5 Tennessee Titans who have the most to prove in 2022

Bud Dupree, EDGE

The Titans signed Dupree to a five-year, $82.5M contract in the 2021 offseason, and it was easy to see why after how bad their pass rush was in 2020. Despite him coming off of an ACL tear late in 2020, it was not going to be a make-or-break injury at that point in his career, and it was thought that he would be fine for 2021.

Frankly, that did not happen early on, and there were several games that he did not play, even before going on IR after Week 10 due to an abdomen injury. Little did we know that the IR stint was actually going to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise for Dupree.

He was much more consistent when he came back, as he got pressures and sacks, and you could see his impact on the play even when he didn’t do something that would show up on the box score. In short, Dupree does so many things well when he is healthy and the way he ended 2021 showed everyone why the Titans invested so much money in him.

Now, his knee is doing just fine and is in even better shape than it was after the previous season came to a close.

We know the type of player that he is when he is healthy, and the Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers can tell you how their respective pass rushes fared when Dupree was not on the field.

Expectations are high and realistically so in 2022, so he needs to be more consistent and live up the contract he signed.