Harold Landry, EDGE
Aside from maybe Kristian Fulton, Landry was the big breakout player for the Titans in 2021. In his fourth year in the NFL, he was a force to be reckoned with, tallying 12 sacks in 17 regular season games and continuing to prove himself with 3 sacks in the team’s playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
His efforts were enough for him to cash in on a five-year, $87.5M contract just days before he would have been a free agent. And that is the biggest reason for him being on this list.
One of the main criticisms of Landry before 2021 was that his arsenal of pass-rushing moves was not very sophisticated, and it showed itself during the 2020 season when the Titans had a historically bad pass rush. Every other year of his career, he has steadily improved, and he put it all together last year to help contribute to a defensive line that gave other offenses fits.
There is every reason to be confident in Landry and his abilities, but at the same time, his only year of being a true threat was 2021. He must continue to disrupt and show that the Titans made the right choice to invest in him.
With a nearly identical defensive unit returning for them, Landry has no excuses not to be a big impact player like we expect him to be. He got his money, now he has to back it up and show that his breakout season was not a fluke.