How Tennessee Titans can reach double-digit wins in 2020
By Brady Akins
Figure out the kicker position
Tennesee will enter the 2020 offseason in an unfamiliar spot. After years of Ryan Succop providing consistency in the kicking game, it may be time to re-evaluate the position.
That isn’t to say for certain that Succop can no longer be the guy. For as poor as his 2019 stat sheet looks (1-of-6 on field goal attempts), he was clearly hampered by an injury that had him placed on IR to begin the season and put him back there after Week 15.
However, based on how the kicking group performed as a whole in 2019, the team should be considering other options. The 44.4 percent field goal accuracy this past season was the lowest in the NFL by over 20%.
The offense learned to manage without relying on the kicking game after Succop’s return to IR, but missed field goals came back to cost the Titans in close, early-season games against the Colts and the Bills.
Tennessee won’t be able to rely on their dominant red zone offense to keep field goals out of the game forever and will need to find a solution going into 2020.
If Succop can return to form, or current Titans kicker Greg Joseph can prove himself in the offseason, maybe Robinson won’t need to make a move here.
But if neither Joseph nor Succop can prove themselves, there are offseason options. In the draft, Georgia’s Rodrigo Blankenship will enter the draft having gone 6-of-9 on attempts over 50 yards in his college career and kicking over 80 percent in his final three seasons with the Bulldogs.
But whether the Titans draft a kicker or not, the position is no longer a guarantee for the first time in a long while.