The truth of what happened to the Tennessee Titans last offseason
By Will Lomas
The Titans “Defense”
Still needing to fill the depth chart at EDGE, the Tennessee Titans went into the offseason thinking that Kamalei Correa would come back and play in his normal role and that the main person/role that they had to replace was Cameron Wake’s DPR (designated pass rusher) role.
Wake’s replacement was supposed to be Vic Beasley and that is a move that I would make all over again. It obviously didn’t work, but the Titans took a 1-year shot on a guy who had averaged 8.5 sacks per year and 8.5 TFLs per season over the last four years.
Giving him an easier workload and letting him pin his ears back and just try to make splash plays would have worked in most functioning defenses. Unfortunately, the Titans had (and have) Shane Bowen as the DC, a man who seems to find ways to dig down deep and pull out the worst season of any defensive player’s career.
Later, Jadeveon Clowney would see the “Bowen Effect” first hand after a LONG offseason recruiting process brought him to Tennessee.
After being demoted from starter to the fourth EDGE behind Harold Landry, Clowney and Beasley, Correa wanted out and was traded for a 6th round pick that ultimately became cornerback Desmond King.
Speaking of cornerbacks, the final hole that the Titans needed to fill among starters was corner. It looked like they had nailed it in the 2020 NFL Draft with Kristian Fulton from LSU in the second round.
He was supposed to join Malcolm Butler and Adoree Jackson as the third man in the cornerback rotation with player-coach Jonathan Joseph helping mentor him and be another veteran for him to lean on since he had worked with Titans DB coach Anthony Midget back in Houston.
Unfortunately, like a house of cards, one issue toppled the entire group of DBs into a heaping pile of mediocrity.
Adoree Jackson sustained an injury before the first game of the season and Fulton was already trying to come back from a hamstring injury of his own which pushed Joseph and 7th round rookie Chris Jackson into the limelight.