The news surrounding the six-game suspension of Titans’ starting right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere undoubtedly stunned Tennessee’s fans, coaches, players, and media members everywhere.
This was a deflating blow to an offensive line that already has a ton of question marks to begin with.
Petit-Frere was the one starting lineman on the team who was returning in 2023 at the same position he played the previous year.
Now, at the very least, the Titans will have to find a way to survive over 35 percent of the season without the second-year lineman.
While this news is rather disappointing, this now opens the door for someone to snatch the starting right tackle role, should they run with the opportunity in front of them.
This article is going to discuss three potential in-house replacements, as well as another free agent option should Tennessee decide to go that route.
Let’s not delay this any longer and find out who the four potential candidates are.
1
Jaelyn Duncan
On my very last positional rankings during the pre-draft process, I had Jaelyn Duncan as the ninth-best tackle with a high fifth-round grade, who was right on the verge of a fourth-round grade to be perfectly honest.
The Maryland product is an experienced and athletic lineman who has tons of long-term upside. Duncan was supposed to provide valuable depth to the tackle position, but given the unfortunate circumstances, he may be needed much earlier than anyone could’ve anticipated.
Duncan has played a total of 1,918 snaps since 2020, however, all of those have been on the left side of the line. Therefore, even if Duncan wins the job, expect there to be significant growing pains throughout the year.
Duncan is coming off a season in which he posted an overall grade of 61.6, per Pro Football Focus.
2
Jamarco Jones
Jamarco Jones is someone who was expected to compete for a starting role last year, but unfortunately, injuries got in the way and he didn’t record a single snap in 2022.
Prior to signing with Tennessee, Jones was a valuable depth piece in Seattle where he played in a total of 36 games, making a total of seven starts over his three years as a Seahawk.
Jones is one of the biggest mysteries on the team, but he now has the chance to go from underwhelming signing to potential savior on the right side if he’s able to at least hold things down until Petit-Frere gets back from his suspension.
The Ohio State product has accounted for a total of 628 snaps over his career, allowing a total of 23 blown blocks (17 in pass protection, six blown blocks whole run blocking), according to Sports Info Solutions.
3
Peter Skoronski
To be honest, this is the perfect excuse to go against the grain when it comes to having a short-armed tackle such as Peter Skoronski.
There’s no denying that his sub 33-inch arms aren’t exactly ideal for a tackle, but there also aren’t many linemen who enter the league being as technically sound as Skoronski is at this age.
He isn’t entering the league with zero flaws or anything of that nature, he could get stronger and his overall game could use some fine-tuning here and there, but the Northwestern product is well beyond his years in practically everything he does.
Whether it’s his ability to cerebrally time the snap count to beat the opposition to his spot on any given play, or his impressive blend of efficient hand usage, impeccable contact balance, fluid movement skill, and robotic-like footwork, Skoronski has a lot to work with.
More importantly, he knows how to use his lethal skill set to overcome any of his physical limitations.
The #Titans got an absolute dawg in Peter Skoronski
People love to show the one rep from 2021 where Skoronski was exposed by LVN yet conveniently leave out the countless other reps over the last 2 years where he more than held his own.
Wherever he plays, Titans got a pillar pic.twitter.com/B9b9BUr1Xj
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) April 28, 2023
Regardless of how long a defender is, Skoronski is a problem to deal with more often than not once you meet him in the trenches.
The obvious downside to this is it will undoubtedly open a hole on the left side, but in reality, it’s much easier to hide a liability at guard than it is at tackle.
Therefore, if I personally had to choose one of the two positions to fill with an elite prospect, I want the guy who is clearly the best option available playing tackle.
Especially when the most realistic alternative is starting someone like Duncan or Jones, who may have longer arms, but they aren’t nearly as advanced from a mental or technical standpoint.
Also, once Petit-Frere comes back, you can either allow him to be an adequate backup or he can take over at guard should Duncan or Jones be struggling along the interior. It’s not like Petit-Frere won’t have the downtime to prepare for the transition to guard.
At the end of the day, when it comes to the right tackle position, the Titans are gonna be forced to bet on someone who has question marks. So why not bet on the guy who was universally considered a top 10 prospect?
This happening before training camp could be a blessing in disguise, but we’ll have to wait and see what type of approach the Titans take come next month.
If Skoronski continues to take reps at left guard and tackle once training camp opens up, then it’s highly likely he won’t be making the transition.
However, if the former Unanimous All-American opens up training camp competing for the right tackle role, I’d personally be willing to bet that he’s going to take this job and run with it.
As always, there will be some growing pains with learning a new position, but if the Titans truly want the player with the highest upside, then Skoronski should be the obvious favorite heading into camp.
But for now, we’ll have to patiently wait and see if that will be the case or not.
4
Free agent George Fant
If the Titans want to go the free agent route, former Jets offensive tackle, George Fant is probably the most intriguing option available. I considered Marcus Cannon as well, but Fant is at least five years younger.
Fant played in a total of eight games (seven starts) last year, missing a handful of games due to a knee injury that ultimately landed him on the injured reserve list.
Nonetheless, Fant would be a solid option considering everything that is going on. He isn’t going to be the long-term solution by any means, nor does he have to be.
Petit-Frere’s suspension should end around October, meaning Tennessee will get its starting right tackle back for more than half the season barring some other unforeseen developments.
As long as the money is reasonable, the Titans should at least consider Fant or any of the other top free agent tackles.
