Tennessee Titans deepest position is…defensive back?

Cornerbacks

This week the Tennessee Titans activated two cornerbacks off of I.R. and that has sort of gone under the radar. Those cornerbacks are Kristian Fulton and Tye Smith, and while Fulton is going to get a lot of attention, don’t sleep on Smith.

Smith struggled badly when asked to fill in this season, but he is still a very solid special teams player, and that factors in when you are talking about this logjam at cornerback because this team needs guys who can play on special teams.

Let’s run down the depth chart and talk a little bit about each CB.

-Malcolm Butler: Butler is this team’s CB1 until proven otherwise and he has played very well for the last two months. His physicality is huge in keeping QBs and WRs from getting into a groove and he is the one boundary CB who has seemed to be alright in either the matchup scheme or the boundary scheme.

–Desmond King: Hopefully the team’s slot corner for years to come, King has been great in the slot this season and adds a splash of speed to this defense. Don’t sleep on him as a return man in the future,

–Breon Borders: This is where things get interesting. Borders was relatively unknown going into the season and even going into the game he was scheduled to start against the Chicago Bears. However, since starting he leads the Titans in passer rating against, and neither he nor King have allowed a TD since entering the starting lineup.

–Adoree Jackson: Supposedly this is a cornerback who is on the roster, but you would be hard-pressed to find proof that Jackson didn’t actually opt out of the 2020 season. Joking aside, Jackson was expected to be the team’s CB1 but he suffered a knee injury and hasn’t played all season. Even more concerning, he has missed the last 13 regular-season games.

–Kristian Fulton: The second round rookie has been up and down this season, but to be fair he was playing in a new position. Hopefully, Desmond King’s arrival allows Fulton to shift his focus to playing on the outside which is what he did most of his college career.

–Chris Jackson: Jackson was supposed to be a developmental player, but injuries forced him into the lineup much earlier than anticipated. I actually didn’t hate what he looked like on tape because he is a guy who is close to receivers in coverage but just wasn’t comfortable enough to make plays. That shows me that he deserves to be in the NFL as an athlete and that with more coaching he should see his confidence grow.

-Chris Milton/Tye Smith: Predominantly special teams players, though Smith has played inside and outside on the defense in the past.