After a lackluster 2021 campaign, the Tennessee Titans are hoping their offense can rebound in 2022.
The Titans have seen a major revamp of their offense ahead of the upcoming season, with several new starters set to take over for departed ones. The biggest changes come at wide receiver, tight end, and offensive line.
The acclimation of new starters aren’t the only concerns, though, as Ryan Tannehill is looking to bounce back from a down season and running back Derrick Henry is coming off an injury-shortened campaign.
With all that in mind, let’s go through every position group and see what the biggest burning question is at each going into the 2022 season.
Quarterback
Can Ryan Tannehill bounce back and get the Titans over the hump?
Tannehill is coming off his worst season as a Titan in what was a turnover-plagued 2021 campaign.
After doing a good job taking care of the football in the two years prior, Tannehill had more interceptions (14) in 2021 than he had in 2019 and 2020 combined (13). Also, Tannehill tied his career-high with 10 fumbles.
The veteran signal-caller’s disappointing season culminated with a debacle in the playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Tannehill tossed three back-breaking picks in the contest, which ended up dooming the Titans.
To be fair to Tannehill, he did have a lot to overcome.
The offensive line provided poor pass protection that led to his being sacked 47 times, the seventh-highest total in the NFL. Also, the offense saw injuries to several key players, with running back Derrick Henry and wide receivers Julio Jones and A.J. Brown all missing significant time.
While Henry is returning healthy in 2022, Brown and Jones are now playing elsewhere, which has led to a total revamp of Tennessee’s receiving corps.
The only member of the 2021 group who made any semblance of an impact that is returning in 2022 is Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. Other key additions include Robert Woods, Treylon Burks and Kyle Philips.
But the jury is still out on all three. Woods is no doubt a proven commodity, but he’s also coming back from a torn ACL. Burks and Philips have shown flashes in camp and the preseason, but there’s not telling how rookie wide receivers will perform in their first seasons.
One position group that has definitely been upgraded is at tight end, where Austin Hooper and Chigoziem Okonkwo were added. Both should be good targets for Tannehill all over the field, and Okonkwo has the potential to be dynamic.
There is no doubt upside in this group, but it remains to be seen how well and quickly Tannehill will gel with it. Seeing as how the entire first-team offense didn’t see any snaps together in the preseason, a slow start is very possible.
Adding to the new faces at wide receiver and tight end, the Titans have two new starters on the offensive line in left guard Aaron Brewer and rookie right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere.
Neither has been a full-time starter in the NFL and it remains to be seen if they can bolster a group upfront that desperately needs to improve its pass protection.
Last but certainly not least, Tannehill has Malik Willis sitting behind him in the backup quarterback spot. We figure it’ll take a lot for the Titans to insert Willis into the starting job in his first season, but his mere presence means Tannehill isn’t anywhere near as safe as he was the past two years.
Tannehill’s 2022 campaign is more than just about regular season success, though. His biggest weakness the past two years has been in the postseason, which remains the biggest knock on him.
With that said, Tannehill could put together an MVP season and still not garner respect if he can’t get the Titans over the hump in the playoffs.
Running back
Is Derrick Henry on the decline?
After missing half the season with a foot injury in 2021, many experts are down on The King going into 2022, with some even knocking him from his throne as the best running back in the NFL.
Lest we forget that Henry still finished in the top 10 in rushing yards and touchdowns, and he wasn’t knocked out of the top five in yards until December despite suffering the injury in late October.
If not for the injury, Henry was headed towards yet another rushing crown and 2,000-yard season.
Henry, who did manage to return for the playoff loss to the Bengals but was stifled, is showing no ill-effects from his injury going into 2022 and looks to be in the best shape of his life.
If any back can fight off Father Time as he approaches 30, it’s a physical specimen like Henry, who has a ridiculous work ethic.
Until we see a lackluster season and/or another injury-plagued campaign from Henry, we’re betting on him remaining the best back in the NFL, and he should be considered the favorite to win Comeback Player of the Year.
Clearly the Titans are thinking the same way after rewarding Henry with a raise for 2022 that makes him the highest-paid running back in the league.
Wide receiver
Can Titans overcome losing A.J. Brown?
The Titans made arguably the most shocking move of the 2022 NFL draft when they traded their star receiver A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Brown was a force for the Titans during his three seasons in Nashville, where he emerged as a major impact player and one of the best young receivers in the NFL.
But Brown’s stint in Tennessee wasn’t without issues. He routinely dealt with injury the past two seasons, forcing him to miss seven games and exit several others early. In fact, that’s the reason why the Titans didn’t break the bank to keep him.
While the Titans will no doubt miss Brown’s game-breaking plays and overall talent, his raw production isn’t exactly irreplaceable.
Granted, Brown’s production from the past two years is a result of injury, but that needs to be taken into account, because as good as a player is, that talent does the team no good when said player is sidelined. Not to mention, the Titans still managed to win 12 games without a full season of Brown.
Now, this is not to disparage Brown’s talent at all; he will be greatly missed, especially with his ability to put the team on his back. But it’s not like the Titans have a perennial 1,500-yard receiver to replace here.
Looking ahead to 2022, the Titans have completely revamped their receiving corps., as Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is the only returning member who made any semblance of an impact in 2021.
The new additions include Robert Woods and draft picks Treylon Burks and Kyle Philips, all of whom come with concerns.
There’s no telling what the Titans will get out of Burks and Philips, as rookie wideouts are very unpredictable, and Woods is coming off a torn ACL and may not be himself in the first year back (see: Bud Dupree).
The good news is that Woods, Burks and Philips have all looked good during camp and the preseason. Woods is showing no ill-effects from his torn ACL, Philips has proven to be a tough cover in practice, and Burks finished the preseason strong with three catches for 33 yards and a score.
Aside from the aforementioned concerns, another thing to worry about is the lack of reps the starting group got together in the preseason. While Woods, Burks and Philips all saw snaps, none of them came with Tannehill, who didn’t play at all during the exhibition slate.
Burks is the biggest wild card to watch from this group. The hopeful long-term replacement for Brown, Burks’ skillset mirrors that of his predecessor and he’s capable of making the kind of impact Brown did in Year 1.
However, as we already stated, rookie receivers are very difficult to predict, and there’s a chance he’s eased in to start the season. If that’s the case, Burks will likely start out as the No. 3 option behind Woods and Westbrook-Ikhine.
Woods will likely be the No. 1 option in the passing game, but Burks will be nipping at his heels. We shouldn’t forget about Philips, either, who showed great chemistry with Tannehill and is very capable of making noise in his rookie season.
Tight end
Can Titans get more from their TEs in 2022?
One of the Titans’ worst position groups in 2021 was at tight end, where the team saw lackluster production up and down the depth chart.
Anthony Firkser was supposed to have a breakout season, but that never panned out. Geoff Swaim was the whole lot of “meh” we expected him to be, and it was MyCole Pruitt, the No. 3 tight end, who ended up proving to be Tennessee’s best, although his season ended early due to injury.
None of those three proved to be starting-caliber players and the group combined for 677 receiving yards.
Swaim is the only one returning from that group, and he’s joined by two new faces in draft pick Chigoziem Okonkwo and free-agent acquisition, Austin Hooper.
Hooper is no doubt the biggest upgrade of the bunch, as he gives the Titans something they didn’t have in 2021, which is a well-rounded tight end who can be both a plus blocker and pass-catcher.
Hooper had a pair of down years as a receiver in the Cleveland Browns’ run-first offense, so it’s fair to expect similar production in a similar offense in Tennessee.
However, Hooper still would have led the Titans’ tight ends in receiving yards in 2021 with 345, and his 2020 total of 435 was just 13 shy of the team’s tight ends leader that year, Jonnu Smith, who played in two more games than Hooper did.
There is also a history of the veteran making a major impact in the passing attack, albeit in a pass-heavy offense with the Atlanta Falcons.
In 2018 and 2019, Hooper tallied 660 and 787 receiving yards, respectively. You’d have to go back to 2018 and Delanie Walker’s 807 to find a Tennessee tight end who tallied more than Hooper did those two years.
Again, Hooper isn’t joining a different style of offense than what he had with the Browns, as the Titans are also a run-first team, but with all the question marks at wide receiver, it’s plausible Hooper’s production will be closer to his Falcons numbers.
The wild card of this group is Okonkwo, who flashed his receiving skills in camp and the preseason. He should have a role in this offense, although the amount of snaps he sees will depend upon his blocking. If he struggles, the door will be open for the Swaim Train to remain relevant.
On paper, there’s no comparing this group with last year’s, as there is far more upside and talent up and down the depth chart. Now all that’s left is seeing the promise come to fruition.
Offensive line
Will the two new starters pan out?
After parting ways with Rodger Saffold and David Quessenberry this offseason, the Titans are deploying two new starters along the offensive line in Aaron Brewer at left guard and Nicholas Petit-Frere at right tackle.
We expected Dillon Radunz to win the job at right tackle all along, but it wasn’t surprising to ultimately see him lose the competition after being outshined by the rookie in camp and the preseason.
While the Titans appear to have decided who the best men for the jobs are, now comes the point where we find out if they are capable starters. After all, neither Brewer nor Petit-Frere has full-time starting experience in the NFL.
The biggest knock on Brewer is his size, which could prove to be a detriment over the course of an entire season as far as injuries and matchups are concerned.
Adding to that, his PFF grades in run-blocking (60.8) and pass-blocking (48.8) in 12 games (five starts, 507 snaps) in 2021 were nothing to write home about.
According to PFF, Petit-Frere was actually solid in pass protection during the preseason, posting a respectable grade of 74.3 in Week 2. In the same game, however, NPF posted a 52.9 in run-blocking. Those aren’t bad numbers, but we have to remember they weren’t against a starting defense, either.
The good news for both is that things couldn’t get much worse than they were in pass protection in 2021, a season that saw the Titans surrender the seventh-most sacks in the NFL with 47.
Quess was responsible for 11 of those sacks and a total of 43 pressures, while Saffold allowed two sacks and 26 pressures and finished with the worst Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade of the starting group with a dreadful 44.8.
On the flip side, Petit-Frere and Brewer do have big shoes to fill in the run game. Quessenberry posted Tennessee’s best PFF run-blocking grade (89.7), and Saffold had a very respectable 76.7.
Covering that kind of performance in the run game will be tough for Brewer and Petit-Frere to do, but if they can come close while improving on the terrible numbers Quess and Saffold had in the pass game, Tennessee’s offensive line will be better off in 2022.
