Tennessee Titans cornerback Kristian Fulton has experienced his fair share of highs and lows in the NFL since being drafted back in 2020.
When Fulton is on the field, he’s undoubtedly the Titans’ best cornerback, often lining up across from the opposing team’s best wide receiver and holding his own more often than not.
Unfortunately, staying on the field has been the problem for the fourth-year cornerback. Fulton has yet to play an entire season’s worth of games, missing at least four contests each campaign that he’s been in the league.
While a lot of injuries are mostly considered bad luck, it became rather evident during the final press conference of 2022 that head coach Mike Vrabel felt a little differently when it came to Fulton’s injury history.
The LSU product was one of the few players that Vrabel singled out by name when discussing his guys being able to limit things like soft-tissue injuries going forward.
It appears as if Fulton got the message loud and clear after coming into training camp in the best physical shape of his career, and it seems to be paying off.
Recently, Vrabel lauded Fulton for the shape he showed up in.
“Thought he came back, was in great shape. You could tell that he had been working, from the conditioning test, and he just doesn’t look like a guy who’s winded or getting tired,” Vrabel said, per Paul Kuharsky. “I think that’s a testament to him and just being ready to. And I know he’s excited to string some days together and continue that improvement.”
The former second-round pick admitted that he changed basically everything about his offseason regimen, which included hiring new trainers, chefs, etc.
“It (Fulton’s offseason approach) was very different, just a different trainer, different setting, different ways to take care of my body,” he said, per Jim Wyatt. “[Now] I feel good, like I was in better shape coming into this camp, and I think it shows. I think it has shown with me being out there every day.”
By all accounts, the Titans cornerback has been one of the biggest standouts in camp thus far, often holding his own against the likes of DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks.
#Titans DC Shane Bowen: Kristian Fulton is off to a great start. He's stronger and more physical. It's great for him to be able to battle against DeAndre Hopkins every day
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) August 1, 2023
Fulton has millions of reasons to be motivated as he enters a contract year that could ultimately lead to a lot of money for himself if he performs well.
Fulton discussed his personal motivations heading into the season and they included more than just a contract: he wants to prove he’s one of the best at his position in the NFL.
“I am coming into every season with something to prove, but definitely this year,” Fulton said. “I am not really worried about contract talk, but just as a corner I feel like I am one of those top guys in this league, and I have to go out there and show it each and every week, I know that.
“I feel like my talent is there, and I feel like I can go with the best of them. Whenever I’ve gone up against one of those top receivers in the league, I pretty much held my own since I came into the league. But it is just about doing it consistently.”
The veteran certainly has the potential to establish himself as a bona fide elite cornerback in the NFL if he can find a way to stay healthy.
Last season alone, Fulton was among the stingiest cornerbacks in the league (minimum 50 targets), allowing an Open-Target percentage of 33.9 percent (13th-lowest), per Pro Football Focus
Kristian Fulton doing a great job of stepping in front of the Texans (kinda sloppy) 3rd down pick play to get the interception. pic.twitter.com/yh3Ced4GSd
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) November 3, 2022
The former LSU Tiger also finished with the following numbers in coverage, according to Next Gen Stats, which ranked him as the No. 8 “coverage player” in the league:
- Passer rating allowed: 76.2
- Catch rate allowed below expectation: -7.4 percent
- Tight-window percentage: 25.5 percent
- Target rate: 15.1 percent
- Average separation: 2.7 yards
- Targeted expected points added: -12.9
Fulton’s tight-window rate of 25.5 percent helped him record five pass breakups and one interception on 55 targets, and he also finished with the second-best coverage success rate among the top-10 coverage players
Coverage success rate, by the way, is the percentage of targets that result in a successful play for the defense.
If the Titans are able to add a true No. 1 cornerback to a defensive unit that already includes one of the best front-sevens and safety tandems in the NFL, it could be a scary sight for the rest of the league.
The best-case scenario for everybody involved is Fulton stays healthy and eventually plays himself into a lucrative second contract in Tennessee.
Should that happen, the fourth-year corner will have clearly lived up to his offseason hype, which in turn would likely take the Titans’ defense to an entirely different level.
