Titans will be young this season at tackle

The Tennessee Titans had a grand total of three men at tackle on the offensive line between 1997 and 2004. Now they have three players trying to win the job at right tackle.

Michael Roos, the starter at right tackle in 2005 as a rookie, has moved to left tackle as the replacement for Brad Hopkins, the man who started more games at left tackle than anyone else in the NFL between 1993 and 2005.

That leaves the Titans with a very big opening at the other end of the offensive line, and two-year veteran Jacob Bell wrapped up minicamps Thursday working at that spot with the first-team offensive line. David Stewart and Daniel Loper are the other candidates.

Right guard Benji Olson, who has played beside each of the three, thinks the 6-foot-4, 295-pound Bell is doing a good job right now.

“As long as he stays healthy, I think that’s his job to lose. Daniel and … David, they’ve come along. They’re trying to get their hands dirty. They’re a couple big guys that show a lot of promise and can compete for that spot. But I think right now Jacob’s doing pretty good. We’ll see how it goes.”

Bell has the edge in experience. A fifth-round pick out of Miami of Ohio in 2004, Bell started 14 games at left guard as an injury replacement for Zach Piller. He tore his left anterior cruciate ligament, but he played in nine games and played at right tackle the last two games of 2005.

“They’ve got me out there right now,” Bell said Thursday. “If everything keeps going well, I’ll be out there. I feel good, though.”

Loper and Stewart have a bit more size. The 6-7, 318-pound Stewart was their second pick in the fourth round in 2005 out of Mississippi State, while the 6-6, 320-pound Loper was a fifth-round pick last year out of Texas Tech.

Bell likes the challenge of trying to hold both Stewart and Loper off.

“You need to have competition at everything you do. I’m glad the guys behind me want my spot as much as I do,” he said.

Loper had been hampered this offseason by a right wrist injury that had him wearing a cast part of the spring. Coach Jeff Fisher said Stewart has made a move in recent weeks, and the right tackle job likely won’t be decided easily or quickly in training camp.

“It’s going to be competitive there,” Fisher said. “It’s hard to say. I’d like to settle it as soon as we can. It’s very competitive, and they’re all improving.”

Fisher was lucky enough to have Hopkins start 188 games for the franchise between 1993 and 2005. Hopkins was a salary cap casualty in March before retiring last week. He also went from Jon Runyan to Fred Miller at right tackle before salary cap pressures forced the Titans to go young last season.

But the Titans have plenty of experience on the interior of their line.

They signed 12-year veteran Kevin Mawae to replace Justin Hartwig, who signed with Carolina earlier this year. They also have seven-year veteran Piller at left guard and Olson, now tied with punter Craig Hentrich as the longest tenured Titans because both joined the team in 1998.

Olson signed a four-year contract extension earlier this offseason, and he said both he and Piller can slide out to help the new tackles this season. But the Titans will be leaning on their experienced middle.

“It’s important to have a few guys in there that have played together or played a long time in this league and have figured it out,” Olson said.