Are Titans Better Than Last Year?

Gary Estwick has a blog post over at the Tennessean that's worth a look and a thought. He goes position by position and makes the argument that the Titans in 2009 will be a better team than the 2008 squad.

At a lot of positions, his arguments make some sense: at running back Lendale White will be in better shape this year since it's his contract year, the team goes into the season knowing that Kerry Collins is the quarterback, the wide receiver corps should be better.

But there's one part of his breakdown that makes no sense at all:

DL- UPGRADE(I didn't want to punk out with an even label... If KVB is healthy, Jacob Ford posts 6-8 sacks and Jevon Kearse plays the run tough, you can argue that balances out the loss of Albert Haynesworth because of his committee of replacements. This is Kevin Vickerson's chance at defensive tackle to show he can clog the middle)

I'm sorry, but there's just no way to say that without completely underestimating how good Haynesworth was/is. Haynesworth is the best defensive tackle in football. He's the kind of player who legitimately makes the entire rest of the defense better because teams have to double team him. It's nothing against Vickerson or Jason Jones or anyone of the Titans' still talented group of defensive tackles to say that they will miss Haynesworth. Without him the defensive line will still be good, but it won't be nearly as good as it was last year.