While the Tennessee Titans sported an impressive duo of specialists — kicker Nick Folk and punter Ryan Stonehouse — there wasn’t much else to be excited about on special teams in 2023.
Tennessee’s return game was once again lackluster, to say the least, with the kick and punt return units finishing bottom eight in return average. Adding to that, no team in the league had more special teams giveaways than the Titans (four).
Tennessee also would have been tied for the NFL lead in giving up blocked punts if not for one of their thwarted attempts being ruled a fumble. By the way, that play saw Stonehouse suffer a serious knee injury that ended his season.
Every year, NFL analyst Rick Gosselin puts out the definitive special teams rankings. This year, the Titans landed at No. 21 on the list, seven spots worse than where they ended up in 2022. That ranking certainly would have been even worse if not for the elite performances of Stonehouse and Folk.
Only one kicker in the NFL had a better field goal success rate than Folk, and Stonehouse was once again tops in gross average yards per punt.
The comedy of errors Tennessee’s special teams was elsewhere ultimately led to the firing of special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman, which was long overdue.
He was replaced by special teams assistant Tom Quinn, who likely would have gotten a look for the full-time role had Mike Vrabel remained as the head coach.
However, with a new head coach coming in, the Titans will almost certainly look in a different direction. The good news is, the new special teams coordinator won’t have big shoes to fill.
