Tennessee Titans Reportedly Will Start Jake Locker on Opening Day

According to Jim Wyatt of the Tennesseean, Jake Locker will be the Tennessee Titans’ starting quarterback when the team takes the field against the New England Patriots on opening day.

Locker was a surprise top 10 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft after returning for his senior season at Washington and not quite living up to his number one overall potential. Still, Locker is a talented kid with good leadership qualities, and the Titans believed in him enough to invest a high selection in him with their new regime.

This move on the depth chart means Matt Hasselbeck will now be backing up the young QB of the future for the Titans, and while Locker has looked pretty up-and-down in the pre-season, he looked solid in spot duty last year as a rookie and ignited something in the Tennessee offense, something you see a lot with young quarterbacks.

One thing that makes Locker special is his incredible athletic ability. If you’ll remember, he was a baseball player “back in the day” and not only does he have a very strong arm, he can run around pretty well. Locker’s 40 time last year was among the best for quarterbacks, heck even for running backs. He ran a 4.50 in the 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine at 6’3″ 231 pounds. Not many guys around can do that, and not that it translates directly to playing quarterback, but it shows what kind of player the Titans have invested in.

I think this is a good move. The Titans are vaulting into the future with their “new” quarterback and making a statement by declaring him the starter this long before the regular season starts–this is Locker’s team.