Two Tennessee Titans Best In League On Slants
Two Tennessee Titans are ranked among the best in the league statistically when it comes to slants. One of them is a receiver, while the other is a CB.
Can you guess who?
Well thanks to PFF, we know that they are WR Damian Williams and CB Alterraun Verner.
We’ll start with Williams. A lot of people were hard on him this last year and some of it was deserved, but I felt like most of it wasn’t. The guy isn’t Kenny Britt. They’re not the same type of receiver. Williams was starting for the first time in his career and was asked to shoulder a lot. He came through with a lot of great plays… and a couple misses.
Here’s where he came in on slants:
Receiver | Comp. | Att. | Comp % | Yards | TD | IN |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Calvin Johnson | 25 | 30 | 83.30% | 297 | 2 | 0 |
Michael Jenkins | 10 | 12 | 83.30% | 86 | 1 | 0 |
Dez Bryant | 16 | 21 | 76.20% | 208 | 1 | 1 |
Damian Williams | 9 | 12 | 75.00% | 153 | 1 | 0 |
Mike Wallace | 11 | 15 | 73.30% | 152 | 0 | 0 |
I’d say those are some pretty good guys to be up there with. It’s even better when you look at his completions to yards ratio. He makes bank off of those slant routes. It’s almost a certainty now that Kenny Britt won’t be out there for the Titans for probably three or more of their first games after his last slip up. I’d put money on Williams being out there often, along side Washington and Wright.
Hopefully we see a receiver that has grown from last year and helps keep the Titans offense in the game with all the other high-octane offenses they’ll be playing against.
Now don’t forget about our boy Verner. He’s going to be taking Finnegan’s spot in the nickelback this year and hopefully get back to that form that made him so exciting to watch as a rookie a couple of years ago.
Verner came in second amongst CB’s in the league defending against slants.
Defender | Comp. | Att. | Yards | Yds./Att. | TD | IN |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chris Gamble | 1 | 8 | 6 | 0.8 | 0 | 0 |
Alterraun Verner | 5 | 12 | 41 | 3.4 | 1 | 0 |
Charles Woodson | 4 | 9 | 33 | 3.7 | 0 | 1 |
Cary Williams | 4 | 8 | 31 | 3.9 | 0 | 0 |
Richard Sherman | 7 | 13 | 51 | 3.9 | 0 | 1 |
Also interesting to see ex-Titan Cary Williams on there as well.
Verner and Sherman both seem to have been targeted the most with slants, though Verner allowed only a 42% completion rate (league average was 62.4%). Verner was playing on the outside most of this last year, which isn’t his ideal position as he lacks speed. He still did pretty well out there. This year we should see him flourish on the inside.
He’s a ballhawk who’s not afraid to deal out hits.
Only four and a half days till training camp starts…
You can find me on Twitter @JustinLStewart