The first draft class of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been under a lot of criticism lately. The player with the most criticism is safety Lewis Cine.
It’s been really frustrating for the fanbase that their first-round pick from last season isn’t working much at all with the starters and has been firmly on the second team.
Some of that has to do with his recovery from his broken leg while also being in a great receiver room.
How concerned should we be? Based his play this week, we should be less concerned than before. Here are eight plays that show where Cine is currently at.
Run fits
On this play, Cine is playing in the box, lining up on the strong side over the tight end. The Titans run outside zone with a lead fullback and Cine is responsible for fitting the C gap (between the tackle and tight end). Safeties against a fullback oftentimes is a losing battle, but Cine is a physical player and he stops the fullback in his tracks. That is what you want to see from a player who is so physical and aggressive.
Tackling is slightly better
Tackling was a big issue at Georgia and it showed up in a big way against the Seattle Seahawks in the first preseason game. What he does is aim too high. You want to aim for the belly button because it gives you better leverage. That is what Cine struggles with. Here, he starts to aim lower, but the running back ducks to have Cine hit him higher. He gets the tackle in the open field, but you want to see improvement there.
Physicality
This is a simple cover-1 zone defense where Cine is hanging out in the hook zone. Once he sees that Malik Willis commits to throwing the in-breaking route, Cine unloads on the receiver and takes him down with a big hit. This is what you want to see from Cine. The instincts in the box/intermediate levels are great.
Cover 3 beater
The Titans are running Yankee, which is a deep shot route concept to beat cover-3. The farside receiver is running a post to get the cornerback and safety in conflict to create space for the crossing route. Ideally, you want the deep safety and cornerback to be on the same page and recognize it, which Cine does here. He tells Andrew Booth Jr. to stay in his zone with the receiver about to break to the post but he doesn’t and that causes Cine to be late in breaking on the crosser. This communication needs to be fixed.
They figured it out next time
Later on in the game, the Titans went to the Yankee concept again and you can tell they had discussed it on the sidelines. Instead of Booth staying home, he follows the post and Cine attacks the crosser without hesitation. That causes Willis to not try attacking down the field and forces him to create with his legs. Seeing players and situations evolve over the course of a game is great, especially with young players.
Over correcting his tackling form
As mentioned earlier, Cine has an issue tackling too high. Here, he overcorrects in the hole and goes too low. Against an agile and athletic running back in Tyjae Spears, he takes advantage of this by leaping over Cine when he goes for his ankles. Getting a lot of reps in the preseason can hopefully help him correct this for the regular season.
Quick trigger
Cine’s best ability is having a quick trigger and attacking downhill. He is responsible for the running back here and once he sees the back go into the flat, Cine explodes forward to prevent Willis from throwing it to him. That quick trigger is why there should still be some optimism with Cine.
Aggressiveness
This is an interesting play that you can’t get away with in all areas of the field. It works here because the area is so condensed. Cine is in zone coverage, but Willis escapes the pocket with only Cine in front of him. That is why this works. He bails on his zone, but the area is so condensed it doesn’t matter as much. Cine attacks and gets Willis in the open field and makes a big play.
