Tennessee Titans LBs need to show out
The Tennessee Titans made the smart move to pick Zach Cunningham up off of the waiver wire, and he has a chance to make a big impact on this defense.
Unfortunately, Titans fans will have to wait a little while to see Cunningham take the field for Tennessee because the new COVID rules and protocols keep him from jumping in right away.
While fans wait, they will get to see two linebackers who should be doing their absolute best to prove that they deserve to be on this roster.
Remember, the best linebacker on the roster for the Titans is David Long and that includes the addition of Cunningham. Long is set to miss his fourth game in a row and he hasn’t played in over a month, but the good news is that it looks like a return will happen sooner rather than later.
This is a response to a question about when Long would be back on the field in Jim Wyatt’s mailbag from this weekend:
"“David Long won’t be back this week. I don’t think he’s too far away, though.”"
Let’s be optimistic for once and assume that next weekend the Tennessee Titans will travel to Pittsburgh with Long and Cunningham both active. What the Titans will have to ask themselves is which linebackers give them the best chance to win right now.
What do the other Tennessee Titans LBs need to prove?
Right now, it is hard to argue that the Titans have a better combination at linebacker than the duo of Long and Cunningham. In fact, when you slot in Cunningham this Tennessee Titans’ defense starts to look a lot like the one that won the Super Bowl last year.
That brings us back to Rashaan Evans and Jayon Brown who need to prove that they can bring something to the table that makes them a better fit with these linebackers.
On base downs and passing downs, there is no contest between the top duo and any other linebacker combination. Evans and Brown will have to try to prove which one of them can do a better job controlling the point of attack as the strong-side linebacker in obvious running situations.
Both Cunningham and Long are great at taking aggressive angles from the backside of plays and using their burst to knife through and make plays. Behind a defensive front that has Harold Landry, Denico Autry, or Bud Dupree setting the edge and Jeffery Simmons, Teair Tart, and NaQuan Jones on the interior, they shouldn’t have to deal with too many big offensive linemen in close quarters.
However, the New England Patriots showed just how hard it can be to stop downhill runs when they literally ran over the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football.
In a matchup like that (or in short down and distances against teams that run the ball well) it would help to have a linebacker who can come down and take on the pulling guard or fullback so that one of these other players can make a play.
Can Rashaan Evans or Jayon Brown be that guy for the Tennessee Titans?
It hurts Tennessee Titans fans to hear this, but last year the guy who did that better than anyone was Will Compton. Both Rashaan Evans and Jayon Brown haven’t been consistent about taking on that sort of contact over the course of their careers.
However, now that there really isn’t another role open on the defense, Evans and Brown should both be competing to show which one of them can set up their partner to make more plays.
In fact, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the Titans put Dylan Cole in for a few reps to see if he is up to the challenge.
Despite his limitations, he has that special teams mindset of a guy who knows that sometimes the best thing you can do is stay in your lane and destroy a block instead of trying to be clever and slip a block to make a play.
When it comes down to it, the Tennessee Titans use a variety of formations and personnel groupings to try to take advantage of the players that they have.
Remember that guys like Kyle Peko, Anthony Rush, Larrell Murchison, NaQuan Jones, and Amani Bledsoe have all had games where they play 25% or more of the defensive snaps because of the body type and skill set that they can bring against a specific offense.
No matter who earns that role, they are going to be earning a part-time job where they can focus on a niche part of the defense. The bulk of the linebacker snaps in 2021 should go to Long and Cunningham and in 2022 (if Cunningham returns) this physical run-defender role should be filled by Monty Rice who was coming on really well until a recent injury landed him on I.R.