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ESPN says 4 Tennessee Titans are among the NFL’s foundational pieces

By Will Lomas

BALTIMORE, MD - JANUARY 11: Ryan Tannehill #17 of the Tennessee Titans hands the ball off to Derrick Henry #22 of the Tennessee Titans during the third quarter of the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on January 11, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - JANUARY 11: Ryan Tannehill #17 of the Tennessee Titans hands the ball off to Derrick Henry #22 of the Tennessee Titans during the third quarter of the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on January 11, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
(Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /

Who are the Titans real foundational four?

Just as a mental exercise I tried to figure out who I would grade as the Titans top-4 players right now based on the impact they had on winning games during the 2019 season.

Ultimately I settled on:

-Ryan Tannehill (pretty clear shift in the offense when he took over)

-Derrick Henry

-Taylor Lewan (look at the improvement of the offensive line after he and Saffold clicked)

-A.J. Brown

Now you may notice that none of the top four play defense, well that is because I don’t think the defense really helped the Titans win many games down the regular-season stretch last year despite them coming alive in the playoffs.

Kevin Byard was considered strongly because of his constant impact and so were Rashaan Evans, Jeffery Simmons and Harold Landry. But who would you take off that list to put them in?

I think Tannehill is going to be the most common answer, but what he did last season in 13 games with this offense is a huge sample size that showed us that he was the perfect fit for this team on the field. Not only could he run if given space or throw the ball wherever the team needed, but he constantly changed the plays on the field and was part-QB and part-OC.

If you lose that then you have Arthur Smith calling what he called early in the season which probably puts the Titans at 6-10, not 9-7.

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