Next up on our trip around the Tennessee Titans position by position as head into the 2013 offseason is a look at the outside linebacker position.

If middle linebacker was a position that went from stable last offseason to potentially unstable this offseason, something like the opposite transition has occurred at outside linebacker. It's been a gradual process, almost an exceedingly gradual one at times. It started, in a way, back in 2009, as the Keith Bulluck-David Thornton pairing that worked so successfully the previous three seasons showed increasingly major wear. A temporary solution came in free agency, and the draft brought more players cursed with potential.

The current picture started to take shape in 2011. New defensive coordinator Jerry Gray brought a new conception of what being one of the outside linebackers meant, and that year's draft brought a player to fill that role, one who made too many mistakes due to inexperience and lack of skill, but seemed like a promising piece to build on. Unlike at Mike, that second-year Sam had about as strong a second season and still looks like a good solution, albeit one who needs more improvement. 

The 2012 offseason brought a new player at the other outside linebacker position. With a player at his position already on the roster, this highly-drafted rookie was not immediately installed as a starter, but like the middle linebacker became a starter during his rookie season thanks to the starter's ineffectiveness. He looked good at times, less good at others. Can the Will avoid the Mike's fate and continue to improve in his second season?

After covering the defensive ends and tackles, we turn our position to the next level of the defense, specifically the middle linebackers, as we continue our trip around the Tennessee Titans position by position heading into the 2013 offseason.

When we addressed the Mike backer last offseason and again in the preseason, it looked like the Titans had found a solution for 2012 and going forward. Then, the regular season happened.

Things didn't go so well for the Tennessee Titans at the middle linebacker position in 2012. The player who'd looked like a potential star in the making the second half of 2011 got hurt, then got healthy but looked less like a star in the making, then got hurt again. The backup played a few snaps, then got hurt again. The third-stringer came in, and, well, played like a third-stringer, resulting in outside linebackers taking snaps.

Suddenly, a position that seemed solid suddenly seemed much less so, especially because it wasn't the potential star in the making's first injury issue. What, then, should the Titans do this offseason? Will they hope the young player can stay healthy and retain his 2011 form, or do they need reinforcements at the position again?

We continue our trip around the Tennessee Titans position by position as we head into the offseason with a look at the defensive ends.

Will the Titans ever be happy with their defensive end grouping? As Andrew wrote last offseason, two (now three) years ago, defensive end was the biggest offseason need, and the Titans addressed the position in the first round of the NFL draft. It was one of the biggest needs of last offseason, and the Titans addressed the position with a big money free agent contract (and in the draft as well, albeit at the end of the draft).

By at least one measure, the defensive end grouping was much improved in 2012. Both starting defensive ends had more sacks than any defensive end did in 2011, and the Titans went from the second-worst Adjusted Sack Rate in the league to a league-average one. At the same time, the big free agent was widely regarded as somewhere between a bit of a disappointment and an outright bust, and there's still something of a need at the position.

Having finished with the offense, we now turn our attention to the defense, specifically the defensive tackles, as we continue our trip position by position around the Tennessee Titans as we had into the 2013 offseason.

As I've chronicled on here, the Tennessee Titans were very young defensively. That was true at many positions, but perhaps nowhere was it more true than it was at defensive tackle. The Titans carried five defensive tackles. Together, those players had as many years of NFL experience in 2012 as they did combined in the years preceding 2012, and one player accounted for three of those five years of experience entering this past season.

The basic question the Titans face at defensive tackle is a familiar theme from this round of positional analyses. With one starter who played most of the time heading to free agency, did the Titans get enough from the position in 2012 that they should look to retaining him and internal improvements to help them improve from 6-10 to the playoff or near-playoff team they need to be in 2013 for the head men to keep their jobs, or should they be looking instead to upgrade at the position? And just how good can those young players be, anyway?

After looks at the tackles and guards, we conclude our trip around the Titans' offensive line with a look at the center position.

What to make of the center position for the Tennessee Titans. As Andrew covered in our preseason look at the position, the Titans tried last offseason to bring in an upgrade, but after failing to sign Chris Myers, Jeff Saturday, and Scott Wells were left with the same grouping they had in 2011. Then, the presumptive starter tore his triceps and was lost for the season. The Titans ended up using three starting centers in 2012, none of whom is currently under contract for 2013.

The situation isn't quite as murky as that precis makes it sound, but as they do at guard, the Titans have a decision or two to make at the center position in 2013. Will they opt for one or another of the various flavors of continuity, or will it be a season of change all along the interior of the offensive line?

We continue our trip around the Tennessee Titans position by position was we head into the 2013 offseason with a look at the offensive guards.

What did the Tennessee Titans learn from their two new starters at the two guard positions in 2012? Well, if a player is moved from left guard to right guard and has never in his life played right guard before, there's a pretty good chance he won't be as good at right guard as he was at left guard. Also, thirty-something offensive linemen who've ended the past two seasons on injured reserve have a pretty good chance of ending the season on injured reserve.

As a result, the Titans head into the 2013 offseason at guard in pretty much the same situation they were in heading into the 2012 offseason, with one starter a free agent who seems unlikely to be retained and the other a bit of a disappointment, plus no good internal candidate to replace either the impending free agent or the disappointing starter. Will the Titans dive into the veteran free agent pool and see if they can get it right this offseason? Do they have another choice?

Next up on our trip around the Tennessee Titans position by position is a look at the offensive tackles.

Or, for the seventh consecutive offseason, it's time to write about Michael Roos and David Stewart. Drafted in the same draft class back in 2005. Heck, the picks to draft them actually came in the same trade, when the Detroit Lions traded up to select current Texans nose tackle Shaun Cody. Beginning when Stewart finally stepped into the starting lineup in Week 4 of the 2006 season, they'd been the starters at left and right tackle for 91 of 93 regular season games.

2012 saw more disruption to the bookend pairing, though, as Roos missed his first career game and Stewart suffered a broken leg late in the season. Both players return for 2013 and should be regarded as the presumptive starters, but after last year, what might 2013 bring?