How many Tennessee Titans will earn Pro Bowl honors this year?
By Will Lomas
Despite being a popularity contest, the Pro Bowl is supposed to be the best group of players at each position across the NFL. Let’s suspend disbelief for a minute and pretend that it is run correctly and talk about which Tennessee Titans deserve to be in the Pro Bowl this year.
It is going to be an uphill battle for anyone on the Tennessee Titans to make it to the Pro Bowl. Not only are the Titans routinely dismissed by most media outlets (despite being one of the best teams in the NFL), but too often the Pro Bowl is a mix between name recognition and box score scouting.
Because of the rash of injuries that the Tennessee Titans have survived this season, it has been rare for anyone to play all 13 games.
Still, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few players worth a hard look.
In Jim Wyatt’s mailbag on Saturday, Wyatt broke down the Titans players most likely to make the Pro Bowl into two groups:
"“Guys I think will make it: Kevin Byard, Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry.Guys who could also make it: Morgan Cox, Ola Adeniyi, Taylor Lewan, Denico Autry.”"
It isn’t any secret that Tennessee’s defense has carried this team through the 2021 season, especially during the second half of the year. So guys like Kevin Byard, Jeffery Simmons, and Harold Landry are absolutely deserving of Pro Bowl nods this season.
A guy that Jim Wyatt mentions below that first group is Denico Autry who has been a huge part of what the Titans are doing well this year. Even though he isn’t one of the big three on that defense, people seem to forget that he is third on the team in sacks (6), and TFLs (7), and second in QB hits (14).
He would have been the best player on the Titans defensive front in 2020 with where his stats are heading.
Morgan Cox has been good, and that is about all I am qualified to say about long snappers. Ola Adeniyi has been better on defense than special teams in my opinion, but he is solid and deserves recognition.
Taylor Lewan has been good when he is healthy, but there have been so many ups and downs this year on the offensive line. Games like matchups with the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots game show how good this line can be when they are clicking.
I am still on board with keeping Lewan as the starting left tackle in 2022 and betting that he will be even better with more time removed from his ACL injury, but a Pro Bowl seems a little rich this year.
Do the Tennessee Titans have any snubs?
Another player who deserves to be mentioned is Kristian Fulton. Despite being a second-year player, you could argue that no one in the NFL is better in single-coverage than Fulton.
He has shined in matchups with A.J. Green, D.K. Metcalf, Michael Pittman, and Brandin Cooks, and there have been some games where he either isn’t targetted or doesn’t allow a completion for the entire game.
The league is slow on the uptake and he won’t get the recognition he deserves, but he has been an elite player this year.