As we drag ourselves through the quiet time of the NFL offseason, we’re going to take a look at some bold predictions for the Tennessee Titans’ 2019 season.
While we all wait for the start of the Tennessee Titans season, I have one question for you: how bold can you go?
As training camp draws near, we are inching ever closer to the Week 1 matchup on September 8th against the Cleveland Browns, and thank goodness because we’ve all been deprived of football for long enough.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun in the meantime, and what’s more fun than making bold predictions and speculating on what will happen this season? Absolutely nothing.
So, it’s time to get bold—and I mean really, really bold.
Beware, these kinds of bold predictions are not for the faint of heart. Check with your doctor to make sure you can handle the level of boldness that is taking place here.
Ladies and gents, I present to you five bold predictions for the Titans’ 2019 campaign.
1. Marcus Mariota wins NFL Comeback Player of the Year
2019 bold prediction stats: 3,800 YDS, 30 TD, 8 INT, 71 CMP%
It has been a rough couple of years for Marcus Mariota since his best season in the NFL back in 2016, so he’s a prime candidate to win this award. Mariota dealt with an elbow issue and was mostly ineffective in his fourth season, posting career-lows in passing yards and touchdowns.
The 2019 season will be vastly different. Mariota has his favorite target back in tight end Delanie Walker, but will also enjoy the best receiving corps. of his young career. The additions of Adam Humphries and second-round pick A.J. Brown bolster a group that also includes former No. 5 overall pick, Corey Davis, who took a step forward last season.
To make things easier for Mariota, the Titans will sport one of the best running games in the league with a double-headed monster in Derrick Henry and an elite pass-catching back in Dion Lewis. With teams having to respect the run, the passing attack should thrive against more stacked boxes thanks to opposing defenses constantly scheming to stop the run.
Now that Mariota’s accuracy has been on the upswing the past two seasons (68.9 percent in 2018), the 25-year-old signal-caller will make the most of his opportunities en route to a completion percentage north of 70 percent. And, with teams trying to stop the run near the goal line, Mariota will take advantage and post a career-high in touchdown passes.
And we haven’t even gotten to the fact that Mariota still has a great set of wheels to make things even more difficult.
Add it all up and Mariota easily takes home Comeback Player of the Year, and along with it a brand new contract that keeps him in Tennessee for years to come as the team’s undisputed franchise quarterback.
2. Derrick Henry wins a rushing title
2019 bold prediction stats: 1,450 rush YDS, 15 total TDs
Dion Lewis took a lot of the steam from Derrick Henry early in 2018, but that is about to change in a big way in 2019.
After playing as the best running back in the NFL over the last four weeks of the season, Henry is ready to fully take the reins of this ground game under the tutelage of new offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith.
We’ve already seen what Henry can do at his best, and that’s dominate a game as he can literally carry the team on his back. Henry scorched opposing defenses for 585 yards and seven touchdowns to close out a season in which he totaled over 1,000 yards on the ground for the first time in his career.
Just imagine what he can do with a full season of consistent snaps, garnering 15 to 20 carries per game or more. Henry has the build to be a workhorse back and 2019 will be the year that’s realized.
Together with an improved offensive line, Henry will show why he had so much hype both going into and coming out of Alabama. The 25-year-old has the makings of a true stud with the ability to both break tackles and outrun defenders in the open field for big scoring plays. He can be truly electric with the ball in his hands.
With the addition of left guard Rodger Saffold and the return of right guard Kevin Pamphile, who will be motivated to remain above the depth chart thanks to rookie guard Nate Davis hanging around, the Titans will be a mean group in the trenches, paving the way for Henry to have a sensational season.
3. Harold Landry leads the league in sacks
2019 bold prediction stats: 19 sacks, 100 tackles
One of the biggest strengths of the 2019 Titans will be their defense, which is filled with both veteran leadership and youth. The best of that youth might be Harold Landry, a 2018 second-round pick out of Boston College who once led the NCAA in sacks with 16.5 back in 2016.
Landry is an athletic freak who will have his first offseason of getting starter’s reps, and he’s healthy. Furthermore, Landry is working with Cameron Wake in order to take that next step. Not bad having a multiple-time, double-digit sack guy like Wake giving him some tips and tricks along the way.
The problem with Landry’s role last year was that he was a rotational player and defensive coordinator Dean Pees spent too much time stunting Landry inside through the B-gap instead of letting him use his speed and bend to turn the corner in the C-gap.
No worries, though, Pees will no doubt adjust and change that to maximize Landry’s potential. The 23-year-old will be just what the doctor ordered to improve a pass-rush that finished tied for 16th with 39 sacks a year ago.
The result? One of the great defensive seasons we will ever see in our lifetime, with Landry coming away with the sack title and posting 100 tackles in the process. Even as a second-round choice, Landry could turn out to be one of the great steals of the 2018 NFL Draft.
4. Kevin Byard wins Defensive Player of the Year
2019 bold prediction stats: 10 INT, 100 tackles
It isn’t often a safety wins the Defensive Player of the Year award, but it has been done before. Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu was the last to do it back in 2010 and Kevin Byard will be the next in line at the position to win that honor.
Byard has already proven to be two things, on top of being perhaps the best safety in football: a tackle machine and a ballhawk who can pick passes off with the best of them. Byard totaled 90 tackles a season ago and led the league with eight interceptions in his sophomore campaign.
Byard is so good, these numbers don’t even seem that outrageous. Crazy, but undeniably true.
With such a stacked front seven, opposing offenses are going to try and test the defense deep, leaving plenty of opportunities for the Titans secondary to go to work, including Byard. How nice it must be as a corner having an elite talent like Byard to back you up.
Having a great nose for the ball, Byard will be making plays all over the field, whether those come in the form of tackles or interceptions. Don’t be surprised if he even takes one to the house, something he has never done before.
Sure, all of this still might be considered bold, but if there’s anyone talented enough to pull it off, it’s Byard. Those of us close to the Titans know how great he is and now it’s time for the world to know that the best safety in the game resides in Nashville.
5. Tennessee Titans finish as No. 1 overall defense
Well, with players like Byard and Landry pulling off those kinds of seasons, it would only make sense that it ends up this way. The Titans have that kind of talent all over the field on defense and we got a sneak peek of that last season when Tennessee finished as the No. 3 defense in the NFL.
The only real weakness is along the defensive line; however let’s not forget that Jurrell Casey is still holding things down there. Behind him, a deep support group of great linebackers should help fill whatever void is left and there’s a chance a reinforcement will come late in the season with first-round pick Jeffery Simmons, who could solve all the Titans’ problems up the middle.
In the secondary, the Titans have arguably the best safety in the game to go along with Kenny Vaccaro, and a group of cornerbacks consisting of two veteran former Pro Bowlers in Logan Ryan and Malcolm Butler.
Adding to them, Adoree’ Jackson is one of the best young corners in the game and even versatile fourth-round pick Amani Hooker is already showing flashes of being a great player this spring.
Even the biggest haters can’t deny that the Titans have one of the deepest defenses in the NFL, and those who still deny that to this day will have to eat their words. This defense won’t just be good, it’ll be legendary and challenge some of the great defenses of all-time.
The Titans won’t even need much out of Mariota in 2019 because teams with a defense this good have won Super Bowls with far less behind center. Bold predictions or not, this defense has the look of something special and it’ll be exciting to watch all season long.