Tennessee Titans: 30 greatest players in franchise history
By John Buhler
16. player. 35. . DT. (2011-present). Jurrell Casey
- 4x Pro Bowl (2015-18)
- Second-Team All-Pro (2013)
- 46.0+ career quarterback sacks
- 445+ career combined tackles
Jurrell Casey might be the best player on the Titans today. He has spent his entire eight-year NFL career in Nashville. After being a third-round pick out of USC in the 2011 NFL Draft, Casey eventually became one of the most complete, albeit underrated defensive tackles in the AFC.
As a rookie in 2011, Casey became an immediate starter along the Titans’ defensive line. Though the team largely struggled during his first few years in the league, Casey had his breakout campaign in 2013 as a third-year pro. He made what is to date his only All-Pro Second-Team that fall. Casey had 10.5 quarterback sacks and 55 combined tackles in 15 games that season.
While his sack total was more than cut in half the following year in 2014 with just 5.0, we started to see Casey become one of the more consistent players along a defensive line in the AFC. Since his breakout 2013 campaign, Casey has never had fewer than 5.0 quarterback sacks for the Titans playing defensive tackle.
Then in 2015, Casey made his first of three career trips to the Pro Bowl. He had 7.0 quarterback sacks and 54 combined tackles that season, while playing in all 16 games. Casey again made the Pro Bowl in 2016, a season where he had 5.0 quarterback sacks and 44 combined tackles in 15 games.
His third trip to the Pro Bowl came in 2017 where Casey had 6.0 quarterback sacks and 60 combined tackles. Casey was seen as the best player on a dominant run defense that helped Tennessee reach the AFC playoffs for the first time in his career and the Titans’ first time since 2008.
Casey will be making his fourth-straight trip to the Pro Bowl in 2018. He already has 7.0 quarterback sacks and 58 combined tackles through 14 games. Tennessee looks to be in the mix for one of the two wild card spots in the AFC again this fall.
But even more impressively, it seems that Casey has developed a reputation as one of the most formidable defensive lineman in the AFC and should continue to make Pro Bowls in his prime as a professional. Tennessee is sure glad he re-upped with the Titans in his free agency. Casey continues to be a leader on this defense as he approaches his 30s.