3 Tennessee Titans sleepers already making noise during training camp

Three Tennessee Titans sleepers are already buzzing.

It has been 199 days since the Tennessee Titans played a football game and since then everyone has been pouring over the roster to make their projections. After all that time of speculation, projection, analysis, etc., it is hard to single out potential sleepers. That all changed after comments from Head Coach Mike Vrabel and videos of Tennessee Titans training camp practices have surfaced over the last 24 hours.

In the words of Jackrabbit Jenkins, “Day 1 is in the books”, and for the first time in a long time, the entire Titans roster practiced together.

To be fair, there is only so much that you can learn from one practice at the end of July without pads and no one is saying that these three are going to be Pro Bowlers or anything like that. However, don’t underestimate how much a nod of approval from Mike Vrabel means.

Anthony Firkser, Jamil Douglas, Matt Dickerson, Sharif Finch, Cam Batson, and plenty of other players have gotten into the league because Mike Vrabel pushed for them to make the roster. Now his hit rate isn’t perfect, but the point is that the nod from Vrabel could be the tie-breaker between one of these guys and someone else.

This list has to start with the biggest name.

Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Teair Tart, DT

When I said the biggest name, I meant the biggest name, and Tennessee Titans fans should be very excited that Tart is making a name for himself early in camp.

Vrabel called Teair Tart one of the winners from the offseason, which has historically meant that he is one of the guys that has gone above and beyond what the coaches asked him to do to stay engaged and to stay in shape.

It is hard to quantify what guys like Teair Tart and former Tennessee Titans defensive tackle DaQuan Jones do for a defense, but last year the Titans’ tackles were the only group consistently making plays on the field for the defense.

With the addition of Denico Autry, Tart should be able to focus on playing inside in the A-gaps and getting better at that instead of what he was doing last year which was just trying to find any way to break through into the game-day roster.

It is early, but Tart looks like another UDFA find for Jon Robinson, and hopefully, he is going to be good enough to earn a starting job that allows Jeffery Simmons to play in the B-gaps more in 2021.

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Racey McMath

It is easy to forget Racey McMath on the Tennessee Titans depth chart even though that has nothing to do with his talent. When you think about the wide receivers on the roster, you have to start with A.J. Brown and Julio Jones since they have a great argument to be the best 1-2 punch in the NFL at receiver.

Then Josh Reynolds has to come in as the clear WR3, and then the rookie Dez Fitzpatrick has been penciled into the WR4 spot because of what the Titans gave up to get him in the draft. However, the “other” rookie receiver deserves a lot of attention.

Well Mike Vrabel made sure to point that out and Jim Wyatt echoed that praise in his article about his observations from Day 1 of Titans training camp:

"Rookie receiver Racey McMath drew praise from head coach Mike Vrabel after a solid day of practice. McMath made a nice catch in individual drills, and he showed up in other periods as well. McMath caught a touchdown pass thrown by quarterback Logan Woodside in a team period. I raved about McMath in here during the offseason, and for good reason. What’s crazy to think about is he’s probably 6th on the depth chart at the position right now."

It is almost a guarantee that McMath makes this roster as a gunner on special teams, and that means that he will be active on gameday. That is a massive advantage for a rookie and this is the buzz that Tennessee Titans fans should have been hoping for at the receiver position.

Tennessee Titans safety Amani Hooker

Titans safety Amani Hooker shouldn’t be a sleeper, but when you go through the 11 projected starters on defense, he is usually the last name that you think about. That is a shame because Hooker did some great things in limited action with the Titans last year and he was tied for the team lead in interceptions with four.

Way back in 2019 when Hooker was drafted, the assumption was that the Tennessee Titans would try to develop him into a slot cornerback to replace Logan Ryan who was set to be a free agent after that season.

That never really materialized because Hooker found a home as the third safety for the Titans. This might not seem as important as the slot cornerback role, but remember that Tennessee played their best defense when they would put guys like Kevin Byard or Kenny Vaccaro in the box and mix up their coverages.

With Vaccaro gone, Hooker has been promoted to a full-time starter next to Byard, and to emphasize that the Titans made the right call, he started off training camp with a pick-six on Ryan Tannehill.

The expectation for the Titans defensive backs is low based on what the group did last year, but when you look at the talent on the roster and when you see buzz like this, it should remind you just how good this group can be if they play up to their talent level in 2021.