The Tennessee Titans are in the second year of the Ran Carthon era and while he has done a great job upgrading this roster at several spots, the Titans are not a finished product by any means.
That is especially true on the defensive side of the ball, where the Titans have concerns in multiple position groups.
As a result, The Athletic’s Joe Rexrode believes that side of the ball is something the team should worry about entering training camp. Here’s what he wrote:
Have they done enough to stop people this season?
The offense has been the issue and the focal point, and the Titans will be improved up front and at receiver with exciting backs in Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard and a franchise quarterback hopeful in Will Levis. GM Ran Carthon also made some key defensive adds, most notably L’Jarius Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie at corner. Dennard Wilson is a first-time defensive coordinator who gives off head coach vibes. But Sneed’s knees kept him from practicing this spring. Second-round tackle T’Vondre Sweat was hurt early and missed minicamp. Edge is questionable beyond Harold Landry. Safety is questionable after Amani Hooker. Inside linebacker is questionable, period. The best sight in camp would be Sweat healthy and in shape, starting what could be a terrific partnership with Jeffery Simmons.
As Rexrode notes, there are no shortage of concerns up and down the defense. He rightly mentions the defensive line, outside linebacker, safety and inside linebacker as issues.
The Titans may or may not address some of those issues before the start of the season, but even if they don’t, we have to remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day and this is going to be a multi-year process.
We can say, however, that the Titans are in a much better position to compete than they were the past few years. Now, they have to find out if Will Levis is the long-term answer at quarterback, because if he isn’t, the aforementioned issues will pale in comparison to needing to find a franchise signal-caller.
