We continue our position group analyses with a look at the offensive tackles.  While Total Titans has often been critical of the offensive line in the last three years, we do recognize the Titans have one of the better tackle tandems in the league, particularly in pass protection.

Michael Roos has started every game for the Titans since he was drafted in 2005.  He was the Titans' starting right tackle as a rookie and moved to left tackle the following season, replacing the retiring Brad Hopkins, who had been a fixture there since 1993.  Roos' best season by far was 2008, when he was named first-team All-Pro and selected to the Pro Bowl.  His contract runs through 2014, a voidable year.  More after the jump.

After last night's live viewing and recap, I went through and watched again the Titans' offensive plays against the Seahawks. I have a long list of notes, plus I also kept track of player participation (as best I could off the Seahawks broadcast aired on NFL Network), so I'll stick all of them after the jump.

Just a quick recap tonight, but the Tennessee Titans opened the preseason with a 27-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Fourth-string running back Darius Reynaud stole the show for the Titans, scoring once as a rusher and once on a punt return, but the Seahawks broke a fourth-quarter tie thanks to some short field position and then iced the game with a touchdown in the final two minutes.

The most eyes are of course on the quarterback battle. Matt Hasselbeck started and put up some pretty mediocre numbers, 5-9 for 45 yards and two interceptions, including a pick-6 in the first 10 seconds. That one was a multiple-deflection, while the other one was a formation-based deep shot for Damian Williams that doubled as an effective third-down armpunt. Locker was more efficient, going 7-13 for 76 yards in leading the Titans to a field goal in the two-minute drill at the end of the first half

The supposedly-improved running game was difficult to find, as Chris Johnson managed only 8 yards on 5 carries. It sadly reminded me a lot of the 2010 preseason game against Carolina, where the Titans' difficulties running the ball presaged similar problems in the regular season. The Titans' offense barely moved the ball at all, save a few Hasselbeck passes to Washington and one to Cook, until the Seahawks took their first-team defensive line out of the game.

We'll have more on the Titans' performance this game, including an in-depth look at the things I indicated in my game preview, later on Total Titans.

The Tennessee Titans kick off the 2012 preseason tonight against the Seahawks in Seattle. The game begins at 9 PM CT and will be on the air in the Titans local preseason affiliates and nationally with the NFL Network.

Since it's the first preseason game, that the Titans are playing the Seahawks as opposed to some other team doesn't matter that much-what the Titans will be doing tonight will be a function of what the Titans want to see and do much, much, much more than what the Seahawks do. With that in mind, I'll be looking at personnel and basically ignoring scheme.

Here are the things I'll be focusing my attention on tonight:

• The quarterback battle. Matt Hasselbeck will start and play perhaps 10-15 snaps. Jake Locker will come in next, and I'd expect him to play about the same. For both of them, are they on the same page with the wide receivers? Do they get the ball out quickly? Preseason doesn't normally feature many downfield throws, but still, do they take any shots? Some of these questions apply more to Locker, some to Hasselbeck.
• Timing in the run game. Is Chris Johnson on the same page with the offensive line? Holes develop and close, and must be hit on time. That rarely happened last year. Does it happen this year? For it to happen, Johnson needs to be running hard, and holes need to be opened.
• Can a young wide receiver make plays? In this first preseason game, receivers who didn't get thrown the ball a lot or at all last year will get a lot of snaps. Can Marc Mariani be a factor at wideout? Can a player like Michael Preston or James Kirkendoll earn the Titans' trust and a roster spot during any Kenny Britt suspension?
• The defensive line mix. Who plays when? Does Pannel Egboh or Derrick Morgan start? How does Egboh look? What about guys who may be on the bubble like Sen'Derrick Marks, Shaun Smith, Malcolm Sheppard, Leger Douzable, Zach Clayton, and Scott Solomon? This is one of those times where I really wish I knew defensive lineman technique much better than I do.
• Cornerback beyond the top two. Alterraun Verner and Jason McCourty will play a lot. Tommie Campbell got a lot of praise in the offseason for his technique work, and I'd like to see that on the field after a quieter training camp. Can Ryan Mouton earn a job? Does Terrence Wheatley make the team? Does Chris Hawkins make the team again this year?
• The rookies. We finally get to see guys like Kendall Wright and Zach Brown in a Titans uniform. What do they do?
• No injuries. The Bengals had four starters leave the field after receiving assistance in the first half of last night's game. I don't want to see that happen to the Titans.

I won't be liveblogging the game, but I'll probably be chiming in a lot early on Twitter, so follow me there if you like. We'll have a brief recap up after the game, and later a more in-depth look at the things I highlighted in this post and some other things that stood out.

UPDATE (8/11/12, 2034 CT): The Titans have indicated CB Terrence Wheatley, TE Brandon Barden, and DE Dave Ball will not play in tonight's game. Nor will WR Kenny Britt and S Markelle Martin, both of whom remain on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list.

The Titans hope Steve Hutchinson will improve their interior offensive line this year.

We continue our position by position preseason analysis of the Titans with today's focus on the guards.  The Titans guards were disappointing in 2011 and as a result, there will be new starters at both guard positions in 2012.

As Tom wrote in his offseason review of the guards in February, RG Jake Scott was not expected to remain a Titan and with no apparent successor on the roster, his replacement would need to be found in free agency or the draft.  That replacement turned out to be veteran LG Steve Hutchinson, who will continue to play the left side.  Leroy Harris, who manned the LG position the previous two seasons, will shift to the right side to fill the vacancy left by Scott's departure.

More on them, and the rest of the guards, after the jump.

Fernando Velasco may be the Titans' starting center in 2012.

The Tennessee Titans have not had a decent center since Kevin Mawae's 2008 season.  Following offseason surgery, Mawae was terrible in 2009 (yes, he was selected for the Pro Bowl, which is further evidence that popularity and name recognition are more important than performance) and the man who replaced him, Eugene Amano, wasn't a lot better in either 2010 or 2011.

The Titans courted five free agent centers in the offseason, without signing any, and neglected to select one in the draft.

Now that Amano will miss the entire 2012 season with torn triceps, where do the Titans go from here?  We'll take a lot at some options, which are limited and not particularly attractive, after the break.

We continue our trip around the Titans position by position as we approach the start of the 2012 season with a look at the wide receivers.

The Titans return five of their top six wide receivers from last season, and only departure, Donnie Avery, was replaced by Kendall Wright. That's basically a lateral move, so expect exactly the same thing from the Tennessee Titans receiving corps that you saw last year.

Sorry, but I just had to get that out of my system. Despite the joke, there's an element of truth there. The Titans bring back everybody who saw significant action at wide receiver last year. As I noted last year, without a healthy Kenny Britt, that group wasn't really good enough, and despite my trepidations, the Titans selected Kendall Wright in the first-round of this year's draft. Beyond how the incorporation of Wright changes things, there's the big question of how much the Titans will have Kenny Britt available, and just how healthy he'll be this year.

The Titans' wide receiver depth chart isn't that complicated, but figuring out how that translates to the field will be an interesting exercise this year, and one with few obvious answers.