Tennessee Titans rookies who have earned playing time versus Seattle
By Will Lomas
Tennessee Titans 2nd round pick, Dillon Radunz
Titans rookie lineman Dillon Radunz had a preseason with ten good quarters and two really bad quarters, but people tend to remember the bad over the good.
He struggled in two areas during the preseason. First, he struggled in pass protection when he was isolated against Joe Tryon-Shoyinka in clear passing situations. Secondly, he struggled when he was inside as a guard.
How about putting him in a situation that requires him to do neither of those things? That’s right, the Titans should use him as a tight end.
You read that correctly, this week the Titans should use Radunz as a tight end instead of a tackle or a guard. Not every play obviously, but given Geoff Swaim’s struggles as both a receiver and a blocker in Week 1, the Titans need someone they can trust a the point of attack.
Radunz is one of the most athletic offensive tackles in the NFL and during the pre-draft process he tested particularly well in his explosion and lateral agility drills (tweet below). That is exactly what the Titans need in a blocker whether that means hooking EDGEs on the play side or getting up to the linebacker on the back side.
Dillon Radunz is a OT prospect in the 2021 draft class. He scored a 9.38 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 69 out of 1103 OT from 1987 to 2021.
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 12, 2021
RE: @RossUglem for the first shout out.https://t.co/iZ57jD1mSB #RAS pic.twitter.com/eF1JihPV3R
The Titans have to find a way to improve their running game this week and ever since Mike Vrabel took over, jumbo tight ends have been something that he has used frequently.
Putting him on the field doesn’t tip the play call as long as the Titans get back to their heavy play-action game plan, and at the very least it should force the Seattle Seahawks defense to put their biggest players on the field to defend against an offensive front with six linemen.
Seahawks expert shares their most glaring weaknesses. light. Trending
You could do this with Ty Sambrailo or Kendall Lamm, but they wouldn’t give you the same athleticism that Radunz can. Admittedly it would require Todd Downing to do something he doesn’t usually do like think outside of the box or using play action, but it would probably be the most beneficial change the Tennessee Titans could make on offense.