Tennessee Titans Daily Fantasy Team Preview

Vegas Projected Win Total – 5.5

While the recent QB experiments have have all failed (Vince Young, Jake Locker, Zach Mettenberger), the addition of Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota is expected to turn things around under center. His unique skill set will provide the Titans with the ability not only to throw the ball down the field, but make plays on the ground as well. However, the biggest offseason move in Tennessee may be the hiring of Dick LeBeau to assistant head coach in charge of defense. This is a Titans team that finished last season 27^th in total defense, 31^st in run defense, and allowed 27.4 PPG, which tied with Washington for 29^th in the NFL. The team picked up the option on WR Kendall Wright and added WRs Hakeem Nicks and Harry Douglas. They also parted ways with RB Shonn Greene, leaving Bishop Sankey atop the depth chart for now, although newly-drafted David Cobb is expected to battle for playing time from the inconsistent Sankey.

Impact Fantasy Players

Delanie Walker – Walker was one of the better GPP targets at TE last season, due to his ability to stuff the stat sheet. He was inconsistent at times, but a lot of his struggles can be attributed to the fact that Tennessee's QB trio finished 22^nd in the NFL with just 213 YPG. Walker had a few huge performances (10/142/1 Week 2 vs. Dallas and 5/155 Week 10 at Philadelphia). His value will depend on Mariota, but his 68.3% completion rate last season at Oregon leads us to believe that he will continue his success at the NFL level.

Walker led the team with 108 targets, 63 catches, and 890 yards receiving in 2014, and was a constant target for first downs as well, tying Kendall Wright with 33 conversions that moved the chains. Even more impressively, he racked up 355 YAC, which was second to only Wright (362) on the team, and just ahead of studs like Dez Bryant (352) and Anquan Boldin (351) His 13 catches of 20+ yards was good for 31^st in the NFL among all players.

Walker should see some of the offensive burden lifted off his shoulders with the new additions at both WR and RB in 2015, leaving him with single coverage more often in the upcoming year, which could lead to an even bigger season

Kendall Wright – One of the most frustrating players to roster in DFS, Wright has shown flashes of brilliance at times in his young career. He finished 2014 with 57 catches on 93 targets for 715 yards and 6 of the Titans 20 receiving scores. He had a breakout performance Week 15 against the Texans, where he hauled in 7 of 9 targets for 132 yards and a score. He followed up that performance with another solid outing of 4 grabs for 73 yards against Jacksonville before ending the season with 2 grabs for 9 yards and a score against the Colts.

Wright's inconsistencies can be somewhat attributed to poor QB play as well, as his solid YAC numbers (362) show his upside. The Baylor product is poised to have a breakout season with Marcus Mariota under center, so keep your eyes on him in the early going and see if they can build a quick rapport.

Impact Fantasy Rookies

Marcus Mariota – While Mariota is the easy choice here, don't sleep on David Cobb, who could end up snatching the starting gig and lions share of touches from Bishop Sankey in 2015. With that being said, Mariota is the early favorite for ROY and should excel in the Titans' system this season. I mentioned his remarkable consistency at Oregon last season, and his 42/4 TD/INT ratio furthers the point that he makes great decisions. Stepping into an offense that was in the cellar of the NFL in nearly every statistical category means that things are only going to move up from here. Mariota has the patience and skills necessary to make an immediate impact in Tennessee, and DFS players need to be on notice right away.

Storylines

Adding rookies at two key positions will be a tumultuous ride for nearly any team, but the additions of Mariota and Cobb are expected to turn this offense around in a hurry. It will be interesting to see how much success LeBeau has with a defense that was equally terrible, and produced one of the worst run defenses in the last decade.

The Titans are still a long way away from contending for the playoffs, as evidenced by the Vegas win total of just 5.5, but they are expected to make significant strides toward relevance coming off of a 2-14 season where they lost their final 10 games by an average of 13.5 points per game.

Stock Watch

Up – Kendall Wright

Although Mariota loves the spread the ball around, one would imagine that Wright's ability to make plays down the field will make him an early favorite for the rookie. If Mariota can remain consistent and accurate as he was at Oregon, Wright could be in for a huge seaon in 2015.

Down – Bishop Sankey

The addition of David Cobb in the 2015 NFL Draft could be a signal of future of the Titans at RB. Bishop Sankey was inconsistent and averaged just 3.7 YPC in 2014, and if nothing else, should lose goal-line work to the Minnesota product who has a good 20 extra pounds packed onto his frame. Obviously it is early, but Sankey held little to no value in DFS either way.

Projections

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Daily Fantasy Outlook

Mariota will be a DFS darling right off the bat against a Tampa Bay defense that ranked 25^th in total defense in 2014. His development will be the key to the entire offense, including Kendall Wright, David Cobb, Justin Hunter and Bishop Sankey. Delanie Walker is the one target you can look to each week at this point, but the big-play abilities of Hunter and Wright make them intriguing targets in GPPs.

Keep your eyes on guys like Harry Douglas and Hakeem Nicks, as their veteran presence (mostly Douglas) could lead to some early rapport with the rookie QB under center. Douglas has stepped up many times when called upon in Atlanta with injuries to Julio Jones and Roddy White, and there is no reason to believe that he can't emerge as a consistent weapon for the Titans this season.