The Tennessee Titans selected Jake Locker with the 8th overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft. They watched as current NFL stars Cam Newton, Von Miller, A.J. Green, Patrick Peterson and Julio Jones went ahead of him, and took Locker over guys like Tyron Smith, J.J. Watt and Robert Quinn, all of which went soon after. It is easy to question the pick in retrospect, but looking back, that was a draft loaded with front-line talent, and at least to this point, the Titans missed on a potentially very valuable pick.
Injuries and simple ineffectiveness have held back Locker through his entire career. He has never been healthy enough to play more than 11 games in a season (2012), and his career completion percentage of 57.2% and touchdown to interception ratio of 22/15 leaves plenty to be desired. While other teams landed future stars at the top of the 2011 class, to this date, the Titans drafted a mediocre quarterback option.
While on the surface, his future in Tennessee appears to be dim, it may not be time to give up on Locker just yet. This off-season, the Titans hired Ken Whisenhunt to be their head coach, replacing Mike Munchak. While Munchak is a well-respected coach with an incredible offensive line background, he was not the right fit with the Titans, especially when it came to the progression of Locker.
On the other hand, Whisenhunt is one of the most brilliant offensive minds in the game, and he specializes in quarterback play. Last season as the offensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers, Whisenhunt played a huge role in Philip Rivers being named Comeback Player of the Year.
After an impressive start to his career, Rivers’ play had really started to slip in recent years. With quarterbacks all over the league setting passing records, Rivers simply struggled to keep up. Sure he still put up solid passing yardage totals, but his play was completely erratic.
In 2011, Rivers completed only 62.9% of his passes, and threw 20 interceptions. He had mild improvements in 2012 completing 64.1% of his passes, and 15 interceptions, but his 3,606 passing yards left him far behind the lead pack of starting quarterbacks in the NFL. Rivers simply looked washed up entering the 2013 season.
Last season, Rivers passed for 4,478 yards, completed a career high 69.5% of his passes, threw 32 touchdowns and was able to keep his interceptions in check with 11. Rivers looked much more comfortable and in control last season, as he led the Chargers to a 9-7 record, and a Wild Card round victory in the playoffs.
Whisenhunt deserves a ton of credit for helping to turn around Rivers’ career, and there are signs pointing towards him being able to do the same with Locker.
Locker is an athletic player who can make plays with his legs when necessary. He also has a very strong arm, and that is a necessary component in Whisenhunt’s vertical passing game offense. Where Locker has continually struggled in his career has been with accuracy.
Traditionally, Whisenhunt has always had accurate quarterbacks. Whether that has anything to do with his coaching style or not is nearly impossible to know, but the transformation that Rivers made under him is certainly a good sign for his chances of improving Locker.
While it is certainly wise to use caution because of small sample size, Locker has been fantastic through three preseason games so far this year. He has completed 21 of 30 passes (70% completion percentage) for 268 yards and two touchdowns. He has yet to throw an interception. Such a small sample of numbers may not mean much, as Locker could easily return to his old, inconsistent ways. That said, he looks much more poised on the field this season, and Whisenhunt deserves a ton of credit for that.
Locker’s rookie contract expires after this season, making it likely that the Titans move in another direction if he does not show vast improvement throughout the season. That said, with young weapons like Kendall Wright, Justin Hunter and Bishop Sankey at his disposal, and one of the best quarterback coaches in the NFL showing him the way, Locker has a real opportunity to turn his career around this season.