The Tennessee Titans are not perfect, but you would be hard-pressed to name a better team in the NFL right now.
Over and over the mantra of their wins being “beautiful but not pretty”, which is the Titans’ way of saying that they aren’t always blowing teams out but the most important thing is the result.
Honestly, this phrase doesn’t give Tennessee enough credit. The wins vs the Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Indianapolis Colts (at home) were “pretty” blowouts that were never really in question.
A few weeks ago if you were pressed to mention some Tennessee Titans who could be on their way to All-Pro accolades, the only players who would get a nod would have been Derrick Henry and maybe A.J. Brown when he had three 100+ yard games back-to-back-to-back.
Now, there are three players who are on pace for All-Pro honors and unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that list will include Henry or Brown.
As you may suspect, the most dominant individuals on this roster are (surprisingly) on the defensive side of the ball. While one player is skyrocketing toward stardom, the other two have steadily been at the top of their positions all year.
These are the Tennessee Titans who should-be All-Pros
Jeffery Simmons
Projected Statline: 13 sacks, 16 TFLs, 22 QB hits
Most likely competition: Aaron Donald, DeForest Buckner
Sacks shouldn’t be the end-all-be-all for defensive tackles, but any time a defensive tackle is on pace to have more sacks in a season than Aaron Donald, everyone’s ears should perk up.
The great thing about Simmons is that his tape matches his box score, and the reality is that this is the first time where his box score has caught up to the domination that Tennessee Titans fans have seen on the field.
Over his short career, Simmons has already become an absolute brick wall against the run, especially in the redzone where he has been a part of dominant stops for years. What has turned him from great, to special is that now he has really started to figure out how to make a constant impact as a pass rusher and he is one of three Titans on pace for 10+ sacks.
Maybe the biggest feather in his cap is that this season people have been forced to watch and acknowledge his dominance because of his work in primetime games. This year alone he was the driving force for the goalline stop against the Buffalo Bills to win that game on Monday Night Football, and on Sunday Night Football he had three sacks in a single half.
Aaron Donald is a Hall of Famer, but right now the unquestioned best defensive lineman in the NFL is Jeffery Simmons.
Harold Landry, EDGE
Projected Statline: 17 sacks, 17 TFLs, 33 QB hits
Most likely competition: Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt
This is going to be an uphill battle because Garrett is red-hot and he is almost a lock for one of the two EDGE spots. On the other side, Landry has to compete with T.J. Watt who is great in his own right, but he also has the right name and the right uniform to get a lot of attention from AP voters who are asleep at the wheel.
The counterpoint that should be made in every argument about Landry is that no EDGE in the entire NFL has to do more than Harold Landry does.
When the team needs someone to play off-ball linebacker, they move Harold Landry. When they need someone to move out and cover a tight end in the slot, they move Harold Landry. When they need someone to unselfishly set the edge on a run play instead of running straight into the backfield and ignoring his responsibility, they ask Harold Landry.
None of that can be said about T.J. Watt.
Landry is doing more for his team than any other EDGE in the NFL besides Garrett, and a good group of voters would do more than just box score scout. We will see what happens here.
Kevin Byard, S
Projected Statline: 9 INTs, 80 tackles, 21 PBUs
Most likely competition: Justin Simmons
Just like sacks for defensive tackles, interceptions aren’t always the best metric for judging who the best safety in the NFL is season by season. Having said that, it is generally what the voters fall back on and Byard leads the NFL in interceptions by a safety with 5.
It also helps his case that Byard is a known commodity and that he has been one of the best ballhawks in the NFL for five years at this point.
As one of the leaders on a Tennessee Titans defense that looks remarkably better than they did in 2020, he should get a lot of credit for his communication skills and his ability to keep this group of defensive backs together despite injury after injury.
Again, big games in prime time have definitely helped out Byard’s stock because on Monday Night Football he had an interception against Josh Allen and the Bills that set up a touchdown, and on Sunday Night Football he had a pick-six that really made the crowd believe that the Rams were going to be in for a beatdown.
This is a field where there really isn’t much competition right now and the clear leaders should be Simmons and Byard, especially if the two continue to post interceptions at this rate.