How well do you think you know the Tennessee Titans?
Most people reading this have a pretty good handle on the Tennessee Titans’ starters, their role players, the backups, and (due to the nightmare rash of injuries) the backups’ backups.
Even if you have managed to memorize the 80+ players that have worn a Titans’ uniform this season, can you remember where they all went to school?
In one of the most interesting and random visual representations of data, Tom Bliss broke down which five teams have played the highest percentage of snaps for each NFL team. Here is the tweet from Bliss and a look at the NFL through this lens:
For each NFL team, here are the top 5 colleges in terms of % of snaps played during the 2021 season. Which college does your team have the most snaps from?
— Tom Bliss (@DataWithBliss) December 1, 2021
(Credit to @JEvanReid for idea) pic.twitter.com/ASTxK0yvOm
Which Tennessee Titans does this include?
1. Mississippi State: Jeffery Simmons, Denico Autry
-Two of the most consistent players on the entire roster, Jeffery Simmons and Denico Autry have combined for 1,234 snaps this year. Not only are they two of the most consistent players, when they are on they are easily two of the more dominant players on the roster as well.
2. Indiana: Rodger Saffold, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
-NWI has played the second-most snaps of any Titans receiver and is only 60 snaps behind A.J. Brown. Unfortunately, with Brown on I.R., it looks like NWI may surpass him quickly and finish the season as the WR1 in terms of snaps. That is a pretty sad thought.
3. Texas A&M: Ryan Tannehill, Randy Bullock
-It is surprising that any kicker made it onto this list because of how fast the kicking carousel has been spinning for the Titans since Ryan Succop.
4. Georgia: Ben Jones, Monty Rice
-Two of the less heralded players on the Tennessee Titans roster, Ben Jones has been a stalwart for this team in the Jon Robinson era and Monty Rice was really starting to come on before an injury landed him on I.R. this week.
5. Alabama: Derrick Henry, Julio Jones, Rashaan Evans
-The only college team with three players is the best team in college football. Unfortunately, Derrick Henry has missed four games…and he still has more snaps than Jones and Evans.
I have to wonder if a fully healthy season would have seen the Tennessee Titans with a full sweep of “SEC” teams given that LSU has three players on the roster (Kristian Fulton, Racey McMath, Tory Carter) and future SEC team Texas has three players (Geoff Swaim, Marcus Johnson, D’Onta Foreman).