With my 500th post, Zach on Sports hopes the Titans select...

I had in mind a much more grand personal statement with tonight's blog. Let's face it, though. It's Thursday night and I'm plum tuckered. I'd love to talk about me and the year of putting myself out there. Instead I'm going to make one plea to the Tennessee Titans, because I know they read this blog like Jeff Fisher practices not answering questions at a press conference.

This is not a bold statement by any means. It is a statement that comes from my careful consideration of the circumstances. Despite a 1-7 finish, the Titans aren't far away from being a contender. I do believe that. They are missing one small detail. They don't have a quarterback.

It's a bad offseason to have no quarterback since there's that pesky labor situation which means any new QB will not be able to officially work with the new offensive staff. Every team's going to have that situation, and let's face it, there are a lot of franchises in need of a quarterback upgrade.

I don't think the Titans should reach for what is perceived as an elite QB option in this year's draft. I already covered this in my previous blog. They shouldn't grab Blaine Gabbert or Cam Newton. There just aren't any finished products at the position. There are tantalizing skill sets to be sure. You just don't know how they're going to end up and you won't know until many years in the future. It took us five years to discover that Vince Young wasn't the answer and many fans think that he still could be. I don't want a project when a really good offensive line, an elite running back and great receiving options are present.

I want the team to trade for Kevin Kolb. I understand that the odd new-car rules of the draft make it too prohibitive to trade the number eight overall pick for Kolb. Honestly, I don't get it. Here's what I mean by the new car rules. A new car drops precipitously in value once you drive off the lot ,and so do top-ten picks. They get veteran money with a solid 50% chance that the player isn't going to live up to expectations.

Here's why I think that Kolb can be the guy. He's started in the NFL. That's a bonus compared to a guy like Gabbert or Newton who don't even have that much college starting experience. He's been successful. Yeah, he's had some stinkers like Week 17 last year when I started him in a fantasy matchup in which I got pulverized. Guess what; there aren't guarantees even with experienced guys. He was a four-year starter in college. Notice how most elite quarterbacks in the NFL came out as seniors? The top options this year are mostly juniors and that usually doesn't work out. Kolb could be the Titans' Matt Schaub, only maybe Kolb will be able to actually win games instead of throw a lot of empty yards.

The Titans only should pass on picking Kolb up with the number 8 pick if they know a stud defensive lineman will be there. It's a deep DL draft so there should. We need a guy who can make a Jevon Kearse like impact or become an Albert Haynesworth, minus the head-stomping and the road rage.

And I think the team could get Kolb for less. Their second-round pick might do since it's the 40th overall, or even next year's #1 which should be a middle-round pick at worse if the team has a QB. When you have options and one is clearly the best, you need to strike. There aren't any other veteran QBs available who will be worth more than a Kerry Collins. It's been fun, Kerry.

Can't take Blaine to Nashville

As a fan of an NFL team, when is it safe to transfer from "critical" to "uncritically optimistic"? This is how I feel about Blaine Gabbert. Let's be honest. This team is going nowhere in 2011. I can see the offense being decent even without a QB more "seasoned" than Rusty Smith. There are pieces there that any decent veteran QB could make tough to defend. Do I include Kerry Collins in the serviceable veteran category? Sadly, yes.

Gabbert has the tools to be an All Pro. I don't mean just a Pro Bowler after seven QBs drop out. I mean a quarterback considered one of the top two or three guys in the league. The tools are off the charts. He has the arm strength, the ability to throw on the run, and the flat out ability to run the ball. That's where I stop with the positives.

Let's recall his final important college throw. It was third and moderate. Missouri trailed Iowa all game but had rallied to a 24-20 lead. One first down and the team was in field goal range and could start thinking about running down the clock. Gabbert rolled to his left. He is a right-handed QB. As he flushed toward the sideline, the nearest wideout took on his defender like he was blocking. Gabbert threw the ball to the defensive back who ran all the way back for the game-winning score.

This is not how you want your college career to be defined. You'd rather it be defined by an upset win over then-number one Oklahoma, or in a road win at Texas A&M. The throw was absolutely moronic, and that's the memory of Gabbert that I can't shake.

The mental side determines who makes it in the NFL. There are more talented guys than roster spots. It doesn't always look that way when guys like Brian St. Pierre manage to start a game. The last QB the Titans took in the first round arrived in the league straight off an MVP performance in the national championship game. We found out that Vince did not have the mental side down. He couldn't handle adversity nor could he remember the plays at times. The Titans can't afford to make that kind of mistake. Heck, the year before they drafted Pacman Jones and passed on a decent guy named Aaron.

I see a deep but possibly tools-heavy group of quarterbacks in this year's draft. I feel like the Titans would be better served by taking one of a deep crop of defensive linemen. It sounds like double-talk here but Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith is another possibility. He's equally raw as a redshirt sophomore, but a duo of him and Derrick Morgan sounds pretty solid. The team's going to need a good pass rush against the great quarterbacks of the AFC South and David Garrard.

Low point for Titans? Keep falling

There have been low points during the Titans' 11-season run in Nashville. I'm not sure what kind of darkly humorous thought it is to contemplate that the team firing a coach who's undergoing cancer treatments isn't the low point.

I contend that the worst moment by far was when the team locked out a former MVP quarterback because he was under contract and the team was paralyzed with fear that he'd get hurt and there would be grave salary cap implications. There was a strange passive-aggressive the guy likes me but he'll pull my pigtails instead of talking to me vibe to the whole situation.

This and the ongoing feud between Jeff Fisher and Vince Young has numbed me to the point that the team firing a coach who continued his duties despite undergoing cancer treatments last fall doesn't affect me as much as it should. Like I've tweeted, the Titans can't hurt me anymore.

They can befuddle me. This has been the strangest offseason to date. You could see the salary-cap issues coming. You couldn't see Bud Adams looking at Jeff Fisher and Vince Young and saying "I choose me".

It is counterintuitive to say that the franchise is going another direction when the new head coach is from the former regime. You'd think that he would want to keep some of the other staff he's worked with for years but it looks like there will be an entirely new coaching staff for 2011, minus the head guy. There have been reports of Bud Adams wanting to "go cheap" with this year's coaching staff. He's already paying one coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator, the latter two due to Jeff Fisher's double secret probation extensions last fall. The only silver lining here is that Heimerdinger gets paid in 2011 and keeps his medical coverage. A lot of coaches who aren't under contract for 2011 will not get these benefits if the lockout occurs and persists.

As fans, we're always waiting for the low point. The low point means that the team has nowhere to go but up. With the team interviewing guys for positions that are already held, like Dave McGinnis' linebacker gig, that means the bottom is not in sight.