For the second time in his short career, Dillon Radunz stepped in, started, and played very well for the Tennessee Titans on a short week.
Despite many fans labeling him a bust, every snap he plays on offense makes it look more and more like he belongs in the NFL.
In fact, given the pitiful efforts of some of the previous Tennessee Titans’ offensive linemen (Dennis Daley, Bobby Hart, David Quessenberry, Kendall Lamm, etc.) it is clear that the blame should fall on the Titans coaching staff for not finding a place for him.
Think about this: Dillon Radunz played his entire college career at left tackle. While at North Dakota State, he started 32 straight games and was named an All-American.
After college, he was a standout during the Senior Bowl and he tested like a very explosive (though light) athlete:
Dillon Radunz was drafted with pick 53 of round 2 in the 2021 draft class. He scored a 9.28 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 83 out of 1143 OT from 1987 to 2021. https://t.co/rvbOqdsIrJ #RAS #Titans pic.twitter.com/3LL6RGl560
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) May 1, 2021
Despite that, the Tennessee Titans drafted him with the idea of cross-training him at guard and tackle. After playing right guard and right tackle during the preseason in his rookie year, he got his first start at left tackle against the San Francisco 49ers on a short week.
Life is already hard enough when you have to go against one of the Bosa brothers, but Radunz had to do it during a week where he didn’t get any real prep time as the starter (both Taylor Lewan and Kendall Lamm were declared out late).
Despite that, he did his job well and he earned his shot to seriously compete for the right tackle spot. He lost that job in a tough battle against rookie Nicholas Petit-Frere, but don’t let anyone lie to you and tell you that Radunz looked out of place at tackle.
Still, before the 2022 season started, Dillon Radunz had already had in-game reps during the preseason or regular season at left tackle, left guard, right guard, and right tackle.
So here is what we know about Radunz at this point:
1. He is versatile enough to play four positions.
2. He has started 4 games at 3 different positions, and he has never looked out of place.
3. He is a young offensive lineman on a cheap deal.
Based on everything we have seen, he should be starting for the Tennessee Titans. If the coaches are in love with the idea of him playing guard that is fine, but he would be an instant improvement over Daley there.
If nothing else, Radunz should start for the Titans in 2023.
With Ben Jones potentially considering retirement, Aaron Brewer could slide over to center and the Tennessee Titans could re-sign Nate Davis to continue his domination at right guard. In fact, whether Jones retires or not, Brewer’s best long-term fit is probably at center and an interior with Dillon Radunz at left guard and Nate Davis at right guard seems like the best and most cap-efficient interior the Tennessee Titans can hope for in 2023.
I will still keep a sliver of hope that Radunz will get the nod over Daley at left tackle at some point, but the most realistic path to starting (with this coaching staff) is an interior job in 2023. It would be a very nice mini-redemption arc for the second-year player out of NDST to go from being labeled a bust to being a key part of what the Tennessee Titans are able to do in the offseason.