1. EDGE
I am a firm believer that you can get away with mediocre play from your cornerbacks as long as you have an aggressive front four that can get pressure on the quarterback. You are preaching to the choir here if you want to load up on pass rushers, but haven’t the Tennessee Titans already done that?
In 2021 when Harold Landry and Bud Dupree were on the field together Landry was averaging nearly a sack per game. In fact, even with Dupree missing half the season Landry still finished the regular season and playoffs with 13.5 sacks and a trip to the Pro Bowl.
When the Titans kick off 26-year-old Harold Landry will be a full year removed from ACL surgery and he will have plenty of help around him.
Based on the press conference and the contract, Arden Key will start on the other side of Landry which should help both players considering how well Key did as a pass rusher last season:
Arden Key ranked 15th out of 49 qualifying edge rushers in pass rush win rate last year per PFF charting. That’s better than Denico Autry and in the same neighborhood as Montez Sweat and Maxx Crosby. Still just 26 years old and clearly ascending the last two years.
— Mike Herndon (@MikeHerndonNFL) March 15, 2023
Aside from those two, the Tennessee Titans also have Denico Autry who had 10.5 sacks in 18 games in 2021 and then followed that up with 8 sacks in 12 games in 2022. People will cite his age, but as far as the tape is concerned, age is just a number for him right now.
Then you have the forgotten man in this group which is Rashad Weaver. People forget that he broke his leg during his rookie season and only played a dozen snaps, so in his first real NFL season he ended up with 5.5 sacks as a rotational player.
It is going to be very hard to find an EDGE who is going to out-produce any of these four as a rookie.