A Titans Fans’ Opinion on Ben Troupe

Andrew over at Total Titans decided to submit his opinion about Ben Troupe, a former Titan, now a Buccaneer. Thank you to Andrew for his article.

Ben Troupe is one of the most athletic tight ends in the NFL. There have been times when he went high in the air to hurdle would-be tacklers. Unfortunately, except for one year, his athleticism hasn’t translated into production on the field.

A second round draft pick, there were high hopes and expectations for him, but he didn’t get off to a good start in Tennessee. In his first training camp, he was outplayed by undrafted free agent Dwayne Blakley. Blakley was released, even though he outperformed Troupe. Only Troupe’s draft status allowed him to remain on the team. Troupe’s problems continued into the regular season, and it was widely suspected that he had a hard time learning his playbook, although the Titans would never publicly admit it.

The light bulb seemed to come on for Troupe his second year. He tied for the team lead in catches and became a fan favorite. He showed the ability which made him a second round draft pick.

Then the light bulb went off. He had a terrible third year, which was mercifully cut short by a broken foot. Some Troupe fans tried to claim he had a bad year because of the broken foot. They conveniently overlook the fact that Troupe was abysmal before the season-ending injury.

It didn’t get any better in his fourth and final year with the Titans. I don’t know how many times Troupe was pulled from games for missing assignments, some of which occurred on plays designed especially for him, to take advantage of his athletic ability. More than once, the fans in the stands saw him being yelled at by the coaches when he came off the field.

Troupe lost the confidence of the coaches, lost his fan support and lost his starting job as well. He had only two starts in 2007 and didn’t catch a pass in either of them. He finished eleventh on the Titans’ receiving list with only five catches.

Stats	Gms	Strts	Recs	Yds	Avg	Lng	TDs
2004	14	7	33	329	10.0	33	1
2005	15	11	55	530	9.6	35	4
2006	10	9	13	150	11.5	32	2
2007	16	2	5	47	9.4	13	0
Total	55	29	106	1056	10.0	35	7

Ben Troupe is a nice guy but that doesn’t mean he’s a good player. This is what I wrote about him in my positional review of the Titans’ tight ends in February.

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  “It’s really sad to see so much talent go to waste. After a great 2005 season, he was the most disappointing Titan a year later. He did nothing to improve in 2007 and his three catches in the season finale were too little, too late, to help him. Troupe will also be an unrestricted free agent but the Titans will let him walk. I hope another team gives him another chance and he’s able to take advantage of it.”

I’m glad that Troupe has been given a second chance, but it seems to me that the Bucs are not a good fit for him. If Troupe couldn’t remember the plays in a simplified Titans’ playbook, how is he going to learn Jon Gruden’s system, which is considerably more complex?

I’ll be rooting for Ben to do well, but I’ll be surprised if it happens. If a couple of rookie tight ends outplay him in the Bucs’ training camp this year, I won’t be a bit surprised.

As a footnote, Dwayne Blakley, the player who Troupe “beat out” in the Titans’ 2004 training camp, was picked up by the Atlanta Falcons, where he played four years before becoming a free agent this year. The Titans have now resigned him, to replace the man who beat him out four years ago.

Again, another thanks to Andrew, who took time out to write about Ben Troupe. As a Bucs fan, I only hope that things work out better for us than they did with the Titans.