The Tennessee Titans will enter the 2023 season with a lot of skeptics around the NFL world. It appears as if people have completely given up on the Titans after they ended last season on a seven-game losing streak.
Normally, that would be a valid reason to doubt someone, but people are overlooking the fact that the Titans were 7-3 until the team got to a point where injuries completely destroyed its season.
In fact, right before the losing streak began, the team was on a lengthy winning streak of its own.
Even after the Titans’ season began to spiral, they still found themselves in a play-in game at the end of the year, a contest they almost won with a quarterback they had just signed a few weeks prior.
By no means am I declaring this 2023 Titans team a Super Bowl favorite or anything of that nature, but this team isn’t just a bunch of scrubs who have zero hope like they’re often made out to be.
Does Tennessee have question marks up and down the roster? Sure.
Do they have a limited ceiling as of right now due to their offensive weaponry out wide? Most likely.
But if there’s one thing that Mike Vrabel has proven over his tenure as head coach, it’s that he’s capable of willing his team to relevancy when everyone seemingly counts Tennessee out.
This article is going to discuss six specific things the 2023 Titans must prove if they want to change the minds of skeptics. Without further ado, let’s dive right into it.
The offensive line is vastly improved
Arguably the Titans’ biggest need heading into the offseason was finding a way to revamp what was a horrendous offensive line in 2022.
Despite limited resources at their disposal, the Titans found a way to do that through free agency and the draft.
Tennessee signed offensive linemen Andre Dillard and Daniel Brunskill once they officially hit the open market. The Titans then continued to prioritize the offensive line in the 2023 NFL draft, going with the unanimous All-American Peter Skoronski in Round 1, and Maryland offensive lineman Jaelyn Duncan in Round 6.
The team also decided to transition Aaron Brewer from left guard to center after parting ways with Ben Jones. This means the Titans are essentially entering 2023 with new starters at four spots.
Dillard and Skoronski will be on the left side in some capacity. The likeliest outcome is Dillard ends up at left tackle and Skoronski ends up at left guard, but don’t sleep on the possibility of it being the other way around when the pads come on and the superior linemen start to separate themselves.
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
Brewer, as we already stated, will be the starting center barring something unforeseen happening, while Brunskill (RG) and Nicholas Petit-Frere (RT) will be the tandem on the right side.
Needless to say, this group has a lot of question marks regarding how they will gel together by the time the season rolls around. Adding to that, guys like Dillard and Skoronski have limited to no starting experience in the NFL.
However, this entire group sneakily has a high ceiling if some or all of the linemen can maximize their full potential in their respective roles.
Skoronski is probably going to be a plus-level lineman wherever he lines up, while Dillard finally has the chance to prove his first-round status was no fluke.
Brewer, on the other hand, is playing the position that physically suits him best, and Brunskill gets his opportunity to start on a full-time after being moved from a starter to a backup in 2022.
New #Titans OL Daniel Brunskill ⚔️
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) March 15, 2023
Lastly, Petit-Frere is going into Year 2 after starting his entire rookie year on the right side. Tennessee now hopes NPF makes the type of second-year leap that would significantly help the offense improve as a unit.
Nevertheless, you can’t blame anybody if they don’t look at Tennessee’s largely inexperienced unit with that same optimistic lens.
The reality is, this group will probably go through some growing pains early on, but there’s no reason why the Titans’ O-line can’t become a real strength of the team instead of a liability sooner rather than later.
-Shaun Calderon
There's enough at WR (if DHop isn't signed)
One of the most critiqued decisions of the offseason has been the Titans’ approach (or lack thereof) to improving the wide receiving corps., a group that was one of the worst units in the NFL in 2022.
That doesn’t figure to change much in 2023 unless the team can land DeAndre Hopkins in free agency (more on that shortly).
If not, the Titans must prove this team is capable of moving the ball through the air with the lackluster group it currently has, something that is vital if Tennessee wants to improve offensively and take pressure off Derrick Henry.
Getting back to the Titans’ approach at wide receiver this offseason: it would appear the team didn’t have much of a plan, or at least not a good one, but at the end of the day there is a possibility the Titans knew what they were doing the entire time.
After not investing a draft pick on a wideout until Round 7, head coach Mike Vrabel and general manager Ran Carthon both preached that this was no time to panic due to the fact that they would undoubtedly have the opportunity to add more talent over the coming months.
That decision to be patient could pay off now that Hopkins is available. Of course, the Titans have to seal the deal first and beat out at least the New England Patriots to make it happen.
There were rumors that the Titans were interested in Hopkins as part of a blockbuster trade for the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NFL draft, but that deal never came to fruition after quarterback C.J. Stroud went No. 2 overall.
Tennessee eventually pounced on the opportunity to host Hopkins on a free-agent visit and the team is now playing the waiting game as the veteran weighs his options and waits for more teams to get involved.
DeAndre Hopkins’ numbers the last time he was in Tim Kelly’s offense (2019) vs. his most recent numbers (2022) when he missed half the season with a suspension.
As long as DHop is out there, he’s still dominating.#Titans pic.twitter.com/LFRcu3l82U
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) June 9, 2023
If the Titans do secure Hopkins’ services, it will prove that they had a plan the entire time.
Treylon Burks and Kyle Philips are both expected to have pretty significant roles regardless of who joins the team, but you can’t blame the Titans if they were more intrigued at the possibility of pairing the young tandem with an All-Pro instead of another rookie.
It could also be a franchise altering addition if it hits. Too many people ignore that possibility and immediately focus on the negative part of it.
Yes, it’s risky. But Considering he’s the only realistic option with that type of upside, I’ll take that gamble every single time.
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) June 8, 2023
More importantly, adding Hopkins allows Tennessee to properly fill out their depth chart. Burks and Hopkins would obviously be your two alphas on the boundary, while Philips would operate out of the slot.
That will then let Chris Moore and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine be the depth pieces they’re truly meant to be, as opposed to the major contributors they could end up being if Hopkins isn’t added.
Now, there’s only one thing left to do and secure Hopkins, otherwise the outlook for this group won’t be positive going into 2023.
-Shaun Calderon and Mike Moraitis
Promoting Tim Kelly was the right choice
Once the Titans made the obvious decision to part ways with suspected double agent Todd Downing, many fans wanted the team to hire his replacement from outside the building.
The idea behind that was the Titans bringing in a fresh offensive philosophy after Kelly was on the previous offensive staff that didn’t have much success.
Therefore, it should go without saying that promoting Kelly from within was a very controversial decision when it first happened. Many feared that the Titans would stubbornly keep things the same in 2023.
Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case, as a handful of players have indicated that the entire offense has changed under Kelly.
Derrick Henry on the #Titans offense under Tim Kelly:
"It's a completely new offense, and I'm just coming in here trying to learn everything, and get used to the terminology. It has changed, and it's getting in, working, and doing what I can.
— Titans247 (@NFL_Titans247) June 7, 2023
Nevertheless, it will be the results on the field that will dictate whether or not the Titans made the right decision to promote from within.
Tennessee is hopeful that Kelly is capable of getting his new offense to have similar results to the ones he produced in Houston prior to it all falling apart due to personnel and personal decisions.
-Shaun Calderon
All of the investments at CB will finally pay off
Since the start of 2020, the Titans have seemingly done everything possible to fix their problem at the cornerback position.
They’ve taken chances on veteran cornerbacks such as Jackrabbit Jenkins and Sean Murphy-Bunting, while also spending a ridiculous amount of premium draft capital on the position.
Over the last three seasons, the Titans have invested the following:
- One first-round pick (Caleb Farley)
- Two second-round picks (Kristian Fulton, Roger McCreary)
- One third-round pick (Elijah Molden)
Unfortunately, that type of hefty investment hasn’t exactly yielded the type of results you would hope for.
The Titans are coming off a season in which they finished with the worst pass defense in the league after allowing a league-worst 274.8 passing yards per game.
The most concerning aspect of their struggles is the group’s inability to stay on the field. With the exception of McCreary, each of the young cornerbacks listed above spent time on injured reserve last season.
Farley has been a disastrous pick thus far. Truth be told, he is on the verge of becoming one of the Titans’ biggest draft disappointments in franchise history if he doesn’t turn things around at least a little bit.
You could make a strong argument that the only thing that has been worse than Farley’s injury luck has been the product he routinely puts on the field whenever he’s actually out there with his teammates.
However, in my opinion, Fulton is the most frustrating of the injury-prone players for the simple fact that he consistently shows how good he is whenever he’s healthy.
10 defensive backs who locked it down in 2022 🔒
(via @NextGenStats)
— NFL (@NFL) June 22, 2023
If this defense is going to be elite, the group of cornerbacks must take that next step, and that’s especially true with the best player in the room (Fulton), who has to find a way to make these soft-tissue injuries a thing of the past.
Fulton will never reach his full potential, nor will he get the type of payday he desires if he doesn’t find a way to overcome the injury bug.
If that does happen, it’s undoubtedly going to help Tennessee’s secondary to elevate its entire game by making life easier for everybody else.
This will then allow Fulton to defend the opposing team’s best wide receiver, while Murphy-Bunting, McCreary and Co. try to limit the other surrounding pieces.
.@PFF_Sam ranked the Top-32 CBs in the NFL…
Here is his Top-10 in the AFC 👀 pic.twitter.com/DpBEmBbh93
— PFF (@PFF) June 4, 2023
Obviously, the real game changer could be Farley if he somehow becomes the player who was once described as a “generational talent” due to his rare blend of size, speed, athleticism, and confidence.
But at this point, the Virginia Tech product is gonna have to prove that he’s still capable of being that type of talent because he’s well beyond the point of being given the benefit of the doubt.
Nevertheless, this young but talented group of cornerbacks has the chance to prove the doubters wrong in 2023, but in order for the Titans’ secondary to start changing their narrative, they must find ways to stay on the field this year. Otherwise, we could be seeing a lot of new faces on the backend of the Titans’ defense in 2024.
-Shaun Calderon
Staying healthy is no longer an issue
There’s no question the Titans have plenty of talent an promise up and down this roster, and especially on defense. However, that talent and promise won’t be realized if Tennessee can’t keep its best players on the field, something that has been a historic issue the past few years.
Granted, Vrabel’s coaching can mask some of it, but this team can’t hope to do much more than compete for second place if the same injury problems creep up once again in 2023.
-Mike Moraitis
Ryan Tannehill can return to form
Tannehill has taken no shortage of flack over the last few years for his lack of playoff success, and to a lesser extent for a dip in the quality of his play, especially when it comes to turnovers.
Proving he’s over the latter will be much more difficult, but he can show rather quickly that the dip in performance wasn’t him simply falling off and that he’s capable of getting back to the form we saw in 2019-2020.
If we look at it fairly, there are several factors that have contributed to his lackluster play the past few seasons, including shoddy (and that’s putting it nicely) offensive lines, receiving corps. and play-calling that have no doubt made his job much more difficult.
But Tannehill’s turnovers and decision-making in general have also been an issue, although one can even partly contribute that to him just trying to make something happen with the awful hand he has been dealt.
Nevertheless, if the Titans want to unseat the Jaguars in the AFC South and get back to the playoffs, they need at least some semblance of the 2019-2020 Tannehill to return.
However, it will take much more than “some semblance” of that guy if the Titans want to, dare I say, win a Super Bowl.
I fully believe Tannehill will be better by default if this offensive line actually blocks, but adding a receiver like Hopkins remains vital in the quest to get the best version of Tannehill possible.
-Mike Moraitis
