By CRAIG PETERS, Titans Online

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Questing to upgrade the Titans’ roster, Ruston Webster thought it was time to move up.

Webster, who on Saturday completed his first NFL Draft as Titans general manager, made his first draft-day trade. Tennessee vaulted up 10 spots to Miami’s original 145th overall turn in the fifth round at the cost of the Titans’ original selecting positions in the fifth and seventh rounds.

He and the Titans, however, quickly reclaimed a seventh-round spot that was 16 notches ahead of where Tennessee would have picked by dealing a sixth-round slot in next year’s draft to Minnesota.

The Titans started the third and final day of the draft by tabbing Clemson cornerback Coty Sensabaugh at 115th overall in the fourth round. Tennessee capitalized on trading up in the fifth round to add Taylor Thompson, who played defensive end at Southern Methodist but entered the draft at tight end, the position at which he garnered all-state status as a prep athlete in Texas.

The Titans added Oklahoma State safety Markelle Martin with the 190th pick in the sixth round and finished the selection process with Rice defensive end Scott Solomon at the 211th spot in the seventh round.

Webster and second-year Titans coach Mike Munchak said the overarching theme of this year’s draft was speed. Tennessee’s first six picks—Baylor receiver Kendall Wright, North Carolina linebacker Zach Brown, Michigan defensive tackle Mike Martin, Sensabaugh, Thompson and Markelle Martin all have drawn praise for their fleet feet at their respective positions.

“I think we got a lot faster,” Munchak said. “I think (defensive coordinator) Jerry (Gray) talked about it with Brown. We know Kendall Wright and the quickness and the speed that he brings to it. (Mike) Martin is a nose tackle that runs a 4.8. The corner (Sensabaugh) is a 4.3 guy and the tight end (Thompson) runs a 4.6 or less. We definitely brought a lot of speed and a lot of guys that loved the game.”

Solomon, meanwhile, also has a 40-yard dash time under 4.8 seconds, but is more known for his strength. He bench pressed 225 pounds 40 times, and has a 421-pound power clean, 500-pound bench press and 600-pound squat to his credit.

Webster said the qualities that scouts and coaches saw in Thompson and Solomon made the trades worth it. He also said he expects that Tennessee will have compensatory picks in 2013 to make up for free agents who leave and sign elsewhere after the 2012 season.

Webster and the Titans used a sliding scale of six players that could fit with each round’s choice and subbed added players into the mix when teams ahead of the Titans took the players off the board. Webster said a couple of guys the Titans had in their mix of six were drafted earlier in the fifth round, so he wanted to make the deal.

“There were some guys, I think, without naming names, that’s the thing about picking 20, you get into that do I trade up and go get this guy that I really want or do I wait knowing we have a good pool of players there and keep the pick in the next round or whatever,” Webster said. “That’s the dilemma. I think by the time we drafted Taylor Thompson I was tired of some of that happening and we moved up.”

TENNESSEE NATIVE JOINS TITANS: Sensabaugh, who played at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, Tenn., said he looked forward to the opportunity to play for the team in his home state. Sensabaugh is the first Tennessee native drafted by the Titans since defensive end Jacob Ford, a native of Memphis, in 2007.

The Titans, which began in 1960 as the Houston Oilers, chose Texas natives with their first, fifth, sixth and seventh picks.

THOMPSON PLAYS THROUGH POSITION CHANGE: Thompson originally committed to Vanderbilt, but decided he wanted to go to school closer to his hometown of Prosper, Texas. SMU hired June Jones as coach after Thompson committed, and Jones incorporated a spread offense that didn’t utilize the tight end position. Thompson switched to defensive end to stay on the field and helped the Mustangs break a 25-year bowl drought in 2009 and return to bowl games the next two seasons.

Thompson thinks his time as a defensive end will only help as he goes back to the tight end post.

“Since I played defensive end for the past four years in college, I kind of have the mindset of the opponent,” Thompson said. “That’s a huge thing in football, to understand the enemy. I have that athletic side of me that I can bring to offense that I can really be an aggressive and athletic tight end to help make plays in the pass game and in the run game.”

TITANS FIND VALUE IN LATE ROUNDS: Tennessee believes it did quite well in landing Markelle Martin and Solomon as late in the draft as it did.

Martin started all 37 games of his final three years at Oklahoma State, but tore his meniscus after the Senior Bowl. He had surgery on the injury, but not enough time to recover for the pre-draft combine, when many physical attributes are measured.

“In the beginning I knew I was going to drop a couple of rounds, but to drop so far, I had no idea,” he said. “As the rounds started to go by, I texted my agent and he told me it was probably because of the knee. It’s something I understand and am OK with. I’d rather it be something that can be fixed than something you can’t fix. My knee can be fixed. I can really get back to 100 percent, so I would rather slip for something like that than for some other issue.”

Martin recorded 74 tackles (55 solo) and broke up 11 passes during his senior season that the Cowboys concluded by defeating Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl.

Webster said the Titans debated between Martin and Solomon in the sixth round before deciding to claim the safety, and then traded into the seventh because Solomon was still available.

Solomon missed the 2010 season but returned with vengeance in 2011 to post a career-best 8.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. He vowed to be “relentless” in his pursuit of quarterbacks and a roster spot.

The past three seventh-round players taken by Tennessee — Marc Mariani in 2010, and Zach Clayton and Tommie Campbell in 2011 — earned spots on the Titans’ active roster.

“I’m going to be a ball of fire in there doing everything I can to help the team out and to be a contributor in any way I can, Solomon said. “I wasn’t familiar with (the success of previous seventh rounders), but (I’m) definitely encouraged now. Hopefully my great attitude will help me get that roster spot.”

JOB INTERVIEWS: Teams are allowed a maximum of 30 visits by players in the time that leads up to the draft. Munchak said the Titans tried to capitalize on each trip by having the visitor meet with multiple departments at Baptist Sports Park.

“That’s one thing that is nice that we’ve set up is that the guys that come into this building spend time with everyone in the building from the PR department, to the front office, to the coaches, so you get a chance to get a feel for these guys other than just their athletic ability,” Munchak said. “I think that’s what is encouraging. We got some guys who love to play, some guys who bring a passion to it along with talent, or we wouldn’t have selected them. I’m really excited about the group we have, that they’re going to come in, they love to compete and they’re going to add a lot to the football team.”

IN THE DIVISION: The Texans drafted Georgia center Ben Jones (6-2, 303) with the 99th overall pick, Michigan State receiver Keshawn Martin (5-11, 192) with the 121st overall selection and Nebraska defensive tackle Jared Crick (6-4, 279) with the 126th pick in the fourth round. Neither Indianapolis nor Jacksonville had a slot in the fourth round.

Houston drafted Texas A&M kicker Randy Bullock (5-9, 205) with the 161st overall pick in the fifth round and Purdue tackle Nick Mondek (6-6, 304) with the 195th overall choice in the sixth round. The Texans traded their seventh round spot to the Buccaneers.

Jacksonville chose Nevada linebacker Brandon Marshall (6-1, 242) at the 142nd overall spot in the fifth round and added Florida State cornerback Mike Harris (5-10, 188) at the 176th slot in the sixth round. The Jaguars closed their draft by picking Ashland (Ohio) defensive tackle Jeris Pendleton (6-3, 323) with the 228th overall choice in the seventh round.

Indianapolis tabbed Alabama defensive tackle Josh Chapman (6-1, 316) with the 136th overall selection and Mississippi State running back Vick Ballard (5-10, 219) with the 170th pick in the fifth round. The Colts took Ohio receiver LaVon Brazill (5-11, 192) with the 206th pick in the sixth round.

Indianapolis added Georgia tackle Justin Anderson (6-4, 335) with the 208th pick to start the seventh round, then followed with Vanderbilt defensive end Tim Fugger (6-3, 248) at 214, and concluded the 2012 Draft with Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish (6-2, 219) at the 253rd and final spot, which has been nicknamed “Mr. Irrelevant,” a moniker that may fit this season since the Colts drafted QB Andrew Luck (6-4, 234) with the No. 1 pick Thursday night.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.-- The Tennessee Titans return to the primetime football lineup with games against the New York Jets on Monday Night Football and their long-time rival the Pittsburgh Steelers on NFL Network. The Titans will open the 2012 season against the reigning AFC Champion New England Patriots at LP Field on September 9th.

• 2012 Schedule (PDF)

“It is obviously exciting to open the season at home against a quality opponent in New England,” said head coach Mike Munchak. “They have been one of the best teams in the league for a number of years and the game will be a great test for us.

“What stands out to me is the two home primetime games. We didn’t have any last year and those are fun for our fans and an opportunity to showcase our team.

“The bye falls really late, but hopefully the Thursday night game in October will give us a long weekend and extra days to get players some rest. The final six games feature four division games and five AFC games, so it gives us a chance to control our own destiny down the stretch.”

The Titans schedule features home games against New England, New York Jets, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Houston, Indianapolis and Jacksonville. Tennessee will travel to Buffalo, Miami, Green Bay, Minnesota, San Diego, Houston, Indianapolis and Jacksonville.

Again this year, the NFL will feature “flexible scheduling” for the Sunday night game in Weeks 11-17. Teams will be given two weeks notice if a game is moving from an afternoon game to a night contest.

The Titans 2012 schedule contains several interesting stories:

• The schedule features six games against 2011 playoff teams: Houston (twice), New England, Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Detroit. The Titans will face three of these six opponents in the first four games of the schedule.

• Former Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will return to Nashville for the first time as the head coach of the Detroit Lions.

• The Titans will make their first regular season trips to Green Bay and Minnesota since 2004.

• This is the first year without a three-game home stand or three-game road trip since 2008.

• This will mark the 7th Monday Night Football game played at LP Field and first since 2008 (Indianapolis).

• Since byes were introduced into the NFL in 1990, this is the latest bye in franchise history.

• This will be the first time the Titans have finished the regular season at home since 2006.

-The Tennessee Titans promoted Mike Reinfeldt to Senior Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer after serving as the team’s General Manager for the past five seasons, and Ruston Webster was elevated to Executive Vice President/General Manager after serving two seasons as the Titans Vice President of Player Personnel. Additionally, Lake Dawson has been promoted to Vice President of Player Personnel.

Reinfeldt will oversee all aspects of the organization - both football and non-football - in Nashville and will report to Titans owner K.S. “Bud” Adams, Jr.. Webster will assume control of all football operations for the team.

Lake Dawson has been promoted to Vice President of Player Personnel.

“Mike has done a nice job for us as our general manager, but I believe we need someone in place who oversees the entire franchise there in Nashville,” said Adams. “Mike is uniquely qualified for that position with his previous experience. Our VP’s have done an outstanding job over the past couple of years managing their departments, but this will streamline things to have someone on site to direct the entire organization and who will execute things the way I want them done.

“With this shuffle, we really have the best of both worlds – as you might remember our final two candidates when we were filling the general manager position five years ago were Mike (Reinfeldt) and Ruston Webster. We now have both of them working for us and Ruston will take over the General Manager role.”

Head coach Mike Munchak called Webster a "great talent evaluator."

“This is a great decision by Mr. Adams to keep a group of good people together," Munchak said. "Ruston is a ready for this job. He did a great job last year with the draft – organizing things, involving all of the parties, evaluating the talent, communicating through the draft process. His greatest access is his ability to evaluate talent and I expect that to continue and look forward to working with him. Ruston also will benefit from having Mike as a resource and a sounding board.”

“I want to thank Mr. Adams for naming me to this position,” added Reinfeldt. “I look forward to further integrating all of our departments and believe a lot of good will stem from this move. I am really happy for Ruston, because he is ready to be a general manager and I expect he will excel in that role.”

Webster has six years of experience in the Player Personnel role split between three teams – two years with the Titans, four with the Seattle Seahawks and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also served as the interim General Manager for the Seahawks for the conclusion of the 2009 season, after Tim Ruskell’s departure from the team. In addition to working in Pro Personnel, Webster has a vast depth of experience as a college scout, serving as the Director of College Scouting for Tampa Bay for four seasons (2001-04) and 10 seasons as a regional scout for the Bucs.

Dawson has spent five seasons with the Titans – his first four as Director of Pro Scouting and last season as VP/Football Operations. He originally joined the Titans in 2007 as the Director of Pro Scouting.

Reinfeldt’s background:
Tennessee Titans (2007-2011), General Manager; Seattle Seahawks (1999-03, 2005-06), Sr. VP (1999-03), VP-Football Operations (2005-06); Green Bay Packers (1991-98), CFO (1991-93), VP-Administration (1994-98); University of Southern California (1988-90), Associate Athletic Director; Los Angeles Raiders (1985-87), CFO; Houston Oilers (1976-83), Safety; Oakland Raiders (1975-76), Safety.

Webster’s background:
Tennessee Titans (2010-11), VP-Player Personnel; Seattle Seahawks (2006-09) VP-Player Personnel; Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1988 – 2005), Dir. of Player Personnel (2005), Dir. of College Scouting (2001-04), Dir. of Pro Personnel (1989-91), Regional Scout (1988, 1992-2000); College Coach, Tulsa (1987), Alabama (1986), Southwestern Louisiana (1985).

The opponents for all 2012 regular-season games have been determined and a complete list of each team’s home and away matchups was issued  by the NFL.

The Tennessee Titans, after a 9-7 finish this season, will face four playoffs teams outside their division next year  with the Patriots, Steelers and Lions at home and the Packers on the road. The Titans play the Jets and Bears at home and travel to the Bills, Dolphins, Chargers and Vkings.       

Home: Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions

Away: Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, San Diego Chargers, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings

The scheduling formula implemented in 2002 with realignment guarantees that all teams play each other on a regular, rotating basis. After the 2008 season, a decision was made to continue with the same rotation in 2010 and beyond.

Under the formula, every team plays 16 games as follows:

• Home and away against its three division opponents (6 games).

• The four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (4 games).

• The four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (4 games).

• Two intraconference games based on the prior year’s standings (2 games). These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched in the same way each year.

Beginning in 2010, a change was made to how teams are paired in the schedule rotation to ensure that teams playing the AFC and NFC West divisions would not be required to make two west coast trips (e.g. at San Francisco and at Seattle), while other teams in their division had none (e.g. at St. Louis and at Arizona). The pairings of teams are listed in the digital version of the 2011 NFL Record and Fact Book (attached).

The official 2012 schedule, with playing dates and times, will be announced in the spring.

NFL Kickoff 2012 Weekend will begin on Thursday night, September 6, and the regular season will conclude on December 30.

Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana will be played on Sunday, February 3.

The Tennessee Titans informed secondary coach Marcus Robertson and assistant secondary coach Curtis Fuller that they will not be retained for next year.

STATEMENT FROM MIKE MUNCHAK

“I want to thank Marcus and Curtis for their time here. After meeting with the coordinators over the last couple of days, we decided to make this move today. Letting Marcus go was not an easy thing. He spent so many great years with this organization as a player, front office employee and a coach. I respect both men, but I wanted to move in a different direction for both of these spots. The interview process might take some time, but we will find the right fits for the secondary room moving forward.”

By CRAIG PETERS, Titans Online

Nate Washington fought through the pain, tracked the fluttering ball and somehow maintained control of it as he hit the end zone with a thud.

The incredibly difficult catch — a 23-yard touchdown pass from Matt Hasselbeck — broke a tie in the fourth quarter, and Tennessee withstood a dramatic rally from the Texans for a 23-22 win in Houston.

A different tiebreaker, however, ended Tennessee’s season Sunday. Despite the win, Tennessee’s playoff fate rested in the hands of four other AFC games. Cincinnati had to lose to Baltimore, and another AFC team needed to finish in a three-way tie with a 9-7 record for the Titans to have a shot at making a return trip to Houston this Saturday.

Both of those occurred, but the New York Jets lost at Miami and finished 8-8, creating a scenario in which the Titans needed Oakland to beat San Diego and Denver to beat Kansas City. The Raiders and Broncos lost home games and both finished 8-8 with Denver winning the AFC West through a tiebreaker.

Cincinnati held the head-to-head tiebreaker with Tennessee because of the Bengals’ come-from-behind 24-17 defeat of the Titans on Nov. 6. It was the only victory the Bengals had against a team that finished the season with a winning record.

The Titans are the only team in the NFL with a winning record that will not be in the playoffs, leading coaches and players to think about how close they were.

“Definitely not the season that we wanted, you know,” Washington said. “We had a couple of games that slipped away from us, but to have a winning season after coming off a couple seasons that didn’t go so well for us, it’s really paid off. We’ve been working very hard with the new coaching staff, and I think this is a true testament that we can only get better.”

Washington finished his seventh pro season with career highs of 74 catches for 1,023 yards and seven touchdown catches. He became the first Titans receiver with more than 1,000 receiving yards since Derrick Mason in 2004.

“This wasn’t only for me,” Washington said. “The coaching staff, the players in this locker room, to really believe in me the way they have, this is kind of a pat on the back for everybody. I’ve been working very hard this season, have been through a lot in my career, so it’s has been a long time coming. I’m proud to finally be here at 1,000 (yards), and I’m looking forward to getting even better.”

Washington has played through pain since hurting his ankle at Buffalo on Dec. 4. He’s been slow to get up after some receptions but has kept coming back for more each week.

“He has been a warrior for us all year and he did the same thing again today,” Titans coach Mike Munchak said.

Although Washington and Hasselbeck missed reps and some game snaps in December, the duo continued to produce. Washington had four catches for 92 yards Sunday, including a 55-yarder that set up the third field goal by Rob Bironas.

“He’s a guy, like many guys, that has been playing through some injures,” Hasselbeck said. “He’s trying to tough it out. He came up big on the two big plays, for sure the touchdown that put us up and then the deep ball down the sideline. He wasn’t wide open—it was just a great catch, and he might have gotten banged up on that play also. It was a good year for him. I think he finished over a thousand yards, I believe for the first time, so I’m happy for him.”

Hasselbeck said players and coaches will reflect on some missed opportunities in games this season, but they can build on the way they responded after a disappointing loss three weeks ago at Indianapolis.

“All in all, at the point when we were 7-7 and in the tank about playing poorly against (the Colts), it was important for us to regroup,” Hasselbeck said. “I think Coach Munchak did a nice job of splashing some water on our face and basically saying to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We can be proud about finishing 9-7 and controlling what we can control.”

The Texans, who won their first AFC South title this season, locked up the No. 3 seed in the playoffs regardless of Sunday’s game but played down to the wire.

Tennessee took a 23-16 lead on the scoring pass from Hasselbeck to Washington with 4:31 remaining. The Titans forced the Texans to punt and were trying to run out the clock when Ahmard Hall took a severe hit from Tim Dobbins and Brandon Harris.

Hall was shaken up on the play and fumbled the football, which Jesse Nading recovered for Houston at the Tennessee 36-yard-line with 1:49 left in the game.

Reserve quarterback Jake Delhomme hit Bryant Johnson for a 5-yard touchdown with 14 seconds to go, and the Texans lined up for a two-point conversion to win the game and end the Titans’ season with a loss. Tight end Joel Dreessen committed a false start, and the ensuing shotgun snap sailed over Delhomme’s head.

Tennessee defensive lineman William Hayes tracked down the football and secured it. The Titans corralled the Texans’ onside kick attempt and took a knee to earn the 400th win in Titans/Oilers franchise history in their former city.

HASSELBECK HITS MILESTONES: Hasselbeck finished 22-for-35 passing for 297 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked three times, but remained poised despite an early rib injury to starting receiver Damian Williams.

Hasselbeck finished his first season with the Titans with 319 completions for 3,571 passing yards, the first time a Titans quarterback has had more than 300 completions in a season since Steve McNair in 2002. He also joined Warren Moon (1989-91) as the only quarterbacks in franchise history with more than 3,500 passing yards in a season.

AVERY SCORES ON FIRST CATCH: Receiver Donnie Avery’s first catch as a Titan occurred in the end zone. Avery, who was born in Houston and played collegiately at the University of Houston, scored on a quick throw from Hasselbeck against single coverage to give the Titans a 10-7 lead in the second quarter.

“All I was telling myself all month was stay patient and stay with a positive attitude and that’s what I did and it got me here and I’m trying to contribute,” Avery said. “It felt great. I’ve been patiently waiting, finally got out there and contributed.”

It was Avery’s first touchdown since November 2009 when he was in his second year in St. Louis. Avery missed the entire 2010 season with a torn ACL and started this year with the Rams, who cut him before the season started. He signed with the Titans in September after Kenny Britt tore his ACL and MCL.

Avery caught three passes for 45 yards, including a 21-yarder on the game-winning drive.

CJ JOINS CAMPBELL, GEORGE: Titans running back Chris Johnson rushed 15 times for 61 yards, finishing the regular season with 1,047 yards on the ground.

Johnson joined Earl Campbell (1978-81) and Eddie George (1996-2000) as the only men in Titans/Oilers history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in at least four straight seasons.

Johnson also caught four passes for 49 yards, the last of which secured an important first down on a third-down play by the nose of the football. The conversion happened three plays before Washington’s winning grab.

TITANS RECORD THREE SACKS, FORCE FUMBLE:  The Titans’ defense sacked Houston quarterback T.J. Yates on the Texans’ first snap of the game. Rookie Jurrell Casey and second-year pro Derrick Morgan converged on Yates for a 5-yard loss.

Yates left the game with a bruised shoulder and was replaced by Delhomme.

Dave Ball recovered a sack fumble of Delhomme that Titans safety Chris Hope recoved to set up Tennessee’s first touchdown, and Casey sacked Delhomme in the fourth quarter. Casey recorded two quarterback hurries as well in his 15th start of the season.

“He’s been good all year,” Munchak said. “He’s been a rookie who’s really committed. Jurrell does a great job in there. You can’t move him. That natural leverage he has with a lack of height helps him and he’s hard to move. He’s been big for us and he made some big plays today.”

BIRONAS EXTENDS STREAK: Bironas kicked field goals of 21, 43 and 33 yards. He kicked a field goal of more than 40 yards for the 10th straight game, extending his NFL-record streak.