Cook’s Top 5: Tennessee Titans Quarterbacks

Steve Cook continues his look at the Top 5 QBs of each NFL team with a stop on Tennessee…or Houston! This list features Titans and Oilers…check it out!

The Houston Oilers won the first two AFL Championships behind the arm of George Blanda & the legs of Billy Cannon. They went back to the title game in Year 3, lost, and didn’t return to a league championship game until their first season as the Tennessee Titans. (Third in Tennessee, of course.) It may have been fitting for them to win that one too, but they came up one yard short. The less we talk about it, the better.

Whether in Houston or Tennessee, the franchise has had some memorable quarterback play. Today we look at the five best!

5. Ryan Tannehill

I may be inserting Tannehill onto the list too soon in his Titans tenure, but I don’t think that I am. We previously discussed Tannehill’s stint with the Miami Dolphins, where he was expected to be the next Dan Marino but didn’t quite get there. Injury issues were a concern, and a large part of the reason that the Dolphins ended up trading him to Tennessee. Perhaps Tannehill would have eventually lived up to the hype in Miami, or perhaps the change of scenery was just what he needed.

Tannehill backed up Marcus Mariota for the first six games of the 2019 season, and was inserted into the QB1 slot after the Titans started 2-4. He threw for over 2700 yards & had 22 touchdown passes with only 6 interceptions, leading the Titans to an improbable playoff run that included an upset victory over the New England Patriots. That ended up being Tom Brady’s final game with the franchise. Tannehill was named to his first Pro Bowl and was voted Comeback Player of the Year. 2020 didn’t see Tannehill win any awards, but he was just as effective in his first full season as Titans starting quarterback, throwing 33 touchdown passes & only 7 interceptions. 2021 looks even more promising with the addition of Julio Jones to the offense in addition to A.J. Brown & Derrick Henry.

The pieces are in place for Ryan Tannehill to climb even higher up this list in the coming years.

4. Dan Pastorini

The Oilers had high hopes when they picked Pastorini third overall in the 1971 NFL Draft. He was the third straight QB taken, behind Jim Plunkett & Archie Manning. The Oilers took a lot of lumps in the AFC Central during Pastorini’s nine seasons as starting quarterback, and Pastorini took a lot of lumps due to lacking a strong offensive line.

Pastorini did make the Pro Bowl in 1975, when he led the Oilers to ten wins & threw for over 2,000 yards. His best season would come in 1978, when he threw for the most yards (2473) and touchdowns (16) of any season of his career. 1978 & 79 saw the Oilers make it to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost both times to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Earl Campbell made the main difference for those teams. Pastorini was traded to Oakland after the 79 season, and was starter for the Raiders’ 1980 team until he got hurt. Jim Plunkett, who had been drafted two picks before him, took over & led the Raiders to a championship.

3. George Blanda

Blanda had retired from football after the 1958 season due to Chicago Bears head coach George Halas’s refusal to use him as a quarterback. When the AFL formed in 1960, he signed with the Houston Oilers, and things went pretty well. He led the Oilers to the first two AFL Championships and a runner-up finish in the third season. Blanda was named to three AFL All-Star teams, led the league in passing yards twice and threw for over 3,000 yards three times. Unfortunately, he also led the league in interceptions four straight seasons. The Oilers were very pass-happy in those days. Blanda still ranks second in franchise history with 165 touchdown passes.

Blanda was released after the 1966 season, and his career was thought to be over. Instead, he played nine more seasons with the Oakland Raiders.

2. Steve McNair

McNair was drafted third overall in the 1995 Draft & started six games during his first two seasons. He became the official starting quarterback in 1997, when the Oilers came to Tennessee. McNair led the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV, where he wuld complete a pass to Kevin Dyson in the final seconds that was one yard shy of the end zone and a chance to tie the game. McNair was named to the Pro Bowl in 2000, 03 & 05, and 2003 saw him become the first Black quarterback to be named NFL MVP. Albeit, in a tie with Peyton Manning.

Air McNair has the second most passing yards & third most touchdown passes in franchise history. One wonders if his numbers would have been higher if not for the presence of Eddie George in the backfield for most of his career. Either way, McNair & George still rate as two of the top football icons in Nashville history.

1. Warren Moon

We’ve already covered Moon in two previous columns, so you know his basic story by now. Overlooked by NFL scouts after a successful college career for reasons. Lit up the CFL & still holds a record with five consecutive Grey Cup victories. Once he decided to leave Edmonton, many NFL teams wanted his services. The Oilers hired Hugh Campbell, Moon’s head coach with the Eskimos, as their head coach, so they were able to close the deal. Moon struggled his first three seasons, but started to turn things around in 1987. He led the Oilers to seven straight playoff appearances and was selected to six straight Pro Bowls with the team. (He was selected his next two seasons with the Vikings as well, and one more time as part of the Seahawks.)

Moon leads the franchise in all-time passing yards, touchdowns and passing yards per game. He has five out of the top seven best passing yard totals for a season. It’s an easy choice to put Warren Moon on top of the list.

The only weird thing? He never played in Tennessee. Don’t blame me, it’s not my fault Houston didn’t get to keep their old records like Cleveland did.

Thanks for reading! Join me next time when I wrap up this project with the Washington Football Team!