Titans Prediction: Jeremy McNichols will make the 53-man roster

Jeremy McNichols 101

A quick rundown of McNichols’ stat line from the 2019 preseason with the Titans tells you that he ran for 109 yards on 27 attempts (4 yards per carry), but there are some caveats to that.

In that time he had two runs for 20+ yards and he did it behind a backup offensive line that had Austin Pasztor, Jamil Douglas and Aaron Stinnie, who were undeniably bad.

Full disclosure, you also had Taylor Lewan and Corey Levin (pour one out), who are actually good but that is still only 40% of the offensive line.

So in a situation where McNichols had no reason to thrive, he still found a way.

The other part of his game is that he is a very good pass blocker and receiver. I could give you time stamps of good reps he has in pass protection (in fact if you go to the NFL’s highlight plays you can see a few of them at 2:02 in the game against Philadelphia and 1:00 in the game against the Patriots), but that would be boring.

Instead, watch what he did with one of his three receptions from Ryan Tannehill in the preseason.

https://twitter.com/Titans/status/1162877804481957888

Now, you might see that and figure that McNichols is just a smaller back who excels in space. You aren’t 100% wrong, because at 5’9 and 205 lb. McNichols isn’t exactly an imposing figure.

However, he can still give you more than you think as a runner, watch him take this zone play, and cut it back against the grain right towards the middle of the defense.

Good blocking helps clear a path for him and his speed and speed take him the rest of the way as he went for a 40-yard rush against one of the deepest defensive rosters in the NFL.

Those are all qualities that the Titans need from depth at running back, and specifically, they need someone who can step in and be the 3rd down back. You might be thinking that the Titans spent a 3rd round pick on Darrynton Evans to do just that, but let me ask you this…where is Darryton Evans?