Four protected Titans.
The Tennessee Titans finalized their practice squad today with 16 players as the team prepares to kick off the season against the Denver Broncos on Monday night. After finalizing cuts late last week, the Titans brought back some players to add depth for the team.
Headlining the practice squad is former starting quarterback Trevor Siemian. After being cut last week, Tennessee was able to sign him to stay with the team. They also were able to keep cornerback Tye Smith, kicker Tucker McCann, and wide receiver Cameron Batson.
The NFL has made some modifications to the practice squad that allows teams to carry additional players. While the original CBA upped the players to 12, the complications from COVID-19 allows teams to carry 16 players now.
However, the most interesting wrinkle due to the coronavirus pandemic is the ability for teams to retain exclusivity for four players. That means the Titans can name four players that will not allow other teams to poach players off of the Titans practice squad. This is crucial as the Titans have seen valuable assets being signed away to other teams.
Tennessee finalized their four players today. Let’s take a look at who they protected and what that means for the team.
Quarterback Trevor Siemian
The Titans used one of their protected practice squad spots on recently cut Trevor Siemian. The cut last week came as a surprise considering the Titans decided to part ways with rookie Cole McDonald. The Titans will enter the season with two quarterbacks on the active roster, Ryan Tannehill and Logan Woodside.
Siemian is a valuable player to hold onto given his proven NFL experience. Siemian was the starting quarterback for the majority of two Broncos seasons from 2016-2018. During that time, Sieman had 30 touchdowns and over 5500 yards.
While Tennessee has stayed silent in the open market for quarterbacks, a reason may have been due to a rule implemented from the new CBA. A team can activate two players every game, which increases the roster to 55 players. This is massive as the Titans can activate Siemian on a week-by-week basis while not having to pay Siemian a bigger contract to be on the active roster each week.
Tennessee needs to be wary of injuries to quarterbacks, particularly Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill missed part of the 2016 and 2018 season and the entire 2017 season with injuries. While he remained healthy last year, having a quarterback like Siemian as an insurance policy will be valuable later down the line.
Kicker Tucker McCann
Keeping a kicker on the practice squad says a lot about Tennessee’s special teams. After posting arguably the worst field goal kicking season last year, the Titans revamped their starting place kicker this past week by signing long-time Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski.
The Titans signed Greg Joseph late last season. Joseph only attempted one field goal attempt in his time with the Titans, but made all his extra point attempts. While Joseph is a decent kicker, Gostkowski is an all-time kicker if he is healthy.
However, given Gostkowski’s recent injury streak, Tennessee kept Tucker McCann on the practice squad and used one of their protected slots on him. McCann is a rookie and gives the Titans a little bit of a cushion in case the Gostkowski experiment goes sideways.
The young McCann can spend time with Tennessee and continue practicing and getting good reps while learning from Gostkowski. This will be a good opportunity to groom McCann into a future placekicker for the Titans. There have been discussions of even activating McCann and using him for kickoffs.
Given how thin the kicker market is, if Tennessee really feels optimistic on McCann, then this is a necessary move.
Running Back Jeremy McNichols
Tennessee spent the offseason signing their star running back Derrick Henry to a long term deal. The defending rushing champion is now the definitive running back of the future for the Titans after leading the team to the AFC Championship. However, behind Henry, the running back depth is thin.
The Titans left disappointing Dion Lewis go and drafted Darrynton Evans in the 3rd round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Evans is an explosive, open field running back that brings a good pass catching option for the Titans. Evans is a rookie and will need time and reps to acclimate to the speed of the NFL.
Behind Evans, the Titans elected to keep Senorise Perry. Perry is a long-time NFL veteran who is primarily a kickoff return specialist. Based on the depth chart, it looks like the Titans are going to be depending on Henry heavily.
Jeremy McNichols is a more traditional running back that can be useful to add depth behind Henry in case of injury. McNichols spent time with the team back in 2018 and has some familiarity with the Titans offense.
Keeping McNichols safe with a protected spot allows the Titans to build up his understanding of the offense as well as using him in the active roster as needed.
Defensive End Wyatt Ray
Tennessee utilized their last protected practice squad spot on defensive end Wyatt Ray. Ray is a second year player out of Boston College who the Titans may want to deploy at outside linebacker or defensive end.
This move is mostly an indication of the thin depth in the defensive front. Tennessee only has 8 players in their defensive line rotation, with only two players with significant playing time in Jeffrey Simmons and DaQuan Jones. While Jack Crawford is a long time veteran, he has seen very little playing time in his career.
While Tennessee added an electrical talent in Jadeveon Clowney, the Titans are also quite thin at outside linebacker. Ray is a rotational piece to add depth at the edge positions. With the Titans being thin in depth, the team must keep an eye in case of injuries.
The Titans may have used an additional roster spot on keeping cornerback and safety depth. Given the struggle last year in keeping healthy cornerbacks, it may be a good move to shift the depth towards the secondary for the time being.