Tennessee Titans: Draft expert reveals Caleb Farley’s biggest weakness

How about this? Before you read another Tennessee Titans article about Caleb Farley, do something for yourself. Take a deep breath. Stop stressing. Go look at some YouTube clips on the guy or something. The guy’s going to be fine.

Think about D.K. Metcalf. Sure, these are two totally different guys that had two different careers in two different conferences at the collegiate level. Both were injured, and yes, they had two different injuries. The point is this.

There were several NFL teams, though they won’t admit it now, that took Metcalf off of their draft boards when that neck injury was a talking point. Both he and Farley are alike in the fact that questions about their durability jeopardized their draft status.

We’d all love it if every guy came into the NFL injury-free and with a clean bill of health, but it doesn’t always work that way. You’ve probably noticed, but football is a contact sport.

NFL Draft wiz shares the Tennessee Titans rookie’s biggest weakness.

Here’s something else to consider. In the end, things worked out as you might expect. Caleb Farley was still drafted in the first round, but despite the fact that he was seen by quite a few scouts and experts as the 2021 class’s best prospect at the cornerback position, he’d be the third taken behind Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain.

We know about what he’s capable of if healthy. He was named First-team All-ACC in 2019. That proves that he’s no slouch. Unfortunately, because of the concern stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, he sat the 2020 college football season out. Would that have improved or lessened his draft stock had he played?

We’ll never know, but here’s what we can agree on, if he’s one-hundred percent healthy at the start of the 2021 NFL season, he’ll ball out. We know he’s speedy with nice size and a solid frame. NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein compared him to Sean Smith in his draft profile. He also says Farley “hassles receivers with length and strength”.

There are two sides to every coin though. Here’s what Zierlein identifies as some of his biggest weaknesses, outside of the durability issues of course. We’ve all heard enough about that, haven’t we?

"Needs more coaching to improve fundamentals and technique.Clunky backpedal with a tendency to open his hips too early.Plays too tall, creating turbulent transitions to chase route breaks.More reactive than instinctive from off-man at this time.Could struggle staying connected with complex routes.Average click-and-close from the top of his drop.Interference penalties pop up when he doesn’t work to find the football.Inconsistent balance and form as run-support tackler.Some missed tackles ended up costing his team points."

Again, take a deep breath if you’re a Tennessee Titans fan.

Part of having potential means that someone isn’t fully developed or refined. You’d expect that from a rookie, but again, if you’re feeling as though you’re overly concerned with the injury history or what Caleb Farley may or may not become, relax.

He’s going to be fine. Sure, you’re concerned and frustrated. He’s kept an even keel after being forced to miss on-field activity during Titans rookie minicamp, but you know he’s had some of this stuff on his own mind. None of us should lose any sleep until we’re certain that there’s a real reason to worry.

The Tennessee Titans organization, like every NFL team, has its needs, but they’ve satisfied one of them, a legitimate outside cornerback, with the selection of Caleb Farley. If coached appropriately, something that hasn’t been much of an issue since the arrival of Mike Vrabel’s regime, this could be someone we’re discussing for years to come.