Tennessee Titans: Can Ken Whisenhunt save Jake Locker?

The Tennessee Titans have shown patience with Jake Locker. Maybe too much patience, and maybe at this time a year from now another quarterback project will be underway. Dart throwing at a position that about 20 people on this Earth can play effectively is all too common.

In Cleveland the Browns needed to see Brandon Weeden start 20 games — only a little over one full season — to determine that a 21st wasn’t necessary. Locker hasn’t been much better, and in Week 1 he’ll make his 19th career start with little more than a journeyman (Charlie Whitehurst) and a sixth-round pick (Zach Mettenberger) behind him on the depth chart.

But during the offseason the Titans saw a caped quarterback crusader in the distance, and his potent healing powers were brought to Tennessee. Having come from the great beyond in San Diego, this member of the quarterback whisperers union (headed by Jim Harbaugh and Marc Trestman) now faces his greatest challenge.

So can Ken Whisenhunt save Locker, and pull him back from the first-round bust graveyard gates?

Whisenhunt indeed has a history with similar reclamation projects. But there’s a daunting difference between Locker, and his other success stories: the not at all small problem of talent.

For two of the three quarterbacks who have excelled under Whisenhunt’s guidance, his role leaned more towards a remodeling rather than building from the ground up. He already had a nice, fully functioning kitchen to work with, but the cupboards and back splash were out of date. Philip Rivers and Kurt Warner had lost their way, but they still had a history of success that just needed to be summoned from somewhere. Locker has little more than hope.

Whisenhunt was an attractive hire for the Titans after his most recent wand waving, and what he did with Rivers as the Chargers offensive coordinator. Rivers was quickly spiraling, setting alarming lows over the two seasons prior to Whisenhunt’s arrival. In 2011 he threw a career high 20 interceptions, and his 6.8 yards per attempt the next season was even more concerning from a quarterback known for his deep arm.

Enter Whisenhunt, and suddenly stability arrived too. Rivers went from a completion percentage of 64.1 in 2012, to a career high 69.5. Over a two-year span his interceptions fell from that career high mark, to only 11 under Whisenhunt, and he averaged 8.2 yards per attempt while throwing 60 passes for 20 yards or more.

Through an offense crafted perfectly for a strong-armed pocket passer, the old Rivers returned, and he became far more disciplined with his reads and ball placement. The problem is Locker isn’t strong-armed or a pocket passer, and he’s also not a surprisingly fast human tank like Ben Roethlisberger, Whisenhunt’s lone quarterback he tutored from the beginning during his time as the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, a tenure that included a shiny Super Bowl ring.

There needs to be some history of accuracy, and a foundation to build on. And with Locker, that simply doesn’t exist.

Forget that he has a career completion percentage of 57.2 as a professional quarterback, or that last year during his seven starts his deep ball accuracy (throws that travel more than 20 yards in the air) tumbled to only 23.3 percent, the lowest rate in the league according to Pro Football Focus. Going even further than that to his days at the University of Washington, Locker has always struggled with getting a football from hand to gut.

Over 619 collegiate pass attempts and 40 game appearances, Locker completed only 54.0 percent of his throws. Yet at one point he was still considered a possible first overall pick because of the intrigue generated by his athleticism, his one redeeming quality that Whisenhunt will now minimize.

The Titans offense has plenty of youth and promise, with Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter forming one of the league’s best young wide receiver tandems, and Bishop Sankey fresh in the backfield as a second-round pick. But in Locker they have little more than hope.

Hope is one hell of a drug, and now the small sample size of the preseason has sprinkled even more of it. So far through two games this August Locker has been efficient, converting on eight of his 10 attempts for 80 yards and a touchdown. A fine start, but once games matter his history of sprayed throws feels far too deep to overcome, even for the wizardry of Whisenhunt.

There’s always next year, and there’s always Marcus Mariota, Brett Hundley, or Jameis Winston.