The Tennessee Titans entered this offseason faced with a big issue: the team had many holes to fill up and down the roster but had limited funds to do it with.
As a result, general manager Ran Carthon and head coach Mike Vrabel have made signings that bet on the upside of players who have shown promise in lesser roles in the past.
We saw that with signings along the offensive line, and at inside and outside linebacker. All in all, I think the Titans did just about as good as they could have considering the circumstances, with the exception of wide receiver.
Adding to the question marks at those positions, there are others that have been ravaged by injuries in recent years, which in and of itself has led to concerns despite obvious talent and promise in the groups.
With training camp about a month away, we’re taking a look at each position group for the Titans and ranking them from strongest to weakest based on how they are currently constructed.
1. Running Backs
Tennessee’s running backs room will once again be led by one of the best in the business in Derrick Henry, which is far and away the primary reason this position group lands at No. 1.
However, the addition of a Swiss Army knife-type of player in Tyjae Spears makes things more interesting. Also, look for Hassan Haskins to chip in, especially on kick returns, where he found some success in 2022.
2. Defensive Linemen
The defensive line sports an elite (and underrated) trio in Jeffery Simmons, Teair Tart and Denico Autry, a group that has helped propel Tennessee to an elite run defense and improved pass-rush the past two seasons.
The D-line would have possibly taken the top spot in these rankings if not for a depth issue. The Titans lost two key depth pieces in DeMarcus Walker and Mario Edwards, thinning out what was a much deeper group in 2022.
Even still, Tart, Autry and Simmons are so damn good that this unit can’t fall any further than second.
3. Safeties
When healthy and on the field together in recent years, Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker have been an elite duo at the safety position.
Byard, who is among the very best safeties in the NFL, has held up his end of the bargain in terms of staying healthy, but Hooker has not. Since playing a full season in each of his first two years, the Iowa product has missed 13 contests combined the past two years.
Adding to that concern, the depth situation at safety isn’t great right now, and that’s why I’ve been banging the table to re-sign Joshua Kalu.
The good news is, the Titans have been giving Molden looks at the position this offseason, a move that could prove to pay dividends in 2023, and down the line should the Titans move on from Byard or Hooker. If not for Molden being expected to get involved, this group might be a little lower.
4. Cornerbacks
The Titans’ cornerbacks room sports promising and talented players — that is, if the group can remain healthy, something that has been an issue for the entire secondary in recent years.
Kristian Fulton was recently ranked among the best coverage corners from last season, and Roger McCreary showed flashes and gained valuable experience playing the most defensive snaps in the NFL after he unexpectedly won the starting job in Year 1.
Elijah Molden was among the best rookie cornerbacks in the league during his rookie campaign in 2021 before having a lost season due to injury in 2022.
The addition of Sean Murphy-Bunting, who is coming off the best season of his career in terms of coverage numbers, adds a much-needed extra option to this group, and Tre Avery provides further depth after proving to be a solid backup in his first year.
And, if the football gods really smile upon the Titans this year, they’ll see a step forward from former first-round pick, Caleb Farley, who we should expect absolutely nothing out of this year.
All in all, this group has the potential to be very good, but that will greatly depend on its overall health, especially when it comes to Fulton, who has been unable to stay healthy for an entire season.
5. Specialists
The Titans have an elite punter in Ryan Stonehouse, who exploded onto the scene in his rookie season, and an elite long snapper in Morgan Cox.
However, there is a giant question mark at kicker right now after the Titans parted ways with Randy Bullock and left the job up to a pair of UDFAs in Caleb Shudak, who was signed in 2022, and Trey Wolff, who was inked following this year’s draft.
If not for that, this group could’ve been as high as No. 3.
6. Outside Linebackers
If Harold Landry wasn’t coming off a torn ACL, rest assured this group would be ranked higher.
However, we simply don’t know if Landry will be himself in his first year back, which is a normal concern for players returning from such an injury. Prior to his injury, Landry was on an elite trajectory after a career-high 12 sacks in 2021.
The guy projected to start opposite him, Arden Key, brings plenty of promise with him after flashing as a reserve, but the fact that he has never been a full-time starter — something he’s expected to be in Nashville — leaves him as a question mark, also.
Speaking of question marks, we still don’t know what Rashad Weaver is going to be, either. He looked like he might take off after tallying 5.5 sacks over the first half of 2022, but was then shut out the rest of the way. That said, the Titans could do much worse than Weaver as the No. 3 OLB.
7. Quarterbacks
Ryan Tannehill isn’t the elite quarterback teams who don’t have one dream of, and we know his limitations when it comes to being able to win the big games in the playoffs.
However, we also know that when he’s given the right setup around him, he can lead an offense to elite heights, just like he did in 2019 and 2020.
Now, the last two years have been a disaster in terms of the passing game, but we also have to take into consideration the awful play-calling, injuries, and overall lack of talent, whether that was along the offensive line, in the receivers room, or both.
Of course, that doesn’t excuse Tannehill’s debacle in the 2021 playoffs, but it does at least partly explain his dip in production during the regular season the past few years.
Another problem at quarterback comes behind him, as the Titans could very well see their season blown up once again if Tannehill suffers another injury like he did in 2022.
While I think Malik Willis will be better in his second season, we still don’t know what that will look like or if it would be good enough to win games should Tannehill get hurt. We know he wasn’t good enough to win in his rookie season, but that was also to be expected.
Behind Willis is Will Levis, who is a rookie and just as big of a wild card as the Liberty product. In fact, Levis is currently trailing Willis for the No. 2 quarterback job. Maybe Levis pans out down the road, but don’t expect anything in 2023.
8. Tight Ends
The Titans have one of the best young tight ends in the NFL at the top of the depth chart in Chigoziem Okonkwo, who will no doubt be one of the most utilized weapons in the passing game.
From there, things drop off.
Trevon Wesco won’t do much in terms of catching the football, but he will provide reliable blocking when called upon.
Tennessee’s projected No. 3 tight end, fifth-round pick Josh Whyle, is a total wild card. We don’t really know what he’ll be as a blocker, which could be important if the Titans want to deploy Chig all over the formation.
And, while he’s thought to be a plus pass-catcher coming out of college, we won’t really know if that’s the case until Whyle steps on the field.
If neither Whyle nor Wesco provide at least something in the passing game, it will make Tennessee’s offense a bit more predictable whenever one or both are on the field.
9. Offensive Linemen
There was only one position group last season that could rival the ineptitude of the wide receiver corps., and that was the offensive line, which was arguably the league’s worst in 2022.
Tennessee rightly revamped the group this offseason, with only two of last year’s starters returning in Aaron Brewer, who is moving to center, and Nicholas Petit-Frere who is expected to man right tackle once again.
But both players struggled at their respective positions. The hope is that Brewer will be better at his natural spot at center and that NPF will take a step forward in his second season.
As far as the replacements for three of last year’s starters go, the Titans are betting on upside.
Andre Dillard is projected to start at left tackle but has just nine starts under his belt. Daniel Brunskill, who is slated to be the starter at right guard, has 42 starts in his career but was relegated to a backup role in 2022 after serving as a starter the two years prior.
Last but certainly not least, the Titans drafted Peter Skoronski, who was billed as a left tackle coming out but is expected to play at left guard, a position many believe he’s best suited for, for at least one season.
While I believe Skoronski will be good no matter where he ends up, there’s no telling how any rookie will pan out before he hits the field for the first time, and that’s especially true with the Northwestern product playing a position he didn’t see snaps at in college.
Despite all that, this unit couldn’t possibly be any worse than it was last season, thus I fully expect improvement here. How much improvement remains to be seen, though.
As far as depth goes, Corey Levin provides stability on the interior, but he’s about the only sure thing.
Dillon Radunz and Jamarco Jones are both coming off injuries, although I do believe at least Jones will be a reliable backup. The rest of the team’s backup options, including sixth-round pick Jaelyn Duncan, aren’t even locks to make the roster, let alone be good enough to be one of the first players off the bench.
10. Inside Linebackers
The Titans’ projected starters at inside linebacker are Monty Rice and Azeez Al-Shaair, but they’ll both face competition from Luke Gifford, Ben Niemann, Jack Gibbens and Chance Campbell.
What do all of those players have in common? They all lack full-time starting experience, and their abilities in coverage are questionable at best thanks to lackluster career numbers in that area.
Al-Shaair has 31 career starts, but many of those were a result of the Niners rolling with certain formations that deployed him at the start of games. In reality, he was a backup in San Francisco, playing behind two elite linebackers in Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw.
But Al-Shaair was good when given chances, and many (myself included) believe the best is yet to come with the Florida Atlantic product. However, we won’t know for sure until we actually see it.
Rice has battled injury over his first few seasons in the NFL and still has to prove himself after an up-and-down showing over 23 games (10 starts). He is anything but a lock to take the starting job, let alone be good at it.
As far as the rest are concerned, they are even bigger question marks in terms of being starters, and all figure to play primarily on special teams. That said, nothing can be ruled out with the uncertainty at the position currently.
11. Wide Receivers
Titans fans knew which position group would be at the bottom of this list before even clicking on the article.
After sporting arguably the worst receiving corps. in the NFL last season, the Titans have done next to nothing to improve. In fact, they are actually worse off than they were last season, in my humble opinion.
I am a firm believer that Treylon Burks has the stuff of a No. 1 wideout after showing plenty of promise in 2022, but we’ll first have to see him to do it for a full season after he missed six games.
From there, it’s a mess.
Kyle Philips flashed in Week 1 last season but was unable to stay healthy the rest of the way, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has shown he’s no better than a No. 3 or 4, but is slated to be the No. 2 if Philips doesn’t take that next step.
The team added veteran Chris Moore in free agency, but he’s a bottom-half-of-the-depth-chart player, just like NWI. The other addition, Colton Dowell, is an athletic freak based on RAS score, but he’s also a seventh-round pick and expecting much out of a late selection is always a bad idea.
There is still an avenue for Tennessee to vastly improve this group, but it will take the signing of DeAndre Hopkins to get it done. Outside of that, the receiving corps. will be the weakest group on the team going into 2023.
