Tennessee Titans cut Sharif Finch in confusing roster move
By Will Lomas
It was never either/or for the Tennessee Titans when it came to Sharif Finch.
The Tennessee Titans lack of pass rush is concerning for their playoff push, but it looks like there is help on the way with UDFA rookie Derick Roberson getting snaps.
Roberson was a non-factor in the preseason, but I was always a huge fan of what he could be as a practice squad guy who just needed time to develop, see my tweet from August:
Oh, so NOW you are gonna get a sack Roberson. I was stanning like all preseason, but I’m cool with you getting stashed on PS and then taking the nextstep in 2020. #Titans
— Ran GMC(arthon) (@jlomas72) August 30, 2019
With tools and explosion, he just felt like something the Titans defense needed and he was someone that I saw in a roll like what Cameron Wake was doing when he was healthy.
Fast forward to Week 16 and he has 2 sacks in 13 snaps on defense in that exact role.
Roberson seems to have taken in the coaching of this staff and figured out how to use his speed and change of direction to win matchups.
However, the only reason we got to see him play is because of a series of pretty strange and fortunate (for Roberson) situations. To get his first snaps on defense it took:
1. DeAndre Walker put on I.R.
2. Cameron Wake put on I.R.
3. Sharif Finch cut
4. Reggie Gilbert being inactive.
Even then he played the fourth most snaps at EDGE on the Titans on Sunday, so it is amazing that we got to see the performance at all.
So, now that we have talked about Roberson and how surprising it is that we even saw him on Sunday, I want to talk about something related to this which is Sharif Finch getting cut.
If you have paid attention to my Twitter lately you will probably have seen that mentioned a time or two. Even if the Titans can sign him back, I don’t think that this move makes any sense based on what the short and long term needs for the Titans are.