Ranking Tennessee Titans top 5 offensive lineman of the decade
No. 1: Left Tackle Taylor Lewan
Titans Tenure: 2014-Present
As if there was any doubt, the ‘Boss Hog’ Taylor Lewan comes in at No. 1 as the best Tennessee Titans offensive lineman of the decade. Since joining the Titans in 2014, Lewan has made an immediate impact by making the all rookie team and has consistently improved his overall play as the years pass.
Lewan’s play has earned him the reputation as one of the best left tackles in the NFL today and the fact that he made three consecutive trips to the pro bowl from 2016-2018 only solidifies that belief.
Lewan has been a consistent force on the offensive line since being selected in the first round back in 2014. The former Michigan product has not allowed more than four sacks since 2015 when he allowed his career worse 6.5 sacks. To be fair, that entire team was a dumpster fire so it’s hard to blame him for some of his individual shortcomings that year.
However, ever since then Lewan has been everything the Titans hoped he would be and more. The only thing more dominant than his trash talking and mind games that he likes to play with his opponents is his physically imposing play on the field in which he tends to manhandle the man across from him more often than not.
As a run blocker, Lewan is one of the best in the entire league as he consistently opens gaping holes for his running backs to run through in zone blocking schemes, while he is a whole other animal (or wolf as he would probably say) when hes allowed to become a vicious lead blocker that no one wants to see coming downhill. The combination of Lewan’s mammoth frame, his ability to move at a sub 4.9 speed, and his infamous ‘#DontGiveA’ mindset is often a bad combination for the opposition.
One of Lewan’s biggest accomplishments to date came during the Titans’ playoff clinching win in the 2019 season finale after he helped Titans’ star running back Derrick Henry capture the 2019 rushing title after gaining 211 yards on the ground.
Many of those runs on that day as well as throughout the season were behind No. 77 as he helped the Titans running back rush for a dominant 1,540 yards on the ground and 18 total touchdowns on the season. Such insane numbers that undoubtedly don’t happen without some of the blocking from not only Lewan, but some of the other linemen that were mentioned earlier on the list.
Lewan is also one of the more solid pass protecting left tackles in the league as well. He has only allowed 2.5 sacks over the last two years combined and is someone who can give his quarterbacks a free state of mind that their blindside will be covered as long as No. 77 is back there.
The Pro Bowl left tackle can play undisciplined at times and will have the occasional mental lapse on his technique or with the occasional penalty due to his hot temper, but that is something that you are more than willing to live with when you get the type of player, leader, and man that Taylor Lewan is both on and off the field.