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Will Tennessee Titans use Avery Williamson this week?

By Will Lomas

NASHVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 27: Wesley Woodyard
NASHVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 27: Wesley Woodyard /
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Who should the Tennessee Titans play at linebacker this week.

With the Tennessee Titans finally having three starting caliber linebackers, it is time for them to start figuring out the right way to use them.

If I had to categorize them briefly, this is the quick description I would have of all three.

Avery Williamson

-Inside run stuffer who does well taking on blocks and diagnosing blocking.

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Wesley Woodyard

-Penetrating linebacker that is a threat for a TFL at all times. Good vs run and pass.

Jayon Brown

-Athletic freak who can do it all. Might not want him on the inside in obvious running situations, but he can play sideline to sideline and cover TEs/RBs.

The Titans normally start out with Williamson and Woodyard as their starting LBs. Fine, that makes sense against most teams.

However, if you take out Nuk Hopkins, the next three leading receivers on the Texans roster are tight ends or running backs.

That means that their gameplan is to get a linebacker or safety in coverage and try to exploit them if Hopkins has a tough matchup.

If the Titans know that, then shouldn’t their answer be to play with Brown and Woodyard?

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    • Sure, if this was an inside run heavy team like the Jaguars or Dallas that didn’t dump it off as often to the backs and tight ends Williamson makes a lot of sense. The issue is that Williamson just struggles to cover backs and tight ends too frequently.

    Jayon Brown can do it and he can do it all while spying the QB. Just look at Terry Lambert’s tweet to see that:

    The only question is whether you take out Williamson or Woodyard. But can you afford to take out one of your best defensive playmakers in Woodyard? Look no further than the Titans website to see how well he did last week:

    “The 10th year linebacker seems to be getting better with age. Woodyard turned in a dandy of a performance on Sunday, racking up 10 tackles, two quarterback hits and two tackles for a loss. His pressure on Russell forced a key intentional grounding penalty in the second half. Woodyard, who leads the team in tackles after three games, seemed to be having a blast along the way. Did you happen to see him flip back and briefly stand on his head after his third quarter stop on Seahawks running back Chris Carson?”

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    So this could be a week where we see how much they really think Williamson can be an every down back in the NFL. If they put him out there and he struggles, this could be a huge mark against him in free agency.

    Hopefully if they put him in there he makes some big plays and looks like the player we thought he was going to be a few years ago. If not, Jon Robinson and the Titans will have a tough decision ahead.

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