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

Titans need McNichols.

Recently the Tennessee Titans re-signed running back Jeremy McNichols and I think he has a better shot to make the roster than a lot of players that are “givens” at this point.

Last year the Tennessee Titans chose to keep the trio of Derrick Henry, Dion Lewis, David Fluellen, and Dalyn Dawkins at running back following the preseason. Even at the time, I thought that was a ridiculous decision based off of what we had seen from the bottom two vs McNichols.

We saw McNichols make some really exciting plays in the preseason and he was a player that could pass block, run routes, catch, and run the football which is exactly what you wanted in a running back the last time that I checked.

Sour grapes aside, the season came and went and McNichols didn’t end up anywhere for any real length of time, so now we are back to where we were a year ago. McNichols is on the Titans roster behind Derrick Henry and Darryton Evans, somewhere in the mix with Senorise Perry for the RB3 role on this team.

But there are a few reasons why this year is different for McNichols and how the Titans can fix the mistake they made last season after seeing what they got from Dion Lewis, Dalyn Dawkins and David Fluellen.

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?

Where is Evans?

You might not have noticed, but it has been a week since we have seen or heard anything from Darrynton Evans, because he hasn’t been practicing.

As far as I can tell, this was the last time that Evans practiced and since then the Titans made the decision to sign Jeremy McNichols and cut Cameron Scarlett.

Now, that is important for two reasons. First, signing a running back who is very similar to an injured rookie is noteworthy, but maybe the Titans are just trying to evaluate another player and give the defense another back to tackle.

Well maybe, but in that case why would Tennessee cut an UDFA running back when they made the move? If you just need more bodies, why not give more reps to the guys you have already made a commitment to unless you need another real option.

Like Trevor Siemian, the Titans tried giving a young guy a shot (Scarlett) he didn’t have what they wanted, so they brought in someone with a higher floor to compete. A backfield of Henry, Evans and McNichols makes a lot of sense, especially when you consider Khari Blasingame as the co-RB3/FB1.

Can the Titans afford to keep 4 running backs? Let’s do some math.

The 27 players I would cut before McNichols

The roster currently stands at 80 players, and the Titans will need to make 27 cuts to get down to the 53-man roster.

That sounds daunting at first, but after I run through the list of cuts I would make position by position, there will be a good chance that you find yourself saying, “Who?” more than a few times.

QB (1): Logan Woodside

RB (2): Marcus Marshall, Senorise Perry

WR (6): Cody Hollister, Krishawn Hogan, Cameron Batson, Kristian Wilkerson, Mason Kinsey, Nick Westbrook

TE (2): Tommy Hudson, Geoff Swaim

OL (6): Ty Sambrailo, Brandon Kemp, Zac Kerin, Aaron Brewer, Jamil Douglas, Daniel Munyer

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DL (3): Joey Ivie, Teair Tart, Kobe Smith

EDGE (2): Jamal Davis, Wyatt Ray

LB (1): Cale Garrett

DB (3): Ibraheim Campbell, Kareem Orr, Kenneth Durden

K (1): Tucker McCann

And that brings us down to the 53-man roster.

The only real surprises might be Jamil Douglas, Cameron Batson and Geoff Swaim, so I’ll explain why I made those decisions.

Jamil Douglas started for the Titans last year, but he didn’t do it well. Based off of what I have seen, I would take Avery Gennesy over him strictly as a guard. The Titans do end up with four offensive tackles on the roster this way, but you can’t cut any of the top three tackles and David Quessenberry seems like a guy the coaching staff and players love.

I think the Titans want Batson to be Kalif Raymond with a different number, but I just don’t think he is anywhere near as fast on the field.

Swaim was just signed so it might be weird to see him cut, but I just don’t know if the Titans can keep four tight ends and a fullback on top that. This fixes that logjam.

It is just that easy. Now the Titans have three running backs that can carry the ball or catch the ball, and they do it without losing any key depth. McNichols is good enough to make this team and he can help them, hopefully Tennessee takes advantage of that this time around.