If the Titans had a mulligan, it'd be Mason

what if the university of miami never existed?

 

I wouldn't call Mason and Neal rejects. I'd call Rolle and McNair rejects, but not Mason and Neal.

 

What did LoNeal's contract end up being this year?

I advocated that we sign him in the offseason, even though I'm not sure how we would've worked that into the roster and gameplan. Maybe split FB time between Neal and Hall...



I have to agree with Mason being the Titan we let go that would have given us the most value had we signed him longterm. Only because Hall has given us a decent replacement to Neal.

They are both excellent players.

 

Guys we thought we'd be fine without or could replace for less money. I'd consider them rejects. Plus, I doubt anyone expected Mason to really catch on and be very successful anywhere else.

 

but he did.

 

I see this argument made quite often but do people realize that LN was only a Titan for 2 years? 1999 and 2000. It simply makes no sense to claim Neal was the difference maker. George's stats as far as YPC didn't change hardly at all after LN got to TN from the 3 previous seasons (1996-1998). George had the toe injury in 2001 and wasn't the same.

The run game came back not so much because of Hall but because our OL got better and Henry took advantage of it in 2006 (Hall's rookie year). Keep in mind that it was 2006 when Roos moved to LT and Stewart took over at RT. We also had Bell who got the opportunity to start 15 games in 2006 because Pillar got hurt (thankfully). Oh, did I mention that Mawea came on board in 2006.

I'd also argue that Chris Brown was running wild in 2004 without LN and if not for Brown's issue with injury could have been one of the leading rushers in the league that year. He only started in 11 games that year and missed a number of qts in games but still put up over 1000 yards and a 4.9 average.

The main reason the running game is exceptional right now is because Reese put together a great OL which MR was able to maintain by replacing Olsen with Scott after Olsen retired (remember it was Reese who drafted Amano in the 7th round).
Hall gives the offense versatility we didn't have with LN because Hall is a better pass catcher but it is the OL that allows us to pound the ball like we did ikn 1999 and 2000.