To say the Tennessee Titans have had their fair share of surprises over the first six games of the 2023 season would be an understatement.
Many felt this team was closer to competing than the national media gave them credit for due to the fact that the majority of their losses a season ago came after the team was devastated by injuries.
Instead, their skepticism has proven to be correct after the Titans have started the year with a disappointing 2-4 record. Tennessee certainly isn’t dead and buried just yet, but we are rapidly approaching a point where the team has little room for error going forward.
Despite the letdowns, not all of the team’s surprises have been bad. There are a few positives sprinkled into what has largely been a lackluster start to the year.
This article is going to go over the the biggest surprises — both good and bad — after the first handful of weeks. So, let’s take a closer look at some of the most shocking things that have happened in the Titans’ season thus far.
1. How quickly fans are clamoring for Will Levis
This one is very surprising to be perfectly honest. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have seen Will Levis all year long because Ryan Tannehill would stay healthy and lead this team back to the playoffs.
Unfortunately, that’s clearly not where the Titans are after six weeks.
Tannehill has once again suffered an ankle injury. On top of that, he’s thrown just two touchdown passes to six interceptions, which has undoubtedly played a large role in Tennessee’s 2-4 record.
At this point, we’ve gotten several looks at Malik Willis — and to be perfectly honest, it hasn’t been inspiring. Therefore, many of us would rather see the player the team traded up for in the top of the second round in the 2023 NFL draft.
I want to see him run the play-action game that he does well at with Derrick Henry/Tyjae Spears & DeAndre Hopkins/Treylon Burks instead of whatever he was working with at Kentucky, especially in 2022.
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) October 17, 2023
If Levis ends up saving the season, then that’s fantastic news for everybody involved. If not, at least he will gain valuable experience that will help his development going forward while also giving the team a real chance to evaluate him ahead of 2024 instead of going off assumptions.
With two weeks to prepare, this is the perfect time to get the rookie quarterback ready to go come Week 8.
2. Average and inconsistent play from defensive front
Coming into the year, many felt the Titans’ defensive front was destined to be one of the elite groups. Instead, the group has been average, at best, for the most part.
Things got even worse once Jeffery Simmons hurt his shoulder in Week 5, and he hasn’t looked the same since.
Tennessee’s highest-graded player on the defensive front has been Arden Key, who has a grade of just 61.7, per Pro Football Focus. Harold Landry has probably been the most disappointing player on defense, earning an overall grade of just 44.2 after six weeks.
To be fair, Landry is coming off an ACL injury, but that excuse can only be used so much. At some point, you have to admit that he’s been more of a liability than a playmaker for the majority of the season.
In total, the average grade between Simmons, Key, Landry, Denico Autry and Teair Tart is just 57.72 for the year.
3. Treylon Burks being non-existent through 6 weeks
This one is a gut punch for several different reasons.
For starters, the guy Treylon Burks was essentially traded for, A.J. Brown, is having a phenomenal start to his 2023 campaign and is every bit of an elite wide receiver in today’s NFL.
AJ Brown has been on quite a stretch 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fJtes42adn
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) October 15, 2023
Secondly, Burks is once again finding himself battling injury that are making him inactive for weeks on end. Last year, it was a toe and concussion issues that robbed him of nearly half the season, and this year, it’s a knee injury that’s forced the Arkansas product to miss the previous three games.
The biggest disappointment is how irrelevant Burks has mostly been even when he was on the field. In the three games that he played in, the second-year wideout only recorded six catches for 99 yards, 70 of which came on a single play.
Burks has also struggled with making routine catches, already tallying two drops, which is just one less than he had all of last year.
Burks was expected to be the perfect complement to DeAndre Hopkins this season, but instead, he’s been a massive surprise in the worst possible way. Let’s hope things change for the better when he returns from the Bye.
4. Kristian Fulton failing to capitalize on a contract year
This has been one of the biggest surprises for me, personally.
I, along with many others, believed Kristian Fulton was on the verge of a fantastic season where he established himself as one of the better cornerbacks in the league, subsequently earning himself a lucrative payday in 2024
Instead, he’s been horrendous this season, and he is now on the verge of being permanently benched for undrafted cornerback, Tre Avery.
Kristian Fulton hasn’t been out there in awhile…Tre Avery in
— Buck Reising (@BuckReising) October 15, 2023
Opposing quarterbacks have completed 78 percent of their passes when he’s the primary defender (18-of-23), and he’s earned an overall grade of just 45.1 on the year. Fulton has also been the victim of some unacceptable penalties that have bailed the opposing offense out on several occasions.
Head Coach Mike Vrabel has shown a growing frustration with the LSU product, even declaring that he’s essentially trying to chase interceptions instead of focusing on the task at hand.
Unfortunately, he’s not even doing that correctly because he’s failed to record a single interception this season. We’ve reached the point where Fulton could realistically be traded at the deadline for a Day 3 pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
5. Chig Okonkwo’s sophomore slump
The Titans’ second-year tight end was one of the most hyped-up players heading into the 2023 season. Any time there was a breakout candidate article by a national media outlet, Okonkwo’s name was usually on there.
Sadly, it’s been more of a sophomore slump than a breakout campaign.
After leading all rookies in receiving yards, catches and touchdowns in 2022, while also being among the most efficient players at his position, Chig has regressed in nearly every possible way.
The Maryland product went from a reliable playmaker who you expected big things from whenever he touched the ball, to someone who you now hold your breath for in hopes that he makes a routine catch.
Chig’s overall grade (55.2) has dropped more than 20 points from a season ago and he has caught just 68 percent of his targets for 122 yards and no touchdowns.
His 17 catches are already more than half of the 32 receptions he had in 2022, yet it’s less than a third of his yardage at this point.
The Titans desperately needs Okonkwo to get back to being an electric playmaker when they return from the bye.
6. Sean Murphy-Bunting playing himself into a second contract
Cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting has arguably been the Titans’ best player in the secondary this season. The Central Michigan product has allowed a completion percentage of just 66 percent (16-of-24), while tallying one interception and earning an overall grade of 75.7, per PFF.
CBs with two games recording an 80+ PFF Grade through Week 5:
Trent McDuffie
Marshon Lattimore
DaRon Bland
Sean Murphy-Bunting— Brad Spielberger, Esq. (@PFF_Brad) October 12, 2023
SMB has more than held his own along the boundary in 2023, occasionally lining up against the opposing team’s best wide receiver and doing his part to help limit them as much as possible.
Nothing but pure physicality from Titans CB Sean Murphy-Bunting as holds Pittman short of the sticks on 3rd down. pic.twitter.com/LmNy5zEVZR
— JetPack Galileo (@JetPackGalileo) October 12, 2023
Murphy-Bunting has especially done well whenever he’s allowed to play press coverage, which allows him to use his long arms to get physical at the line of scrimmage.
If this level of play continues going forward, we could see the veteran cornerback earning himself a second contract in Tennessee.
7. Chris Hubbard being one of the Titans’ best O-linemen
For someone who wasn’t signed until training camp and had played just 78 snaps over the two years prior, Chris Hubbard has been a fantastic surprise along the right side of the offensive line.
Tim Kelly talking #Titans RT Chris Hubbard. pic.twitter.com/5Vf497jOHA
— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) October 12, 2023
According to Pro Football Focus, Hubbard has an overall grade of 72.7, which is the 27th-highest grade among all offensive tackles in the NFL.
The UAB product also has one of the higher pass-block win rates of any player at his position, winning a total of 82 reps out of 90 plays, per ESPN Analytics.
Mike Vrabel says Nicholas Petit-Frere would have a hard time earning a starting job back at this point.
Says he’s been very impressed with Chris Hubbard at RT. #Titans
— Sam Phalen (@Sam_Phalen) October 11, 2023
Hubbard does have one of the higher double-team rates (47 percent) amongst the players ranking in the top 20, but that number can often be taken out of context by people who are trying to discredit him.
Some make it seem like Hubbard constantly has someone near him with the sole intention of helping him out.
In reality, at least half of those “double teams” are just plays where a guard or someone else has nothing to do on a specific play, so they end up going to help clean up the nearest defender. That’s why almost every offensive tackle on the list has a double team percentage well over 30 percent.
The veteran tackle obviously gets occasional help in the form of chips and whatnot, but so does every other tackle in the league.
Vikings tackle Christian Darrisaw has been one of the best at his position this season and he has an even higher double-team rate than Hubbard, yet nobody tries to discredit him.
Offensive tackle pass blocking chart!
Double team rate at tackle (x) by pass block win rate at tackle (y), through Week 5.
Note that x axis is reversed (lower number to the right). pic.twitter.com/eDxJ3UajR9
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) October 11, 2023
And before my words get twisted, no, I’m not saying Hubbard is on Darrisaw’s level.
However, selective over-analysis is one thing that drives me crazy because half the time people are just using these out-of-context numbers to strengthen whatever narrative they want to write.
It’s not Hubbard’s fault the rest of the league feels like it can get home against the Titans’ offensive line without having to blitz, which leaves nearby blockers to simply help out instead of having their own defender to block.
If it was as concrete as some people make it seem, I promise you, Andre Dillard would be the one who would have the higher double-team rate, considering he’s the one who is severely struggling along the blindside.
But there’s context that needs to be added to some of these numbers, and the overloading of the left side of the line is happening far more frequently during obvious passing downs than on the right side.
Meaning, cleanups by guards and/or tight ends, AKA double teams, are much more likely to occur on the right side than the left.
Hubbard isn’t an elite tackle or anything of that nature, but he’s easily been one of the biggest surprises of the year and he deserves far more credit than some choose to give him.
Honorable Mentions
- Tim Kelly’s creative play designs.
- Jack Gibbens’ emergence.
- Nick Folk’s perfection.
- The reluctance to give Trevis Gipson more defensive snaps.
- Anthony Kendall’s fantastic play on special teams.
- Mike Vrabel’s stubbornness to give Peter Skoronski a chance at LT.
