The Tennessee Titans are one of the few teams that brought in a high profile quarterback in 2011 and had the luxury of not throwing him into a starting role immediately, but Jake Locker looked strong in limited action this season.
Coach Mike Munchak spoke to both Locker and veteran Matt Hasselbeck on Monday and announced that there will be an open quarterback competition going into the 2012 season.
“It wouldn’t be fair to tell Jake Locker he wouldn’t have an opportunity to play next year, that he was going to sit for another season,” Munchak said. “I don’t think Matt would want to hear that either. I think they are both competitive in that way. I think when the time comes, just like it was this past year, that Matt was the guy that was most ready to help us win, I think the same decision will be made next year.
“And I think that it will be an obvious decision to us who should start.”
Hasselbeck threw for 3,571 yards this season, with 18 TDs and 14 INTs, ending the year with a passer rating of 82.4.
“I think Matt did a great job for us and is a big part of why we’re 9-7,” Munchak said. “He carried us at times when the running game wasn’t as strong as we’d liked throughout the year and we lost our best receiver [Kenny Britt] on offense.”
Locker was excellent in limited relief action. Although he only completed 51.5 percent of his passes, he threw for 542 yards with 4 TDs and no INTs, giving him a passer rating of 99.4. Locker also averaged 7 yards per carry, and ran for 1 TD as well.
“He played better than we thought he’d come in and do,” Munchak said of Locker. “That’s what made the people of Nashville, the Titans fans, so excited about the backup quarterback. People don’t really know him yet, and they got flashes from a young quarterback who is going to be very good for some time.”
Locker looks like the long term solution at quarterback for the Titans, and next year’s competition between the two will be one of the interesting offseason stories to follow.
