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Glennon's Take: Five Questions for Titans Entering Offseason

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – What we don't know at this moment is who will be coaching the Titans in 2018.

What we do know is that the new coach will see some things he likes and other things he'll want to change going forward.

With that in mind, here are five questions for the Titans heading into the offseason:

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What can the Titans build on going forward? –** Offensively, running back Derrick Henry showed signs he can be a dominant running back if he can become more consistent, using his size as well as his speed.

Starting tackles Taylor Lewan and Jack Conklin are young and talented, excellent players to anchor the line for years to come.

Quarterback Marcus Mariota may not have posted the numbers he would have liked. But he still led the league with five game-winning drives, a statistic that reflects both his competitive nature and his ability to come through in pressure situations.

Tight end Delanie Walker shows no signs of slowing down, as he posted more catches and yards in 2017 than the year before, despite a more sluggish offense and even more double-teaming.

Defensively, the Titans locked it down against the run for a second straight season, finishing fourth in the league in that department after finishing second in 2016. In addition, the Titans gave up some of the fewest big plays – both in the running and passing game – in the NFL.

Safety Kevin Byard earned All-Pro honors in just his second season, tying for the league lead with eight interceptions. Starting cornerbacks Logan Ryan and Adoree Jackson should only get better going into their second seasons here.

As for intangibles, keep in mind the Titans have produced back-to-back winning records for the first time since 2007-08, which should build confidence and help create expectations of success. In addition, a Titans roster that featured only 18 players with playoff experience at the start of 2017 now has many more, following the team's two-game run this postseason.

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What will be focus areas for improvement? –** Offensively, the Titans' top priority will likely be making the passing game more productive and efficient.

The 2017 slide in the passing game hurt the Titans in two key categories. They finished tied for 24th in third-down conversion rate, which meant too many drives ended too quickly. In addition, the Titans – who had the NFL's most successful red-zone offense in 2016 – fell to 14th last year. Too many drives that resulted in touchdowns in 2016 resulted in field goals last season.

Defensively, the focus will be on improving against the pass.

As good as the Titans were about not surrendering big plays, they were stung in a couple of other areas.

Opponents were able to move the ball consistently downfield through the air, as the Titans allowed 231 first downs by pass, the highest figure in the league. In addition, the Titans surrendered 27 touchdown passes, tied for eighth-most in the league.

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What should be expected of Mariota next season? –** Mariota's third season featured ups and downs.

He threw 13 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, numbers that didn't look much like his first two years – when he threw for a combined 45 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.

The good news is that he was trending up toward the end of the season as he got healthier. In his last five games – including the two playoff contests – Mariota threw seven touchdown passes and two interceptions. In the previous five weeks, he'd thrown four touchdowns and nine picks.

I think it's reasonable to expect Mariota will return to statistical form next season, based on a variety of factors: a healthy offseason; more time to work with young receivers who now have a year's experience; and a new offensive system.

It's also worth keeping in mind that plenty of quality NFL quarterbacks have overcome bump-in-the-road seasons and returned to their very productive ways.

One good example is Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger. In his third year as a starter, Big Ben endured a down 2006 season that saw him throw 18 touchdowns versus 23 interceptions. He bounced back the next year with 32 TD tosses versus 11 picks, and ever since that one-year aberration, Roethlisberger has thrown 146 more touchdowns than interceptions.

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Did we glimpse the future in Corey Davis' game? –** The first-round draft pick's progress was slowed by injuries, which cost him time in the offseason, training camp and during the regular season.

Still, despite playing just 11 games, Davis' 34 catches tied for fourth among rookie receivers in 2017, trailing only the Los Angeles Rams' Cooper Kupp (who played 15 games), Pittsburgh's JuJu Smith-Schuster (14 games) and San Francisco's Trent Taylor (15 games).

More importantly, Davis did offer some promising signs toward the end of the season.

In the second-to-last game of the regular season against Los Angeles, Davis produced a career-high 91 receiving yards. Three weeks later, Davis took another big step when he caught his first two NFL touchdown passes – the first a tremendous one-handed catch against good coverage in the end zone.

Here's a stat that might speak to increased chemistry between Mariota and Davis as the season went on: In Davis' first five games, he caught 16-of-35 passes thrown his way – a 45.7 percent success rate. In his last eight games – including the two playoff contests – Davis caught 27-of-45 passes thrown to him, a 60 percent success rate.

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How does the Titans' 2018 schedule compare to the 2017 schedule? –** Judging simply by teams' final records from the previous year, the Titans will face a more challenging schedule in 2018 than they did this season.

The 13 opponents for the Titans in 2018 (they'll place their AFC South foes twice each) posted a combined record of 101-107 in 2017, which translates to a .485 winning percentage.

The 13 opponents the Titans faced in 2017 went 91-114-3 in 2016, which translated to a .445 winning percentage.

Consider, too, that division rival Houston should be much improved with the return of quarterback DeShaun Watson, and that the same might be said of division rival Indianapolis if quarterback Andrew Luck returns.

The Titans will play four games next season against teams competing in this weekend's AFC and NFC championship games. They'll face Jacksonville twice (home and away), New England once (home) and Philadelphia (home).

-- Reach John Glennon at glennonsports@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @glennonsports.

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Titans players clear out their lockers at Saint Thomas Sports Park, signaling the start of the 2018 offseason. (Photos: Gary Glenn)

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