case of Henry and Murray it’s more Thunder and “Oh God more Thunder! Why won’t the thunder stop? My ears only contain so much blood!”
A Murray-Henry one-two punch, with a viable big-play quarterback like Marcus Mariota behind center, should make defensive coordinators in the AFC South need to contact the Duluth Trading Company ASAP. It won’t make either guy a high pick in fantasy football leagues, but I’ve got to feel that Mike Mularkey, just happy to have a job and not be pawing his dead grandmother’s jewelry to buy a grocery cart-full of ramen isn’t too concerned about that.
We know beyond a shadow of any doubt that Murray and Henry are making the team. Who will hold down the two other running back slots?
The easy choice for one of the spots is Dexter McCluster. He’s a multi-talented player who’s as prolific as a receiver as he is out of the backfield. Last year the Titans used him in both capacities about equally. He carried the ball 55 times and caught 31 passes, scoring a touchdown each way. The problem with McCluster is that he’s a luxury, and an expensive one at that. He’s due #2.275 million this season and counts $3.65 million against the cap. Cutting him, in the final year of the contract he signed with the team in 2014, would just cost the Titans $1 million in a cap hit. The Titans have tons of cap room, even after they finish signing their draft class so they can afford to keep him. They should, but that doesn’t mean they will.
McCluster does add a lot of value. His abilities on third down are obvious, but as a return man he’s one of the best in the business. The Titans have the cap room. They need to keep him.
The easiest call on a “keep” is Antonio Andrews. The Titans picked him up as an undrafted rookie last season out of Western Kentucky and he led the team in carries (143), yards (520) and rushing touchdowns (3). Now all of those numbers will look ridiculous after what Murray and Henry put up this season, but Andrews has earned a seat at the table. He’s a viable back up and knows the system. Mularkey will have no trouble keeping an inexpensive player like him on the roster.
That means that David Cobb, David Fluellen and Bishop Sankey will all be out of work. The real tragedy in that group is Sankey. He’s shown real flashes since the Titans drafted him in the second round in 2014 out of Washington, but it’s never translated into a consistent performance on the field. He should get another shot somewhere in the NFL, but his time in Tennessee has come to an end.
