Tennessee Titans current starters.
For the first time in a week, the Tennessee Titans had no positive COVID tests.
Now, this is a long road and there are a lot of hurdles to overcome before we can really think about the Buffalo Bills matchup this weekend. However, what we can do is look at the smoldering remains of the Titans roster and try to piece together who is going to play if a game took place.
Depending on the severity of the symptoms that each individual has and with back to back negative tests needed, it is hard to project anyone on the COVID list joining the Titans this weekend. That isn’t even including the extra caution that Mike Vrabel takes with injuries or the recovery time involved to get these players back into shape.
It has been 8 days since we have seen the Titans in action, but we were lucky enough to see them in three games and to see which players they liked both as backups and role players. From that, it was pretty easy to reverse engineer a makeshift depth chart going into this weekend.
Here is the position by position breakdown of what you should expect and the names you should get familiar with before Sunday (again, fingers crossed) as the Titans prepare to take on the surprisingly dominant Buffalo Bills.
QB and RB
Week 3 starters: Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, Darrynton Evans, and Khari Blasingame
Week 5 projections: Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, Darrynton Evans, and MyCole Pruitt
The Titans have been pretty lucky here and they may actually be in a better place now than they were going into the forced bye week.
Khari Blasingame wasn’t helping the team very much and there were times where he was actively missing blocks and preventing Henry from running well. Adding MyCole Pruitt as an H-back to move around the formation and help lean into a more pass-friendly offense should help this team considering how strong Tannehill has looked.
On top of that, Darrynton Evans is another week healthier and should be ready to start adding a little more to his plate. Without a bye week down the road to throw more at him, this is going to be a season where he has a trial by fire starting with Buffalo.
Wide Receiver
Week 3 starters: Corey Davis, Adam Humphries and Cam Batson (all played 50% or more of the snaps)
Week 5 projections: Corey Davis, A.J. Brown and Kalif Raymond
There isn’t a position group more in flux than the Titans wide receivers who lose both Adam Humphries and Cam Batson to the COVID list. What helps a lot is that this should be the week the A.J. Brown returns to practice and Week 3 was the best performance of Kalif Raymond’s career.
I expect the team to run the ball more due to Raymond’s lack of a well-rounded game, but when you have Corey Davis and A.J. Brown, you do have the freedom to have limited guys on the field because of what that duo brings to your offense.
If Davis can stay as effective as he has been (on pace for 80 catches, 1,100 yards, and 6 TDs) and if A.J. Brown is just most of what he was last year, then this is probably a net improvement and I say that as someone who thinks that Adam Humphries has been huge this season.
Tight End, Offensive line
Week 3 starters: Ty Sambrailo (played 57 snaps to Lewan’s 18), Rodger Saffold, Ben Jones, Nate Davis, Dennis Kelly, Jonnu Smith, MyCole Pruitt
Week 5 projections: Taylor Lewan, Rodger Saffold, Ben Jones, Nate Davis, Dennis Kelly, Jonnu Smith, Anthony Firkser
The big change here is that the extra week should have given Taylor Lewan enough time to rehab his shoulder injury which was a huge concern heading into a matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Instead of that concern, they now get the offensive line back to the optimal lineup.
Also, let me take this time to apologize to Nate Davis. When I watched the games live, I have been hard on him for his mistakes, but after re-watching every snap from this season he has done much better than I gave him credit for.
The other big change here is that I think the Titans are going to need more snaps out of their tight ends this week with Khari Blasingame on the COVID list. That pushes MyCole Pruitt into the lineup more as a lead blocker and probably opens up more snaps for Anthony Firkser.
Firkser was a big offense in Weeks 1 and 2 despite limited snaps, but he didn’t get on the field as much in Week 3 so consider this a return to starting for him. Again, this group actually looks a little better than before the bye.
Defensive line
Week 3 starters: Jeffery Simmons, Daquan Jones, Jack Crawford
Week 5 projections: Jack Crawford, Larrell Murchison, Isaiah Mack
This is a position the Tennessee Titans should desperately consider making a move for this week. I like Jack Crawford a lot and I think he can hold his own at defensive tackle for a week or two, but the other two just aren’t going to cut it.
Not only are they still very green, but they both are guys who play leaner and can’t really hold the point of attack.
If the Titans can’t sign another defensive tackle then they are going to have to rely on the names mentioned above as well as Matt Dickerson and potentially practice squad DT Teair Tart (a rookie from FIU).
This is an issue so bad that the Titans might have to fundamentally shift how they call plays on defense. Expect a lot more attacking from this front because these DL aren’t going to be able to man up with the iOL in front of them and dominate at the point of attack. Instead, they are going to have to rely on movement, motor and aggression to make plays.
If they get into 3rd and long don’t be surprised to see some three-man fronts or nickel packages with Clowney playing inside just to give those guys a break and to try to make something happen. Either way, the Titans will miss Jones and Simmons badly.
EDGE, Linebackers
Week 3 starters: Harold Landry, Jadeveon Clowney, Vic Beasley, Jayon Brown, Rashaan Evans
Week 5 projections: Harold Landry, Jadeveon Clowney, Vic Beasley, Jayon Brown, Rashaan Evans
Same group right? Well, kinda. Let me explain.
Right now those five are the guys who are going to get the majority of the snap in the front seven, with the real flexible players being Harold Landry (who lines up at both spots) and Jadeveon Clowney who lines up all over the field.
In the last slide, I talked about how this week’s issues on the defensive line likely means that the Titans will have to rely on Clowney to play more inside. The ripple effect means that this would normally be a week where Kamalei Correa would play more snaps at EDGE in base defense.
Well, Correa is on the COVID-19 list.
The secret here is that the Tennessee Titans most impactful pass rusher per snap from last year is finally healthy, and that is cat-quick EDGE, Derick Roberson. If he is ready to go after nearly playing last week, then the Titans will have another body to play at EDGE which means that Beasley and Roberson can give 100% effort without drop off on the reps where they come in for Clowney.
Defensive backs
Week 3 starters: Kenny Vaccaro, Kevin Byard, Malcolm Butler, Johnathan Joseph, Kristian Fulton
Week 5 projections: Kenny Vaccaro, Kevin Byard, Malcolm Butler, Adoree Jackson, Chris Jackson
This is a pretty massive shift if Adoree Jackson can come back and I think that he will be able to this week.
There might be a thought that Adoree Jackson would go inside and that Joseph would stay outside. However, the Titans games against Denver and Jacksonville really makes it seem like they want either Kristian Fulton or Chris Jackson to be the slot corner at all times.
That gives them the speed of Adoree Jackson and the physicality and timing of Malcolm Butler on the boundaries and puts less stress on the safeties because you know what you are consistently getting out of those two guys against an offense’s best receivers.
So, a healthy Adoree comes in and replaces Joseph while a healthy Chirs Jackson comes in and replaces Kristian Fulton as he recovers from COVID.
I don’t think that this is necessarily a better group because Fulton was doing a really solid job, but there is a good chance that Adoree Jackson is going to help a lot of the problems going on in the Titans secondary and his chemistry with the rest of the DBs should help any communication issues.
Mike Vrabel has been terrified to bring pressure with the previous group of DBs and I don’t think that changes this week, but if Adoree Jackson can come back and hold his own against Stefon Diggs and John Brown then it is going to go a long way towards that trust going forward.
Full team projection
Given the opponent and the players available, I wanted to give you what I think the starters will look like on the field together. You might notice that I listed 14 starters on offense and 13 starters on defense, and that is because I think those are the guys who are going to play significant snaps.
However, in an ideal situation, these are the players that I think the Titans want on the field the most frequently.
Offense
QB: Ryan Tannehill
RB: Derrick Henry
WR: Corey Davis
WR: A.J. Brown
TE/FB: MyCole Pruitt
TE: Jonnu Smith
LT: Taylor Lewan
LG: Rodger Saffold
C: Ben Jones
RG: Nate Davis
RT: Dennis Kelly
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Defense
DL: Jack Crawford
DL: Larrell Murchison (possibly a free agent here)
EDGE: Harold Landry
EDGE: Jadeveon Clowney
LB: Jayon Brown
LB: Rashaan Evans
CB: Adoree Jackson
CB: Malcolm Butler
SCB: Chris Jackson
S: Kenny Vaccaro
S: Kevin Byard
The one thing I didn’t mention is the option of using Amani Hooker as a safety and using Kenny Vaccaro as an extra box defender who can moonlight as a slot corner, but I have written before that I don’t like the way that has looked so far. Not because Vaccaro has looked bad, but because I think Hooker still doesn’t really have a feel for that position yet and this is a huge game.
That could be the one player that gets significant snaps at DB that I am not accounting for here, but the Titans best game of the season defensively came in Week 1 when Chris Jackson was starting in the slot and he has more snaps in his two healthy games than Hooker has over the course of the season.