Tennessee Titans defense prefers man coverage

People may want to rethink what they say about the Tennessee Titans coverage.

You hear a lot how Tennessee Titans Dick LeBeau was an innovator in the NFL, which is true. However, LeBeau isn’t afraid to evolve and play to what suits his team’s talent.

LeBeau is known for his zone blitz defense, but he shifted towards more man coverage in 2016. Don’t take my word for it, look at the statistical breakdown:

More from Titans News

Now, this isn’t a huge disparity, but I think it may be important going forward. I think this is the way this defense is trending.

The strength of this coverage should be LeShaun Sims and Adoree Jackson as longer, more disruptive CBs on the edge. This would allow Logan Ryan to lock down slot receivers on the inside.

That being said, no defense is going to just play one defense unless they can do it at an exceptional level like Pittsburgh, Carolina and Kansas City. The Tennessee Titans just aren’t there yet, so expect to see a healthy mix of coverage.

Zone coverage should allow them to be safer and maybe they will let their CBs be more aggressive now that the safety situations is more solid. Then, they can shift to more man-coverage and send some extra pass rushers in other situations.

The most important thing to me is what I said at the top of the article: Dick LeBeau will evolve.

Even young unproven coaches can struggle to be relaxed and changed what doesn’t work, much less a Hall of Fame DC who has called plays for longer than I have been alive. So to see him shift from a zone-heavy scheme to a more balanced (even slightly man-coverage leaning) defense is impressive to me.

More from Titan Sized

I have been critical of Dick LeBeau in the past, but it is easy to make the play call once the play is over.

In the moment he has proven that he can be as dominant as there is in the NFL and maybe more familiarity with the system will help guys like Avery Williamson, Kevin Dodd, LeShaun Sims, and DaQuan Jones show that they are long-term playmakers and not just average starters.

Home/Titans News