Ken Whisenhunt inherited a bit of a mess when he took over the Tennessee Titans in 2014, so maybe a rough seasonin-depth was not a surprise. But QB injuries, subpar offensive line play and almost everything else went off the rails for Tennessee last season.

The result was a 2-14 record and the second pick in the draft.

So how does this team start picking up the pieces in an effort to again become relevant?

Jimmy Morris, editor in chief of the Music City Miracles blog, shares his thoughts on what went wrong and what needs to happen to spur a turnaround.

Zoneblitz: The Titans went from seven wins to two, albeit with a new coach. What’s your assessment of the 2014 season?

Morris: It was bad all the way around. There is not one thing that you can point to and say the Titans did well. There is less hope around this team than any time since they moved to Nashville before the 1999 season. They literally have a need at every single position on both sides of the ball.

Zoneblitz: After one season what are your thoughts on Ken Whisenhunt and the staff he brought in?

Morris: Ken Whisenhunt is a stubborn coach who refuses to deviate from this plan. They made the change to Zach Mettenberger, and let him continue to take seven step drops even after he had a shoulder injury and the offensive line was down to the fifth and sixth string tackles. Most coaches would hand the ball off more, or at the very least keep some extra guys in to block on passing plays. The Whiz was having none of that. He left Mett out there to get killed and eventually suffer a season-ending injury to that same shoulder.

On the defensive side of the ball, defensive coordinator Ray Horton and his staff were equally as disappointing. They didn’t have the personnel to run a 3-4 defense, yet they ran that exclusively. They were terrible against the run and the pass.

Zoneblitz: Zach Mettenberger, Jake Locker, Charlie Whitehurst – the QB position went off the rails in 2014. Do the Titans grab Mariota or Winston? Is Mettenberger the answer? How would see them answering the QB question in 2015?

Morris: I don’t see them taking a QB with the second pick. I think they will bring in a veteran to compete in camp with Zach Mettenberger. They might be tempted to take Jameis Winston if the Buccaneers don’t, but Marcus Mariota doesn’t fit the Ken Whisenhunt system.

The jury is still out on Mettenberger. There is no doubt he has the arm to make all of the throws, but he has trouble with accuracy and doesn’t move very well in the pocket. He can be the guy if he can fix those things, but that is a very big if.

Zoneblitz: Bishop Sankey, Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter showed glimpses, but were far from dominant. What’s your assessment of the future for those guys and how does the rest of the skill talent look?

Morris: Jury is still out on Sankey. He didn’t look very impressive in his rookie season, but no one outside of Barry Sanders would have running behind that offensive line. He will be in the mix in 2015, but the Titans will probably add another back in the draft.

They need to find ways to get the ball in Kendall Wright’s hands more. He is dynamic in the open field. The inconsistency at quarterback has hurt his development. He would be putting up huge numbers in a different offense.

Justin Hunter has been a disappointment. He has the athleticism to be special but has only been ordinary at best. He needs to take some big steps forward in 2015.

TE Delanie Walker is the Titans best skill player. He had a huge year in 2014 and will be even better with a consistent presence at quarterback. He should be mentioned in the second-tier of tight ends in the league right behind guys like Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham.

Zoneblitz: The defense gave up 438 points and nearly 6,000 yards and was not very strong against the run or the pass. What caused this and what does it take to fix that unit?

Morris: They just don’t have very many good players on defense. DE Jurrell Casey is a stud. CB Jason McCourty is solid. Rookie ILB Avery Williamson showed some promise. Outside of that, the Titans might not have a guy that would even start on most teams. They just need to get better personnel- starting with a guy that can get after the quarterback. Derrick Morgan made the transition from DE to OLB fairly well, but he was disrupting offenses. They need to get that guy that the opposing offensive coordinator has to account for on every play.

Zoneblitz: The Titans have used top 11 picks on offensive linemen in back-to-back drafts, but still ranked 28th out of 32 in PFF’s assessment of offensive lines. Talent? Injuries? Other?

Morris: Injuries were a big part of the problem, but not the whole problem. Chance Warmack, the 2013 first round pick, was bad early, but actually played really well down the stretch. It looks like things finally clicked for him. Taylor Lewan, the 2014 first round pick, was playing really well before his season was cut short due to an injury. Andy Levitre has been bad. Michael Oher was a disaster and then got hurt. Some continuity would go a long way for this line. I think they will make a pretty substantial improvement in 2015.

Zoneblitz: CEO Tommie Smith said the club will aggressively improve the roster this offseason. How will that happen? What is the cap situation? And what would you like to see the team do in free agency and the draft?

Morris: They have a ton of cap space- more than $44 million according to overthecap.com. They need to make a splash in free agency to get some talent for the defensive side of the ball. Of course it would be really nice to get Justin Houston, but he isn’t getting out of Kansas City. A guy like Brian Orakpo, however, would be a really good piece to add that will probably hit the market. They also need help at safety. They could target Jason McCourty’s twin brother, Devin, from the Patriots to help out there.

Best case scenario for the draft would be to trade down and get a bunch of picks. This team needs to fill a lot of holes before they are going to be competitive.

Zoneblitz: Who do you see having a breakout season in 2015?

Morris: I think Wright and Walker will have really big years. They are the two most talented players on the offensive side of the ball, and they should play a lot better with a year in Ken Whisenhunt’s system under their belts.

Follow Music City Miracles on Twitter at: @TitansMCM
Follow Jimmy Morris on Twitter at: @jmorrisMCM
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