One of three defensive additions thus far, the Tennessee Titans figure to have replaced one of their departed linebackers with the signing of former San Francisco 49ers linebacker, Azeez Al-Shaair.
With Tennessee desperately needing linebacker help after the departures of David Long and Zach Cunningham, the team landed Al-Shaair on a one-year deal worth up to $6 million, which was similar to Long’s.
I’ll be quite honest: the only San Francisco linebackers I knew anything about were Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner, two of the best in the business at their position.
As a result of those two, Al-Shaair flew under the radar outside of San Fran, but the more I learn about him, the more I love this signing. Let’s dive a bit deeper on the new Tennessee linebacker with six things to know.
Ran Carthon connection
The Titans have signed three players thus far with connections to Carthon, and Al-Shaair is one of them. The other two are offensive lineman Daniel Brunskill and edge rusher Arden Key.
The Florida Atlantic product came aboard in 2019, two years after Carthon arrived in San Fran. So, the Titans know full well what they’re getting in Al-Shaair.
Expected to be a starter
The signing of Al-Shaair is another one of those high-upside moves for the Titans, as he’s flashed plenty of promise during his career but has never secured a full-time starting.
Al-Shaair saw significant action in 2021, but that was because Dre Greenlaw was injured. He was relegated to a backup/rotational role once again in 2022, playing just 42 percent of snaps as compared to the 89 percent he played the season prior.
Upon arriving in Nashville, Al-Shaair is expected to be one of the two players who replaces David Long and Zach Cunningham.
Why didn't he start in San Fran?
As we already mentioned, Al-Shaair did get starting opportunities (he had 22 starts in 25 games over the last two years), but that was mostly because of injuries and the way San Fran’s defense was setup at the start of games.
It’s important to really look at the snap totals. Ignoring 2021 because of the injury to Greenlaw, Al-Shaair saw just 42 percent of snaps. Granted, he missed five games, but he only played in one more game in 2021 and managed to log 89 percent of snaps.
There’s two very good reasons why Al-Shaair wasn’t able to fully crack the starting lineup: Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner.
The Niners sported one of the best linebacker duos in the NFL during Al-Shaair’s time there, effectively blocking him from getting into a bigger role.
But, as Niners Wire editor Kyle Madson told us, a starting role is the “next step” for the promising young linebacker.
KM: Taking on a full-time starter job is the next step for him, and I love that he gets to continue this development under a former linebacker in Mike Vrabel. Al-Shaair thrived under former NFL LB DeMeco Ryans when he was on the 49ers’ coaching staff. A hands-on coach like Vrabel should help him take a step up as a three-down LB. The 49ers’ LB corps. got a little bit worse with Al-Shaair’s exit. This is a really quality signing for Tennessee.
This mirrors the likely thought process behind the Titans signing offensive tackle Andre Dillard, who wasn’t a full-time starter in Philly because of a logjam situation, but showed plenty of promise.
Similar to David Long
Of the five Q&A’s I’ve done with Wire editors to get more information on the newest Titans, the one with Madson on Al-Shaair was my favorite because of all the great things he had to say about him, including calling Tennessee’s newest linebacker a “heat-seeking missile.”
Here’s Madson’s thoughts on Al-Shaair’s strength:
KM: Azeez Al-Shaair is a heat-seeking missile dressed up as an NFL linebacker. He’s a terrific athlete who spends a lot of time around the football. Al-Shaair gets downhill in a hurry and hits like a Mack truck. Good luck finding a rep where he’s not playing at full speed and hitting anything that moves. He’s awesome to watch.
Sound familiar?
Will Al-Shaair help in coverage?
It sure sounds like Al-Shaair is very similar to Long, who we assume the Titans let walk in free agency after he wasn’t retained despite a very reasonable price, and one that was similar to Al-Shaair’s.
Nevertheless, my hope is that Al-Shaair will be at least decent in coverage, as the Titans need a linebacker who can step into that role. Unfortunately, pass coverage was one of the weaknesses Madson listed for Al-Shaair, although he did say the 25-year-old is “not a disaster there by any means.”
KM: With that athleticism and aggressiveness comes some over-pursuit and missed tackles. He can be fooled by play action and get out of position. He’ll also take bad angles and miss some tackles. He cleaned that up last season, but it’s still something to keep an eye on. Al-Shaair also struggled at times in coverage which is why he wasn’t typically on the field in passing situations. He’s not a disaster there by any means, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a strength of his.
I really like the signing of Al-Shaair, but the Titans still need to consider bringing in a linebacker who specializes in coverage more.
How Al-Shaair signing impacts the draft
With two new starters to replace at linebacker, the Titans were in a position to target a linebacker in the middle to late rounds of the 2023 NFL draft.
I don’t think that’s out of the question even still, as Al-Shaair is only on a one-year deal, and the jury is still very much out on both he and Monty Rice, who is expected to at least be in the mix for the other starting job.
But the need to go in that direction isn’t as dire now, as the Titans have two young linebackers who could end up being the future if all goes well. I will say, if there’s a coverage specialist out there on Day 3, the Titans should strongly consider taking him.
