From 1993-2019, the Tennessee Titans have had three Pro Bowlers starting at least 10 games at left tackle each year. Whether it was Brad Hopkins, Michael Roos, or Taylor Lewan, left tackle has been the most consistent position on the Titans roster for decades.
Unfortunately, after another season-ending knee injury for Lewan, it looks like the future of the position is uncertain.
For some reason, the coaches thought Dennis Daley might develop into a starting-caliber tackle. However, he has proven them wrong in every game this season and before the bye week, Mike Vrabel said that the team was going to evaluate every position and see who needs to play more and who needs to play less.
It is virtually impossible to re-watch Tennessee Titans games and not see Dennis Daley stick out like a sore thumb in pass protection, so he will probably be someone competing for a job from here on out.
The question now is, who could replace Daley at left tackle? Just because he hasn’t been playing well, it doesn’t mean that they have an easy solution to the problem. Here are the contenders for the position.
3 options for the Tennessee Titans at left tackle
Nicholas Petit-Frere
This is something that has been floated around, but I think this is a terrible idea (which also makes it more likely given this coaching staff’s previous decisions). NPF isn’t an amazing right tackle right now, but he has more positives than negatives and he is a natural right tackle.
Moving him to left tackle messes up his development and the improvement that he has made. Not only that, but it breaks up any chemistry he has built with Nate Davis and it means that you are probably making one position worse while trying to make another position better.
Dillon Radunz
This should be the easiest decision in the world. Radunz is the only player on the roster that has lined up at left tackle for the Tennessee Titans before and it is where he spent 30+ games in college.
The problem is that they are insistent on moving him to guard to the point where he was the primary backup behind Nate Davis (and he played well enough against the Washington Commanders).
The smartest thing to do financially is to give Radunz the same runway that they gave Daley and see what he can do with that time. If it works out it would save you money in the offseason and it would save you from dipping into the free-agent market immediately.
If they were going to sign a left tackle though, the move should be…
Eric Fisher
While Fisher wasn’t great with the Indianapolis Colts last year, you can see the massive dropoff that they have without him and that new offensive line.
He is only 31 at this point and he has size (which the Tennessee Titans love) and he moves well. Signing him to the practice squad and planning to elevate him is a no-brainer, especially if you let Radunz start a few games before you make the move to bring him up.
I would bet that he is still a starting-caliber tackle (if he is in game shape), but I would imagine that money has been the hang-up with him so far. The Tennessee Titans offense leans heavily on play-action passes and the running game which both help neutralize pass rushers and force them to play sound football instead of trying to make explosive plays.
Combining that style of play with their schedule should make Tennessee a very attractive option for potential offensive tackles if they want to add a veteran (especially if their eyes are focused on different players on the trade block).