Nature Of Offense Getting Clearer

[Jamalisms]

All indications leading up to his promotion suggest that Loggains is a bit of a whiz-kid - an above average offensive mind and a guy with a bright future in the NFL.

That future starts now, but what will it look like?

The Titans will be playing in new offense this year. The man behind this redesign is the new coordinator, Dowell Loggains. A large part of success or failure in 2013 will be based on the quality of the scheme he implements. If he succeeds where Chris Palmer failed, a talented and young Titans offense might surprise. If he fails, it might be another long year.

Many pundits have indicated that Jake Locker’s success will make or break the offense in 2013. Inherent in that suggestion is the success and guidance of his former quarterback coach and current offensive coordinator. With the prowess of Loggains taking on so much importance, it can be a bit frustrating that the thirty-two year old first time coordinator is a bit of an unknown.

Much lip-service has been paid to the Titans' return to a run-heavy focus but determining the exactness of that approach is guesswork at best. Teams often play vanilla schemes in the preseason which means there is only so much reliance one can place on observations made. Making things even murkier is the recent decision by the Titans to close practices to the media.

The best observations usually stem from the third preseason game when starters often play into the second half. In addition, Loggains acknowledged that the win over Atlanta featured the offense's first game plan of the preseason. Titans Report recently took a look back at the Atlanta game to see how the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

Absent from the Atlanta game were Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker. Both players will be important cogs in the new offense and are expected to be healthy for week one. Wright, last year’s first round pick, was reportedly having a great camp before his injury but it is the versatility of Walker that Titans Radio color commentator, Frank Wycheck, feels is an X factor. As a former tight end, there could be some bias in Wycheck’s answer. The connection goes even deeper than that, however, and suggests that Wycheck has a pretty good idea of what he's talking about.

On a recent podcast with ESPN’s Paul Kuharsky, Wycheck indicated that Walker will be assuming a very similar role in Loggains’ offense to that which Wycheck himself played when Mike Heimerdinger was the coordinator of the Titans. In that podcast, (a fairly meaty fifteen minutes that ranges from Vince Young to the Gray and Williams dynamic to the differences in watching a game as a broadcaster), Wycheck expounded a bit on the connections between Heimerdinger’s offense and the schemes that Loggains will implement.

“Dowell Loggains has taken a lot of bits and pieces from every place he’s been from Sean Peyton, Parcells and Norm Chow and he’s kinda formed it in his own head but the base of it is Mike Heimerdinger’s influence and I think it’s a lot of the route combinations, really the attack on trying to figure out where’s the best matchup that I can get to by motioning by formation all that stuff. That’s where I think Dowell is at his best in how he reflects Dinger’s personality and the way he called plays.”

This aligns fairly well with our analysis of the third game. Certainly, the offense will take fuller effect against the Steelers and when Walker makes his Titans debut - Wycheck stated that he doesn't think much of the real offense has been seen - but the puzzle picture is really beginning to take shape. After a year in which fans trumpeted the unveiling of a pass-heavy offense as an embracing of modern NFL trends, the Titans look prepared to go back to the future. Given our personnel, (namely a non-elite quarterback), this may be the wiser course.

Kuharsky and Wycheck also discussed Jake Locker on that podcast, for those interested. In short, he has the all of the intangibles you want in a franchise quarterback and Wycheck feels that he will be enabled to begin showcasing his tangibles now that the interior offensive line has been improved. In fact, he discussed Locker doing some of that already this preseason.

Follow Titans Report on Twitter: @TitansReport
Follow Jamal on Twitter: @Jamalisms

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[japan]

When was Loggains with Sean Payton?

[Jamalisms]

When was Loggains with Sean Payton?

"Loggains broke into the NFL as a scouting assistant for Dallas in 2005 when Payton was running the Cowboys' offense."

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/titans/2013/06/07/david-climer-titans-get-rid-of-entire-playbook/2400125/

[Pragidealist]

I don't remember when, but he's mentioned it several times.  

[WG53]

The whole Payton connection is way overstated.

[Pragidealist]

Well written Jamal.  

[Cyrus]

The whole Payton connection is way overstated.

 

Probably. But Loggains was no doubt familiar with Payton's philosophy and playbook. Hard to be a scouting assistant if you don't know what you're scouting for. 

[luvyablue256]

The whole Payton connection is way overstated.

 

That's what happens when fanbases are hungry for any kind of talent. 

 

Who cares if Loggains fetched Payton's coffee. Munchak played for Joe Paterno. Doesn't mean jack shit. 

[Pragidealist]

The whole Payton connection is way overstated.

 

You have no idea. Only Loggains knows.  Since Loggains is the one that makes the connection regularly then I think its reasonable to think he was significantly influenced by whatever he picked up. 

 

The tittle connection is weak- but thats a pretty shallow description of anyone's experience at a job. 

[begooode]

A revisit of Prag's thread on Payton's Gulf Coast Offense:

 

[ctm]

"Prior to joining the Titans, Loggains spent the 2005 season as a scouting assistant with the Dallas Cowboys.  His duties included assisting with opponent film breakdown, self-scouting and statistical analysis to be used in game plan preparation."

 

http://www.titansonline.com/team/coaches/Loggains_Dowell/f1972776-b762-4842-b76b-908a952721d2

[japan]

This Payton connection is even weaker than JS supposed connection to Belichick.

[WG53]

This Payton connection is even weaker than JS supposed connection to Belichick.

But don't tell Prag that! You don't know!

[Capricious]

A foot note to consider when watching the needs of the Titan defense this year:

 

Translation? The Saints offense is changing how defenses are being built. They need to get pressure, but due to the quickness of the Saints quarterback, it is more efficient to have that pressure come from a defensive tackle. A penetrating DT is the greatest priority -- the quickest route from point A to point B is a straight line, and there is nothing a quarterback hates more than pressure in his face from a DT. He has nowhere to step up and many times runs into a blocked DE on the edge. It helps to have good DE's, but they may not have enough time to get there when the quarterback can quickly plant and throw. Having multiple coverage cornerbacks is a must as well. Most teams prefer zone because a man CB is a little harder to find, much less three or four of them.

 

That leaves the LB's to fill the gaps on run plays - much like the linebacker group the 49er's have today

[Pragidealist]

But don't tell Prag that! You don't know!

Neither of you do, but I didn't see a need to say it again.