Tennessee Titans fans can expect huge strides from Amani Hooker in 2021

Days pass. So do the weeks, and Tennessee Titans fans just can’t stop talking about the two-tone blue. Why would they? This is a team that has done some great things over the course of the past two seasons, and now, they look to march into 2021’s regular-season campaign as a team that has a very realistic shot of representing the AFC come February in football’s biggest game, one that’s slotted for February in Los Angeles.

Yes, the Titans are loaded with star power, so much so that, when you think about it, believe it or not, we tend to forget to talk about Derrick Henry because we’re so wrapped up in Julio Jones’ arrival. We talk so much about the established stars that we forget to talk about the up and comers.

Here are the facts. For the Titans to cap a deep playoff run with the NFL’s biggest prize, the Vince Lombardi Trophy, they won’t just meed out of their mind performances by the veterans. Some of the young guns will need to step up in a big way, and it appears that third-year safety Amani Hooker is ready to answer the call.

Amani Hooker is ready to seize a leadership role for the Tennessee Titans.

We’re a long way from determining whether or not the Titans will slap some captain bars on Amani Hooker, but trust and believe that he’s a leader in every sense of the word. Poll a few casual fans, and they’ll tell you that they probably don’t even know what his voice sounds like, but fear not.

They’re going to be seeing and hearing from this guy a lot over the course of the 2021-2022 run, especially now that guys like Kenny Vaccaro and Malcolm Butler are gone. That means Hooker will, more than likely, compete with the likes of Dane Cruikshank and, possibly, Elijah Molden (the rookie does have some experience playing safety) for a starting role opposite Kevin Byard at the safety position.

He appears to be ready. Just check out some of what he’s been up to over the past couple of weeks.

That’s some good stuff from the former fourth-rounder. It’s going to be fun to watch him develop under defensive coordinator Shane Bowen and safeties coach Scott Booker.

In 25 games at the collegiate level, he notched 125 tackles, a sack, six picks, nine pass breakups, and a defensive touchdown while as a member of the Iowa Hawkeyes en route to a First-Team All-Big Ten nod, a Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year nod, and a Second-Team All-American nod in 2018. As a professional, he’s added 74 total tackles, four interceptions, and eight pass breakups to his football resume (that includes playoff numbers).

Amani Hooker had to sit in the shadows of some former Titans stars during his first two NFL seasons. Now, he’ll be asked to be more involved. He’s more than ready. Expect 37 to make some plays, take the next step in his development and become one of the leaders in the locker room and on the field come 2021’s regular season.