5 Titans players who need to prove they should start in 2021

2. Adoree Jackson, CB

So. Let’s talk about Adoree Jackson.

The hallmark of Adoree Jackson’s career has been his ability to be aggressive and come up and make tackles on screens or in the run game as well as his athleticism that allowed him to cover ground quickly and make up for mistakes in coverage.

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Against the Detroit Lions, he looked like he was back on track to do both of those things, and then against Green Bay, he was absolutely victimized and looked the part of a California kid who wanted no part of a game in the snow.

Two things you need to understand before I make my peace here. First, I have always been a fan of Adoree Jackson and I thought that he was on track to be a cornerstone of this defense. With Logan Ryan in New York, this was going to be a chance for Jackson to step up into a leadership role as one of the real veterans on defense and he was going to have more on his plate.

The other thing is that Adoree Jackson is going to be on the roster in 2021 barring a trade from a team desperate for cornerbacks.

But right now, you have to look at the cornerback room and tell me where he fits in 2021 based on what we have seen from him over the past two seasons.

Malcolm Butler is going to be CB1 regardless of his cap hit. He has been the most impressive defensive back on the roster all season running circles around Kevin Byard who previously held that title.

Then you have Kristian Fulton, a second-year player with experience under his belt who will have a chance to have a real offseason this year after jumping from a National Championship straight to combine training, straight to the insane COVID offseason.

Next year, what you might see is Malcolm Butler and Kristian Fulton as the starting cornerbacks, and the plan might be to play Adoree Jackson as the “nickel” DB who comes in and plays on the boundary, pushing Kristian Fulton inside to the slot.

That would mean that they think Adoree Jackson is just going to play out his contract as a rotational player that they don’t depend on and then he hit free agency. Honestly, based on his injury history and the investments they made at cornerback around him, it isn’t that crazy.

Jackson needs to prove that he is worth the Titans time and money.