Tennessee Titans UDFAs have been awfully quiet this year
By Will Lomas
The weekend of the 2022 NFL Draft was such a blur for Tennessee Titans fans, but when the dust settled the team walked away with one of the best draft classes in the league.
On Day 1 they got Treylon Burks whose entire resume paints him as a massive target who can win when the ball is in the air and after the catch. They also used their other first-round pick to trade down and add multiple picks throughout the rest of the draft.
After Day 2 they managed to walk away with three players at premium positions (CB, OT, QB), and two of those three should be starters by next season. On Day 3 they wrapped up their class by adding a physical running back, one of the best slot receivers in the class, the most athletic tight end in the class, and two SEC defenders with solid production and athletic profiles.
With a good group that all appear to be meeting or exceeding expectations (asthma aside), it makes sense that we haven’t heard a lot about the undrafted free agents from that class.
However, that is a talented group and four of the Tennessee Titans’ UDFAs had draftable grades according to Dane Brugler.
UDFAs to watch for the Tennessee Titans
The one UDFA that I expected to hear more from at this point was SMU receiver Reggie Roberson. While he wasn’t a household name, he has been a player who makes plays when he is healthy and he should be healthy in camp.
Roberson had a game in 2020 where he totaled 243 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns on just 5 receptions, and while that was a career-high in yards per reception it wasn’t his career-high in receiving yards or touchdowns. Those highlights came in 2019 when he had 250 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns on 8 receptions.
While he has been mentioned here or there by the coaching staff and other players, it seems like he is going to have to make the squad as a special teams player or start the season on the practice squad unless he takes a big leap forward in training camp.
It was a surprise that he hasn’t made more noise, but it isn’t surprising that the other three UDFAs have been quiet. A huge part of that is because all three play on the defensive front and until the pads come on they don’t really get their chance to shine.
This year Haskell Garrett and Jayden Peevy will try to be the next UDFA DT to make an impact for the Tennessee Titans, following in the footsteps of Naquan Jones, Teair Tart, and even Isaiah Mack before them.
At EDGE, David Anenih has a similar frame to guys like Derick Roberson and Ola Adeniyi and it makes sense that they would invest in a guy like that. Whether he makes the roster or not remains to be seen, but he is a good athlete and worth the cash investment they made.
Something interesting about him is that he also compares very favorably to Harold Landry, athletically speaking. If they wanted to call him an EDGE who could line up off the ball in some looks, and who could also play special teams, it might open up the door for him to make this competitive roster.