The Tennessee Titans have a massive game on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons that could decide what direction this team goes for the rest of the 2023 campaign.
A win could lead to the team trying to go on a run in the hopes of potentially saving its season, just like the Titans did in 2019 after a 2-4 start. However, losing to Atlanta should push Tennessee in the other direction and see them sell with the goal of building for the future.
You could argue that Tennessee is already in the latter stage after Monday’s trade of Kevin Byard, but it’ll take more than that to truly signal that a selloff is on.
For now, the Titans are focused on trying to win a game over a Falcons squad that has a ton of familiar faces on the opposing sideline, a list headed by their former offensive coordinator, Falcons head coach Arthur Smith.
Atlanta has several talented pieces that I strongly considered for this article. Some of the players I contemplated were wide receiver Drake London, left tackle Jake Matthews, running back Bijan Robinson and cornerback A.J. Terrell.
In the end, I decided to simply go with arguably the best player on the team who would undoubtedly help the Titans’ offensive line for the long haul.
Right guard Chris Lindstrom has been one of the most consistent and best players in all of football over the last handful of seasons. Since the start of 2021, his overall grade has never been lower than 83.7, per Pro Football Focus.
Further, over the last four years, Lindstrom has finished inside the top 10 at his position with an average overall grade of 85.0, and his highest mark in that span is 95.0 in 2022, the best grade at the position in the NFL.
On top of having the second-highest overall grade this season (84.5), the Boston College product currently ranks inside the top 15 at his position in both run-blocking (85.6, third) and pass-blocking (69.9, 14th).
Chris Lindstrom = very, very good at football pic.twitter.com/VDbFI1kUkL
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) October 4, 2023
Adding that type of elite talent to the interior of the line would be a massive game-changer for a unit that could use an upgrade practically all across the board.
When combined with Peter Skoronski, the Titans would have a young (both players are under 27) and very good guard tandem for years to come, assuming Skoronski continues to move in the right direction.
Chris Lindstrom (#63) hauling so much ass to get the linebacker pic.twitter.com/HEXmeGz6R5
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) October 10, 2023
Tennessee would then be able to focus on trying to solidify the blindside in the offseason, something that has proven difficult since the days of Taylor Lewan.
