What do the Titans do at DB?
The Tennessee Titans defense has left a lot to be desired this season, especially the pass defense.
However, despite the product on the field suffering, it is becoming more and more apparent that the problem with the team has less to do with the talent on the field, and more to do with the scheme and the playcalling (more on that in a second).
So what does that mean? Well, it means that this coaching staff isn’t getting the most out of the talent at defensive back and that some of the people that we have been low on all season are probably actually pretty good players.
This was on my mind during the lull in between meals on Thanksgiving and I started to think about the Titans defense. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that defensive back was actually one of the deeper and more talented position groups on the entire roster.
If there is a problem, it is that they have too many talented players that aren’t getting on the field as much as they should. I’ll tell you exactly why that is a problem in a minute, but right now let me circle back to an important topic.
Why am I so optimistic about the Titans defensive backs, and how am I so sure that the biggest problem with the defense is the scheme? Let’s take a quick look.
Titans scheme is hurting them
An example of the Titans defensive play-calling actively hurting the team comes from the big change they made nearly a month ago.
Tennessee seemingly figured out a way to slow down opposing offenses by allowing Malcolm Butler, Desmond King, and Breon Borders to match up with opposing receivers. The change here was that instead of each corner playing one side of the field, Tennessee tried to make receivers deal with cornerbacks that they would struggle with stylistically.
The results from this defense speak for themselves, just look at the receivers that Malcolm Butler was covering in these games:
-Chase Claypool vs Butler: 1 reception, -2 yards
(Claypool’s average vs every other defense this season): 4 receptions, 62 yards)
-A.J. Green: 2 receptions, 19 yards
(Green’s average vs every other defense this season): 4 receptions, 38 yards
-Allen Robinson: 4 receptions, 48 yards (through 3 quarters until the Titans went conservative in a blowout)
(Robinson’s average vs every other defense this season): 7 receptions, 75 yards
Instead of sticking with that defense, Mike Vrabel and Shane Bowen decided to abandon that in one of the most important games all season, and they did it on a short week no less.
This resulted in an embarrassing defensive performance which saw the Indianapolis Colts punt exactly one time all game and that was in the 4th quarter when the game had already been decided.
That wasn’t an issue with the players not being good enough, it was an issue with the coaching staff not understanding what is working and failing to adjust to a team absolutely abusing them. That is enough for me to feel confident saying that the defensive back talent on this Titans team ranges somewhere between “better than they get credit for” and “criminally misused”.
Now that we have that figured out, just how deep are the Titans?
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.
Safeties
This position isn’t nearly as deep, but if we are going to call the defensive backs the deepest and most talented position on the roster then we need to take a look.
Each of the four safeties on the roster have been active on game day and have actually been getting snaps on defense.
-Kevin Byard: Byard is a star…most seasons. This year has been pretty brutal for Byard and he hasn’t shown up as a playmaker vs the run or against the past. With time running out for a rebound, fans have to hope that this is just a bump in the road and not a sign of his game being elevated by great defensive coaching.
–Kenny Vaccaro: Vaccaro has been used in nearly every position other than defensive tackle this season and his versatility doesn’t get praised enough. Among Titans DBs, he leads in TFLs and he is tied in sacks despite missing a game and his solo tackles are most among Tennessee safeties per game.
–Amani Hooker: Shockingly, Hooker is the Tennessee Titans leader in interceptions with 3 including pretty crucial plays against the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers this season. He has gradually gained confidence and now looks like a player that the coaches have to start forcing on the field soon.
-Joshua Kalu: A special teams player generally, Kalu seems to be the preferred “dimeback” right now, sometimes coming in as the 6th DB in the Titans 4-1-6 look on 3rd and long plays. He isn’t special at any one thing, but he is trusted by the staff and is a classic overachiever.
What does this all mean?
The reason that I bring all of this up is that over the next six weeks, the Tennessee Titans have to do everything they can to get this team ready for (hopefully) a playoff run.
Right now we are all making a lot of assumptions about what the Titans DBs should look like, but what do we actually know about them? When Adoree Jackson comes back, he is going to get his chance to be the starter, but what happens if he looks a step slower?
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The Titans have to find out which DB gives them a better chance to win, and since we have no idea what kind of shape guys like Adoree Jackso and Kristian Fulton are in, the answer may be Breon Borders.
Maybe not, maybe the answer is the obvious one and Adoree Jackson becomes the missing piece of the puzzle on defense. Or maybe Kristian Fulton shows out in practice on the boundary and reminds everyone why he was considered a steal in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The good news is that there is a lot of talent on this roster and if everyone is healthy, defensive back should be a strength on this team going forward. The bad news is, no matter how deep this makes the Titans DBs, you would love to have an obvious answer.
Either way, it is great to have depth at defensive back and no one is talking enough about how depth pieces like Breon Borders and Amani Hooker have stepped up. It is really easy to tear this group down when things go wrong, but when you look at the roster it becomes obvious that they are victims of bad coaching and not a lack of talent.