Tennessee Titans: Can Alex Tanney beat out Matt Cassel?
By Dale Lolley
After sitting deep on the Tennessee Titans quarterback depth chart a year ago, can Alex Tanney beat out Matt Cassel heading into 2017?
By all accounts, Alex Tanney has looked good during the Tennessee Titans’ OTAs. That’s all well and good. It’s great Tanney has looked good while Marcus Mariota and Matt Cassel have both spent time watching on the sidelines this spring. If he hadn’t been at least competent, the Titans would have had a tough time getting through their OTAs.
But there’s been talk going back to last summer of Tanney possibly beating Cassel out for the No. 2 quarterback spot on Tennessee’s roster. No matter how good Tanney looks in the spring — football in shorts — it’s going to be awfully difficult for the Titans to replace Cassel with him. In fact, it would be a pretty big leap of faith.
At 29, Tanney has been around the block in NFL circles. Since coming into the league in 2013, the former Monmouth star has been with six different teams. And he’s on his second stint with the Titans. Only Rocky Balboa has been cut more times.
Tanney also has thrown just 14 career passes during his career, filling in at the end of the 2015 season when both Mariota and Zach Mettenberger were injured. Sure, he completed 10 of those passes for 99 yards and a touchdown in that 30-24 loss to Indianapolis, but it was a low-leverage situation.
However, the other side of being cut by six teams is that he has shown enough to continue to be signed by another. That said, Tanney is the living definition of a journeyman.
The extra reps during the spring will certainly help him. But given Mariota’s injury history in his two NFL seasons — he’s missed five starts — having a veteran backup is a must. The Titans have the look of a team ready to challenge for the AFC South title. Cassel isn’t going to wow anyone. He’s got a career passer rating of 79.2, which is mediocre. But he also owns 80 career NFL starts. He also has 103 career touchdown passes against 79 interceptions and learned at the knee of Tom Brady.
Don’t discount his ability to help continue to help Mariota with what he sees on the field. Quarterbacks like to have another trusted set of eyes to rely on when they come to the sideline. Cassel can provide that. Tanney could as well. But he has less playing experience than Mariota.
Next: 2017 NFL Quarterback Power Rankings: Post-OTAs
It’s hard to believe the Titans would turn the keys to the car over to Tanney if something again happened to Mariota rather than go with a more proven commodity — no matter how good Tanney looks playing football in shorts.