"Matt Hasselbeck. Jake Locker.

Brett Favre?

Strange as it might sound, the success or failure of the Tennessee Titans at quarterback in 2011 and beyond depends on those three.

No, the Titans have no plans to pull one of the game's all-time greats out of the scrap heap. They believe they solidified that position when they drafted Locker eighth overall in April and then signed Hasselbeck as a free agent late last week. They don't need another player.

It's what Hasselbeck learned from Favre more than a decade ago that could pay dividends for the Titans now. Drafted in the sixth round in 1998, Hasselbeck spent two years as a backup to Favre in Green Bay and benefited from the time he spent in the presence of the three-time NFL Most Valuable Player.

"It's a hard thing to describe when you're talking about a quarterback room," said ESPN studio analyst Tim Hasselbeck, Matt's younger brother and a former NFL quarterback. "Brett Favre was never trying to give Matthew ways to take his job, but at the same time Brett was very helpful. So Matthew learned a lot from Brett, and Matthew - to this day - loves Brett and is forever thankful for some of the things Brett did for him."

Now the Titans want Matt Hasselbeck, who will turn 36 in September, to do some of those same things for Locker, who recently turned 23.

It is an uneasy balance that can be difficult to maintain. Over the past five seasons, Vince Young and Kerry Collins never forged the type of relationship that paid dividends for both. Instead, they often seemed to work against each another."