Things to look at as the Titans prepare for the Broncos.
We are quickly approaching the NFL season as the Tennessee Titans kick off the preseason with an away game against the Denver Broncos on September 14, 2020.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented football from being brought to you in its normal format, the Titans started preparing for the season today when they stepped on the field for the first time.
Tennessee is coming off one of their best seasons in franchise history after playing in the AFC Championship game against the eventual champion Kansas City Chiefs. During that regular season rebound and the postseason run, Tennessee found new leadership with backup quarterback Ryan Tannehill taking over.
It definitely didn’t hurt that running back Derrick Henry rushed the team into the wild card while taking the NFL rushing title on Week 17 vs the Houston Texans.
While the Titans will be returning many of their starters from last year as they look to recreate their success from last year, the departure of some key players will dictate how the team holds up to the competition.
The defensive side of the ball will be missing a few familiar faces without long-time Titans Jurrell Casey or Logan Ryan. The Titans have taken different routes to patch up holes on the roster and the preseason matchup against the Broncos will be the first look we will get into how the team evaluates its roster construction.
Cornerback Carousel
The Titans will see a couple of new faces in the secondary this season. Three-year starter Logan Ryan left the team this offseason as a free agent with the Titans not bringing him back despite a stellar statistical season for the team.
While the Titans still retain Malcolm Butler and Adoree’ Jackson, they needed some added depth at the cornerback position going into the offseason.
The best place to start is with their second round draft pick, where the Titans snagged Kristian Fulton from LSU.
Fulton was a projected first round pick who inexplicably slid to the Titans in the second round, and whose top-notch athleticism that makes him a potent cornerback if he can translate his game to the pros.
Tennessee also added long-time veteran Johnathan Joseph to solidify the depth behind those three and to be another veteran locker room presence.
The Titans must now figure out their rotation and cornerback skills to match up in the pass-happy NFL. While Jackson has predominantly played on the outside, his elite speed may push him into the slot corner position that Ryan previously took.
Joseph has played well throughout his career, but after 14 seasons, will not be able to be an every-down defensive back for the Titans. The team will look to Fulton to either man the outside or develop into a slot cover.
The preseason game against the Broncos will be a good start to see the matchups that Fulton is given.
The Broncos have a big physical receiver in Cortland Sutton and dynamic rookie in Jerry Jeudy. It’ll be interesting to see how the Titans look to move Fulton around and how he handles the different assignments. Regardless of whether the Titans trot out Fulton as slot corner or play him on the boundary, they will need to give him time to develop.
The Kicker Battle
It’s incredible the Titans were so successful last year despite having a historically bad field goal kicking game. The kicking game was a disaster after Ryan Succop went down with an injury. The team brought in Cairo Santos, who cost the team a crucial game with four missed kicks against the Buffalo Bills and ended his tenure 4-out-of-9.
Tennessee then looked to Cody Parkey, who played well after making all three of his kicks. However, after the Titans returned Succop from injured reserve, they cut ties. When Succop went back on IR with another injury, the Titans brought in Greg Joseph, who ended the season for the team.
The Titans, who ended the year on an abysmal 44% success rate on field goals, need some more consistency at the position. Lucky for Tennessee, their offense was so high powered that Joseph didn’t attempt a field goal in his two games for the team in the regular season and made his only kick in the playoffs.
With Succop’s injury-prone season, the Titans opted to keep Joseph and bring in rookie Tucker McCann out of Missouri. McCann was a moderately accurate kicker in college, averaging 94.1% on his attempts over his four years. While it’s tough to see McCann oust Joseph from the starter spot, it’ll be crucial for the Titans to give their kickers more attempts in the preseason so they can find the correct kicker for this team.
Edge Rusher Effectiveness
Arguably, the Titans biggest hole last season was at the pass rusher position. Tennessee struggled mightily to get pressure on the quarterback and it was never more evident than in the AFC Championship game against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
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It was expected that Tennessee would either go big in free agency or the draft to reconstruct their EDGE position, but that never really materialized. Despite cutting Cameron Wake, the Titans used that space to bring in Vic Beasley Jr. from the Falcons and re-signed Kamalei Correa.
Tennessee did go after Jadeveon Clowney this offseason, however, he has yet to sign with any team and the Titans can’t wait for him forever. Tennessee also chose to prioritize other positions in the 2020 NFL Draft, opting to fill the right tackle, cornerback, and running back positions before taking a defensive tackle in the fifth round
Mike Vrabel must look to bring more pressure this year if they want their defense to hold up against some tough competition in the AFC. The Titans committee approach to pass rush will need to be fluid and effective. If Beasley can bring on consistent pressure opposite the proven Harold Landry, then Tennessee can look to make a deep run into the playoffs.
The Broncos are an intriguing matchup as their offensive line has struggled mightily in recent seasons. To make matters worse for Denver, their starting right tackle opted out of the season just a week ago.
While they have added a lot of talent this offseason to fix it, Tennessee will have a good warm-up game to see how potent their pressure actually is.