Embarrassing Tennessee Titans omission on CBS top-100 players list
By Will Lomas
Sometimes people make mistakes, but forgetting this Tennessee Titans star had to be called out.
CBS recently released their top-100 NFL player rankings curated by NFL expert Pete Prisco, but I was shocked that only two Tennessee Titans players made the list.
I’m not going to tell you that the Titans had an all-star roster last year because they just didn’t. Sure guys like Adoree Jackson, Corey Davis, Kenny Vaccaro, and Harold Landry all flashed, but in a vacuum I don’t think you can rank what they did in 2018 as top-100 worthy.
You get a lot closer when you think about guys like Logan Ryan, Jayon Brown and Derrick Henry, but those guys were rotational players or guys where logjams happen quickly when looking at talent around the NFL.
But then you have the elite tier. The three players on the Titans last year that were either top-5 at their position or clear game changers when they were on. So, let’s look at where those names were mentioned.
50. Kevin Byard
"“He might not be a household name, but NFL people know all about his ability to play both near the line and in space.”"
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The good news is that someone in the national media knows Kevin Byard before he gets his massive contract this year and people rush to his highlight tape. That makes it almost forgivable that he was listed behind three other safeties…almost.
How a guy like Byard gets overlooked is beyond me. Look at where he ranks among safeties in the important stats over the last two years:
-Interceptions: 1st (not only among safeties, but among everyone in the NFL)
-Passes deflected: 1st
-Tackles: 6th
-QB hits: T-3rd
But, sure he is the 4th best safety in the NFL.
77. Jurrell Casey
"“His ability to play both the run and the pass equally well is impressive. He had seven sacks last season, but had a ton of pressures”"
This one feels pretty fair. Casey is a stud and he took over games like the first Houston Texans game, virtually turning the tide in Tennessee’s favor in a game where they had no right winning.
However, there were times where he was kept relatively silent even though that probably has more to do with his surrounding talent rather than his own issues.
So no complaints, good job.
And then Taylor Lewan was ranked…wait…what he wasn’t?!
Yep, conservatively a top-5 left tackle in the NFL Taylor Lewan was no where to be found in the top-100. Not only that, but he wasn’t even in the honorable mention section which has to be an oversight.
“You are just a homer!” Really? Well, in over 850 snaps last year Lewan allowed just two sacks. No other left tackle played that many snaps and allowed fewer sacks and only one right tackle did.
In fact, let me remind you of all the players that means that Lewan out preformed:
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This isn’t even a hot take, this is just a fact Taylor Lewan deserves to be on every top-100 list that people make. In just 5 years, Lewan has made three straight Pro Bowls and has to match up against top tier talent on a near weekly basis thanks to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans investing so heavily in EDGEs.
Between the terrible Adam Rank blowoff yesterday and this today, Tennessee Titans fans have every right to feel disrespected and overlooked by the national media.