Solving the Tennessee Titans offensive line issues
After narrowly avoiding a 0-3 start, the Tennessee Titans can’t sit back and assume that all of their issues are solved.
After blowing a 13-0 halftime lead over the New York Giants in Week 1 and being non-competitive in Week 2, some major concerns became evident.
Play calling, run defense, and the Titans offensive line are the most prevalent issues. While the other two issues seem to be getting better, we will look at the state of the offensive line.
With or without Taylor Lewan, the offensive line has been inconsistent and in an era where EDGE rushers are paid like quarterbacks, one could say that the struggles were bound to happen. After watching and re-watching the games, center Ben Jones and right guard Nate Davis seem to be solid, just not dominant most of the time.
Rookie right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere is on track to be the best right tackle that the Tennessee Titans have had since Jack Conklin left. The only problem with NPF is that he is a rookie and you cannot simulate experience. Translation: he is solid on most plays but there are plays where one of the aforementioned veteran EDGE rushers makes him look silly with a trick or technique he’s never seen.
Besides his knack for attracting the injury bug, left tackle Taylor Lewan has been good but not great and after his injury, his long-term status is up in the air. For now, we will just say that replacement left tackle Dennis Daley is TBD.
That leads me to what I believe is the main problem upfront: the left guard position.
I’m not here to pin all of the Tennessee Titans’ woes on Aaron Brewer because it’s not that simple. As a fan of Brewer, I’ll say his play strength is remarkable for his size and he has the heart of a lion.
However, your prototypical NFL guards are around 6-4 and 320+ lbs. Brewer is only 6-1, 274 lb. (or 295 depending on which part of his bio you read) and that showed on a handful of critical plays vs. Buffalo.
Watching him get blasted on bull rushes by defensive tackles that outweigh him by 50+ pounds (Daquan Jones and Jordan Phillips) was agonizing.
If the Tennessee Titans feel like they want to add competition for Brewer, they are going to have to look outside the locker room. Jamarco Jones is on IR, so if they want a bigger body then they could look at someone like Ereck Flowers.
With Lewan being done for the year, it might be wise to sign one of the aforementioned players during the Bye Week. That would provide you with depth at tackle and guard and it would give you time to evaluate the best fit going forward.
Maybe then the Titans’ offensive line would prove reliable and limit the damage that bad play calling creates. In a roundabout way, this would also bring relief to the run defense because more points on the board mean fewer rushing attempts as teams pass more to come from behind.