Titans safety Amani Hooker
This might be an unpopular pick on this list. Hooker is still quite young – still 24 years old – and has developed into a full-time starter when he is healthy. Over the last two years, Hooker has missed 13 games. The former fourth-round draft pick, though, is trusted by the coaching staff and will likely continue to be a starter in the future.
But the question should be, Can Tennessee do better at safety? After getting 4 interceptions in 2020, Hooker has only 1 each in the last two years. Missing time with injuries has affected his potential to create turnovers, obviously, but his quarterback rating against ballooned to 101.6 in 2022 so it would seem as if he wasn’t covering receivers as well overall.
Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Hooker was the worst-graded Titans safety this season. What hurt Hooker’s grade the most was that he was pretty weak in run support. This is a bit surprising since Tennessee overall was so good against the run.
In 2023, Hooker’s cap hit is $9,035,000 (with a dead cap of $13,685,000). That’s too much for a player who seems to be battling injuries more and more with each season and is highly productive when he is on the field. But Tennessee is stuck with Hooker because it’s simply cheaper to keep him on the roster than release him.