Tennessee Titans cornerback Roger McCreary saw significant playing time in his first season with the team after unexpectedly winning a starting role out of training camp.
McCreary played 100 percent of the team’s snaps in his first season, and his 1,165 led the entire NFL. But McCreary didn’t just play out of one spot, which put even more on his plate as a rookie.
According to Pro Football Focus, 662 of his 2022 snaps came on the outside, and another 367 came from the slot, where many believe he’s best suited moving forward.
While defensive coordinator Shane Bowen believes McCreary will be more comfortable with playing multiple spots if needed in his second season, he also noted how the Titans would prefer to nail down one role McCreary.
“Year 1 to Year 2, I think his comfort level with possibly being able to handle the in and out is going to be a little bit easier for him, just because of his knowledge and experience playing a little bit of both last year,” Bowen said, according to AtoZ Sports Nashville.
“But anytime you’re asking a guy to do multiple things, there’s always a concern as the coach of what’s too much. So, we’ve got to really hammer down as this thing goes and we’re evaluating throughout.”
Back in May, McCreary touched on his work in the slot last season and noted how he didn’t feel he was “at the top of my game” on the inside, a spot he wasn’t used to playing.
As a result, improving on the inside has been a point of emphasis, and McCreary believes he’s made progress on that front.
“I spent a lot (of time) just watching over the last games – the bad plays, the good plays,” McCreary said, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online. “First, starting off with the bad plays, I paid attention mostly to that. Me, playing in the slot, that was something different for me, so I felt like that was something I needed to focus on and look and see what I need to improve at that the most. I feel like I see it, and I know what I need to work on this offseason.
“I feel like I wasn’t at the top of my game at the nickel,” he added. “So, I feel like it would be great just to work on how they want me to play the nickel, everything… I feel like it was great to see myself on tape.”
If the Titans do move McCreary to the slot full time, chances are they’ll deploy veteran Sean Murphy-Bunting on the outside opposite Kristian Fulton.
On the surface, that leaves Elijah Molden without a home, but Tennessee has been giving him looks at safety this offseason, which presents another avenue for him to see the field in 2023.
