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Tennessee Titans: Defensive line depth chart after 2021 NFL Draft

ByLeigh Oleszczak|
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - NOVEMBER 08: DaQuan Jones #90, Jeffery Simmons #98, Derick Roberson #50 and Kevin Byard #31 of the Tennessee Titans celebrates at the line of scrimmage during a game against the Chicago Bears at Nissan Stadium on November 08, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans defeated the Bears 24-17. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - NOVEMBER 08: DaQuan Jones #90, Jeffery Simmons #98, Derick Roberson #50 and Kevin Byard #31 of the Tennessee Titans celebrates at the line of scrimmage during a game against the Chicago Bears at Nissan Stadium on November 08, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans defeated the Bears 24-17. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

The Tennessee Titans‘ defensive line should be better in 2021 with the addition of Denico Autry who had 7.5 sacks with the Colts last year. The Titans pried him away from Indianapolis and now he’ll join Jeffery Simmons as the starters along the defensive line.

Simmons was taken by the Titans in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Mississippi State and had 49 tackles along with three sacks last year. The addition of Autry should help open things up for him a little more and get those sack numbers up.

As for the depth along the defensive line, the Titans have the following players listed on their official roster:

There’s not a ton of depth along the defensive line for the Tennessee Titans.

  • Ray appeared in four games last year and had two tackles and one sack. He was signed as a UDFA out of Boston College in 2019 with the Browns but didn’t appear in an NFL game until last year when he did so with the Titans.
  • Murchison was taken in the fifth round of last year’s draft and played in 10 games last year. He didn’t have any sacks but he had five tackles including one for loss.
  • Mack played for the Ravens in 2019 and hasn’t played in an NFL game since then. He’s probably not a realistic choice to make the Titans’ roster but he is currently still listed there.
  • Tart played in seven games last year and had five tackles, including one for loss. His numbers didn’t pop off the page, but there’s certainly potential there.

The Titans didn’t draft any defensive linemen but they did sign Naquan Jones as a UDFA. Jones played at Michigan State and has a decent shot to make the roster and could be a nice depth piece for the Titans defense.

Tennessee might decide to bring in another veteran to help bolster their defensive line but if they don’t, it’ll be the Autry and Simmons show in Nashville. The depth isn’t the best for the team so if either of those guys get injured, it could be tough sledding at the position, but fans still haven’t seen enough from Murchison or Tart to know if they could be realistic options moving forward or not.

Landing Autry this offseason was huge though and definitely makes the d-line a tougher force for the Titans. This unit might not be as tough as it was in 2019 when the Titans made the AFC Championship Game but it should be better than the production we saw a season ago.

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