The Tennessee Titans were one of the worst offensive units in the NFL in 2022, taking yet another step back from the step back the offense took in 2021 after two seasons of being elite in 2019 and 2020.
A laundry list of issues were behind the struggles, and one of those issues has already been eradicated after the team fired offensive coordinator Todd Downing, who simply was not good at calling plays.
When you talk about takeaways from the Titans’ offense in 2022, Downing’s play-calling hamstringing the unit is certainly one of them, but thankfully those days are over and there will be a new play-caller in 2023.
And hopefully that play-caller will be someone from outside of the building who will introduce a fresh, new offense to Tennessee. The Titans need to remodel on that side of the ball, not just move the furniture around.
But the problem with Downing certainly wasn’t the only takeaway on offense from the 2022 campaign. Here’s a look at what else caught our attention, both good and bad.
A new play-caller was needed
Well, duh! Titans fans have only been clamoring for this for over a season now.
Thankfully, it finally happened, as the team parted ways with Downing on Monday, putting to bed what was a disastrous two years for he and Tennessee’s offense.
Now the Titans have to find the right replacement, and that replacement would ideally be someone not on the team already and not in the Vrabel circle of trust. It should be someone who can bring fresh ideas to a head coach, offense and franchise that desperately needs them.
Can't depend on Malik Willis
The hope was that Malik Willis would be ready to take over for Ryan Tannehill after his first season, which would allow the Titans to cut the veteran and save some money without a second thought.
Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out that way.
Willis didn’t show he was ready even remotely ready to be an NFL starter, and as a result the Titans simply cannot blindly depend on the rookie to successfully take things over in his second year.
With that fact, the possibility of Tannehill coming back for one more season is more realistic. Whatever the Titans do, they must have a veteran in front of Willis going into training camp if they’re serious about getting back to contention in 2023.
Be excited about Chig and Treylon
Barring the Titans going out and getting a superstar wide receiver this offseason, the passing attack must be built around Treylon Burks and Chigoziem Okonkwo.
The pair of rookies were far and away Tennessee’s best options through the air in 2022. Burks had issues staying healthy, dealing with a turf toe and then a bad-luck concussion, but when on the field he flashed some star potential, elevating the Titans’ offense in the process.
Chig was one of the few Titans who actually played in every game, and he was incredibly impressive, giving hope that he can develop into a really special player.
I mean, how many guys have a yards per route run on par with Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson?
Correct https://t.co/QF0Ga97ZpQ pic.twitter.com/8NvgcRKOSz
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) December 20, 2022
Aside from the injuries with Burks, the biggest problem for both this year was not getting enough action in games. That started to change later in the year, but whoever the new offensive coordinator is must make it a point of emphasis in 2023.
For all of Jon Robinson’s ills, he may have set the Titans up with two star players for years to come on his way out the door. There’s still a ways to go for both, but they’re on the right track to being special.
Chig and Treylon need help
While a more experienced Chig and Burks getting more involved will upgrade the Titans’ passing attack by default, that is not enough for this offense.
Tennessee needs to help take pressure of its young rising stars, but more importantly to help out whoever is at quarterback.
Out of the group of 2022 pass-catchers, I’m re-signing Austin Hooper to pair with Chig and keeping Racey McMath (he’s under contract) as a bottom-of-the-depth chart deep threat.
Tennessee will also have Kyle Philips returning, and hopefully he’ll able to stay healthy, but they shouldn’t depend on him for a major role.
As far as Robert Woods, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and the rest of this group of lackluster receivers, they can all go. Maybe there’s a world Woods stays at a greatly reduced price, but he shouldn’t be any higher than fourth in the pecking order. NWI is a fourth receiver and special teams asset.
The Titans should be open to anything at receiver. Ideally, they at least sign or trade for a veteran and draft someone to greatly revamp the unit.
Fire the left side of O-line into the sun
The way I see it, the only certainty in terms of starters staying for the Titans on the offensive line going into 2023 is Nicholas Petit-Frere, and the jury is still out on the Ohio State product.
Other than that, Dennis Daley should be gone, Aaron Brewer should only be brought back as a backup, Nate Davis is a free agent, and we can’t rule out Ben Jones retiring after the 33-year-old suffered multiple concussions, leading to his missing five games this season.
At the very least, the Titans need to get a new left tackle and guard, but they may end up having to fill a whopping four spots upfront if Jones and Davis don’t return.
Taylor Lewan is no longer an option, as the Titans will likely cut him. We’ve mentioned the possibility of a restructure to keep him around, but even that’s not a great idea since the team cannot in any way, shape or form depend on the injury-plagued Lewan for any semblance of a key role in 2023.
If Jones comes back and Davis is re-signed, center to right tackle will be taken care of, but Tennessee would still need to address the left side, and hopefully with proven veterans who can make an immediate impact.
Must clean up the self-inflicted wounds
The Titans actually committed two less turnovers than they did in 2021, but their 23 was still far too many. Looking back at the 2019 and 2020 seasons when Tennessee’s offense was among the best in the NFL, the Titans tallied 17 and 12, respectively, and Marcus Mariota started six games in 2019.
While Tannehill has rightly taken slack for his issues with turnovers the past few seasons, Derrick Henry also deserves plenty of blame after he had a career-high six in 2022, with three lost. And those lost fumbles were incredibly costly down the final stretch of the season.
On top of taking care of the ball and all the other things the Titans need to do to fix the offense, another type of self-inflicted wound must also be addressed: penalties.
The Titans as a whole were tied as the fourth-most penalized team in the NFL, and finished second in penalty yards surrendered. They were also tied for third in false starts (23), sixth in offensive holding, and tied for 10th in offensive pass interferences with two.
The penalties issue on offense might take care of itself simply by bringing in better players. Nonetheless, if the Titans want to get back to their winning ways, they need to at least come close to cutting that 23 in half.
