Tennessee Titans cornerback Roger McCreary is coming off a season where he was sneakily one of the most reliable defenders on the team.
McCreary not only showed steady improvement throughout the year, but he happened to be one of the only starters on the team who can say they played in every single game, leading all defensive players in snaps logged (1,165).
While McCreary’s development largely went unnoticed nationally, it appears that he made a fan in film guru and NFL Network analyst, Brian Baldinger.
The former offensive lineman has grown a reputation over the last few years as being one of the most credible analysts you can find, largely because Baldy actually puts in the time and effort to come up with an adequate opinion.
When listing his top-10 cornerbacks who are poised for a second-year breakout, Baldinger listed McCreary among them, stating the following:
McCreary started every regular-season game last season for a Titans team that collapsed down the stretch due to injuries. The second-round selection, who led all NFL cornerbacks in defensive snaps in 2022, showed promise and finished third on the team in tackles with 84. After spending the majority of his time out wide as a rookie, McCreary could continue to improve when sliding inside to the nickel position while Kristian Fulton and Sean Murphy-Bunting play outside this fall.
As Baldy mentioned, the Auburn product is expected to play on the inside more in 2023 after playing outside in 2022.
The second-year corner was recently asked to discuss that transition (and Baldy linked to our article in his write-up above, which is awesome), and said nothing has really changed, outside of the fact that the nickel role requires cornerbacks to operate at a faster pace.
McCreary also mentioned how he’s still occasionally going to be playing on the outside, which is to be expected in the Mike Vrabel/Shane Bowen-led defense that loves to create headaches by constantly moving guys around.
If the Titans’ former second-round pick is able to take that next step in his development, ultimately providing another consistent presence on the back-end, Tennessee’s defense will have the potential to be a scary unit in 2023.
McCreary finished his rookie year with 84 tackles, eight passes defensed, two tackles for loss, one interception, and one spectacular assist to an interception that unfortunately won’t show up on his stat sheet.
INT of the year? 😎
📺: #TENvsLAC on CBS
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