Titans GM Won’t Get Comfortable; Always Looking to Improve Roster

The Titans have had a busy off-season, filling holes with several new players through free agency and the NFL Draft. But that’s not stopping GM Ruston Webster and his staff from continuing to look at ways to improve Tennessee’s roster.

He told Mike Keith Friday the Titans still have cap room and can afford reasonably-priced players that can help the team this coming season.

“We’ll keep looking. I wouldn’t rule anything out and I wouldn’t be surprised if we sign somebody at some point,” Webster said. “The thing we’re telling ourselves, and we talk about internally, is to keep scouting. Anybody we can find that can help us that we can afford — and that is important right now — we would look at signing them.”

Webster said the team is achieving its goal of adding competition and “wants to put the best team that we possibly can on the field this fall.”

“That’s the goal,” Webster said. “I think we’re much improved and if we can continue to improve, we will.”

Will Titans and Falcons Practice Again in Training Camp?

Will the Titans conduct another joint practice with the Atlanta Falcons during training camp?

They did so last year in Dalton, Ga., and both sides deemed it a success.

With Thursday’s announcement showing the Titans hosting Atlanta in the third week of the preseason, the question was broached to Titans GM Ruston Webster.

“We’ve talked about that and we’ll just have to see if it works out with both of our schedules,” Webster said. “We had great work with Atlanta last year. I really felt like it was good for us and Coach Munchak felt like it was good for us. We’ve had talks, but we’ll just see.”

Webster’s Plan Avoids Panic in Draft Room

Titans GM Ruston Webster

When the Titans go to make their first-round selection Thursday night, there shouldn’t be any panic in the draft room.

That’s by design.

GM Ruston Webster said he and his staff have composed a list of six players that could be available when the Titans make the 20th overall selection in the first round of the NFL Draft.

“We will have a group of six players kind of lined up there how we would take them and when one of them gets taken, somebody else will come on that list and then we will just keep moving up that way,” Webster said. “That way there is no panic in the room and probably not too much discussion.”

Webster said experience tells you that one of the players will be there.

“I guess the point is for us is to have a pool of players and when somebody drops off that list to have somebody else that comes on it, so we will just keep working the list,” he said. “If we have six guys and one guy goes off, then we put somebody else on it.”

Sounds simple enough, yet it’s an effective way to make a prepared, logical selection in a short amount of time when Tennessee is on the clock.

Titans Seek Playmaker at Defensive End

The Titans would like to find another playmaker to pair with defensive end Derrick Morgan, the team's first-round draft pick in 2010.

There is little doubt the Titans will look towards free agency and the NFL Draft to strengthen their defensive line, and it’s a good year to do it, says Titans GM Ruston Webster.

“I think it’s a really good crop. Defensive line in general, I think is good,” Webster said. “Typically, those guys are going to be in the first round because everybody needs them. They’re rare birds. Outside of quarterback, the one position that’s the toughest to build, and the one position where you have to be really strong in order to win consistently, is up front on the defensive line and the offensive line.”

The Titans could use the help. They struck gold on defensive tackles Jurrell Casey and Karl Klug in last year’s draft, but are thin at defensive end with William Hayes, Jason Jones and Dave Ball set to become free agents.

“It’s definitely a need,” head coach Mike Munchak said. “Derrick Morgan is really the only guy playing a lot who is under contract, so that’s definitely an area we’re going to have to look at from both ends — in free agency and the draft. And when the smoke clears, we’ll have some good defensive ends. It’s a matter of where they’re going to come from.”

Munchak would like to possess a combination of veteran leadership and young talent at defensive end. Webster covets a playmaker, similar to what the Titans had in Jevon Kearse back in 1999.

“He changed things,” Webster said of Kearse. “When I was in Tampa, we had Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp. They made everybody else around them better. Those type of special rushers really can affect your defense. They help the guys on the back end, and if you can get a lead on people and rush the passer, you’ve got a great chance to win.”

Munchak spoke of the special player he’d love to find either in free agency or April’s draft.

“You’d like to have a guy that the offense is worried about, a guy that when there’s two minutes left can take the game over, knock the ball out of the quarterback’s hands and win it for you,” he said. “I think we’re looking for those kinds of guys, someone on the edges that can create those kinds of problems for an offense.”

Webster Answers Season Ticket Holders’ Questions on Free Agency, Draft

New Titans GM Ruston Webster is a busy man these days, conducting internal meetings with his scouting staff, while preparing for the upcoming NFL Scouting Combine, free agency period and NFL draft.

However, he took time out of his schedule to connect with Titans season ticket holders on Tuesday, spending 45 minutes on a conference call that covered topics ranging from the team’s approach to free agency and the NFL Draft, to the progress of wide receiver Kenny Britt and recent rumors swirling around Colts QB Peyton Manning.

You can listen to the entire conference call right here!

Titans GM Talks Draft, Free Agency at Lipscomb

New Titans GM Ruston Webster was the guest speaker today at the Golden Bison Luncheon on the campus of Lipscomb University. He addressed a group of strong supporters of Lipscomb’s athletic program, offering his thoughts on several topics relating to his new role with the team, the direction of the club and the type of players he and his staff will be looking for in free agency and the upcoming NFL Draft.

Here are a few highlights:

(on his philosophy of building the team)

“You have to have a solid foundation with the right type of guys and players that work hard and are dedicated to football. They have to be tough and smart. I know that’s what Mike Munchak wants. It’s important to him that we have solid guys to do the things he wants them to do and buy into what he does.

As a team, I want us to get back to being the old Titans. I remember when I was with the Bucs, when we played the Titans, they played a fast, aggressive, nasty defense. They were physical and they could run the ball. They were always a tough outing. That’s what I’d like for us to get back to – that kind of style of play. Mike Munchak feels the same way. He was here during all of that. That’s really what I want to see us be.”

(on that style of play helping the Titans get back to the playoffs)

“We haven’t won a playoff game in a long time – since the 2003 season. It’s time for us to win a playoff game and go further. And for us to do that, you’ve got to be that type of team. For all the passing yards and great quarterback stats this year, when it came down to it in the NFC Championship game, it was the New York Giants tough, old-school football and it was the San Francisco 49ers tough, old-school football. To get to the playoffs and win, you have to be able to go in the cold weather and run the ball.”

(on the challenge of free agency)

“Unfortunately the business side gets in the way sometimes. You can’t keep everybody you would like to and you have to make tough decisions. Those decisions are not always easy and they’re definitely not always popular. For the most part, I feel like when we make our decisions, and in the past when we made our decisions, we had all the information. You just do the best for your team and for your owner. I think we’ll draft well and continue to build a good, young core.”

(on what his immediate goals are to build the team)

“My immediate goal is to help improve our offensive line and our defensive front seven. That’s going to be our focus moving forward into free agency and the draft. If we can do that – get a little bit more of a pass rush and run the ball a little better — I think we’ll be okay.”

 (on Jake Locker’s potential)

“I think we have a good, young quarterback in Jake Locker who just has natural leadership ability, and he brings that toughness and type of temperament in his game. I think you’ll see our guys rally around that.

I was with the Seahawks when Jake started playing at the University of Washington, so I saw Jake play probably two or three games a year all through his junior year until I came here. Jake was a star the minute he stepped on campus at Washington because everybody knew who he was. He was a high-profiled recruit from a little town – Ferndale, Washington – who wanted to stay and play for a state school. He was loved and revered there. You could see early on that he had talent. He has a lot of physical skills and he’s continued to develop his skills as a quarterback. He works so hard at it.

That’s the other thing. He kind of has that ‘it’ factor and people rally to him, gravitate to him. He’s a good guy. He’s solid, and he cares about his teammates and they feel that. We were interviewing a linebacker who got drafted in the third round by the Bucs who played at the University of Washington with Jake and we asked him about Jake – like we do with other players when we ask about their teammates because players know players. If they don’t like their teammate, then there’s probably some issue there. He said, ‘I’ll tell you about Jake Locker.’ He said he would drive from one end of the town to the other to pick up a teammate that didn’t have a car or was having car trouble – and Seattle’s a big city – to get him to workout. That’s leadership, and that’s one of the big reasons we drafted him.”

(on working with Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden in Tampa)

“Tony changed everything because he brought stability to an organization that didn’t have any. He came in with a plan and executed the plan, no matter what anybody said. Tony just did the right thing. His decisions were made based on what he thought was right for the organization and for his team. And then as a person, I’ve been around a lot of guys, coaches and people in high positions and Tony treated everybody the same. No matter what your position was, you never felt like you had to get loud to get your point across. You just had to let him know and he was going to listen and he was going to make his decision. He was awesome in that way, and he, in my mind really saved the organization because of the stability he brought. And then we got good players in there and they all bought into him and loved him. One of the unfortunate things was we couldn’t quite get to the Super Bowl and so Tony was let go, which was unfortunate. It did work out for us when Jon (Gruden) came in and we had always struggled on offense and Jon got the offense going. Jon brought juice to the offense and to the team. He made it to where he put the offense on equal footing to the defense and they challenged each other and it made us really good. They were different guys. Jon’s a good friend and a great guy. It was enjoyable. There was a contrast, but I’ll always look back fondly on both. I learned a lot from both of them.”