Let ‘Lying Season’ Begin!

With the NFL Combine starting this week, so too starts “lying season,” that magical time of the NFL year when teams disseminate as much false information as possible in hopes of throwing other teams off the scent of their true draft intentions.

Titans GM Ruston Webster got the ball rolling this weekend in an interview with The Tennessean in which he stated the Titans may address a position other than quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick. Better yet, the insisted his team has so much freedom with that selection because of its faith in second-year QB Zach Mettenberger.

“We like Zach, and I think Zach has the tools to play and start in the league,” Webster told the paper. “We’ve said all along that this is a part of this process, and we have to do our due diligence all the way through. Zach knows we are going to do that, and this is just kind of part of it. These guys are part of the evaluation process along with other positions. And we’ll take a good look at them.”

Here’s the problem: the rest of us saw Mettenberger play last season, too. We saw him finish with more turnovers (nine) than touchdowns (eight). We saw him complete less than 60 percent of his passes (59.8). Most importantly, we saw him go 0-6 as a starter.

The biggest story from Mettenberger’s rookie season was his love of selfies. #whitecollarproblems

If Webster is waiting for head coach Ken Whisenhunt to develop Mettenberger into a winning quarterback, he is essentially just waiting to go back on the clock at the top of the 2016 draft.

That is not to say there are no other enticing options with the No. 2 overall pick. USC DE Leonard Williams is the best player in the draft, regardless of position, and would fill a pressing need for the Titans. Alabama WR Amari Cooper would also fill a need and would make any quarterback look better. But neither of those guys can get you from two wins to 10 wins … only an elite quarterback can do that (see Luck, Andrew).

Said Webster: “There’s going to be good defensive players, good receivers, and where do those other guys fit in? Really, the (second overall pick) is not all about the quarterbacks. A lot of other positions are involved, too.”

How do I know he’s lying? Because his lips are moving … and it’s NFL Draft season.

Speaking of Quarterback Quandaries

One of the big questions going into the offseason was, “What will the Rams do to fix their starting quarterback position?” The answer was revealed in the team’s recent press conference introducing new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti: nothing.

Head coach Jeff Fisher did not hesitate when asked if injury-prone starter Sam Bradford, who has missed 25 of the past 32 games due to a pair of ACL injuries, was in his plans for 2015.

“That’s correct, yes,” Fisher said. “He’s been in the building since the season ended. He’s doing well.”

Fisher went so far as to say he consulted Bradford before tabbing Cignetti, who had previously served as St. Louis’ quarterbacks coach, and that the promotion would not have happened without Bradford’s blessing.

The Rams still have a lot of work to do before guaranteeing Bradford’s place on the team — namely, re-working a contract that calls for him to make nearly $13 million in this, his final season — but given the mutual interest in making this work, that shouldn’t be much of a hold-up.

The Rams obviously didn’t feel they had any more appealing quarterback options. The draft’s top two quarterbacks, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, will be long gone by the time the Rams go on the clock. The options are limited in free agency, too, with the uninspiring Brian Hoyer and Colt McCoy likely atop St. Louis’ wish list.

The Rams will add another quarterback at some point this offseason, but those hoping the team will find an upgrade over Bradford are misreading St. Louis’ intentions.

“It’s not as much from the standpoint of challenging Sam,” Fisher said. “It’s to have options. We don’t know what that looks like right now. We don’t know if that’s draft, if that’s free agency, or what that looks like. But when we line up in September, we’ll have somebody there.”

Detroit Against the World

One of the go-to tools in every coach’s bag is instilling players with an “us against the world” mentality. That’s exactly the mindset Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin ingrained in his unit last season, when Detroit finished No. 2 in yards allowed (300.9) and No. 3 in points allowed (17.6).

According to Austin, no one outside of Detroit expected such a dominant defensive showing.

“That expectation was there from us,” Austin told the team’s official website. “Nobody else had that expectation, but we did in that room. We expected our defense to be really good last year. We expect our defense to be good every year.”

As if often the case in these situations, the perception that no one thought the Lions would be a good defensive team was merely manufactured. Everyone knows the game is won in the trenches and Detroit was in great shape there with Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley and Ziggy Ansah. There were other standouts elsewhere on the defense, too, including DeAndre Levy and Glover Quin.

The real challenge may come this season if the Lions are not able to retain Suh and/or Fairely. That would gut the middle of a defense that made its living by stopping the run first and then capitalizing when opponents were stuck in obvious passing situations.

Detroit is well aware of this and is using every bow in its quiver to attempt to keep Suh in the Motor City. There is not much concern about losing Fairley on the open market, although that may change if Suh signs elsewhere.

Now, if Suh and Fairely both opt to leave the Lions, then Coach Austin can use the “us against the world” speech the way it was meant to be used … in times of real desperation.

Want to talk more about these and other headlines? Join Michael Lombardo for his weekly NFL Chat on Friday at 2pm EST. But you do not have to wait until then … ask your question now!