For the last few years, the Tennessee Titans had a roster that was talented enough to blur the line between needs and wants in the offseason.
When you talk about positions of need, what you really need to think about is the positions where the Tennessee Titans have no viable option at the position or they have a player whose ceiling is very low.
For example, I would have said that center should have been on the Tennessee Titans needs list until they re-signed Corey Levin. Like I said earlier in the offseason, Levin was one of PFF’s top centers once they placed Ben Jones on I.R. and let him start.
Now that he is back to compete with Aaron Brewer, the Titans do have a viable option with an above-average upside on the roster.
While the Tennessee Titans might want a Pro Bowl center, they don’t need one right now.
The Tennessee Titans want (but do not need) list
So, with all the discussion going on, which positions do the Tennessee Titans just want to upgrade at even though they don’t need one this offseason?
One thing I want to talk about before you read this list is that you can’t expect injuries. If you are going to worry about the 7th best player at each position, then you can find holes in any position group on any roster.
Depending on your base offense or defense, you really only “need” the number of starters you need and then one or two quality backups.
Like in every case, adding a Pro Bowl player to these positions would be great but given the constraints of which players are available, the number of draft picks the Tennessee Titans have, and the money they have available to spend, you have to be realistic here.
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.
2. Off-ball linebacker
I’m very harsh on off-ball linebackers because…they don’t really matter.
Alright, maybe that isn’t the right way to say it, but people put too much emphasis on the impact they have on the game. In fact, if you don’t have one of the three or four best off-ball linebackers in the NFL, the gap in talent between the top and the bottom isn’t as wide as people think.
Look, I think having a David Long Jr. is always a good thing, but the Tennessee Titans signed someone who will have a very similar impact in Azeez Al-Shaair. Do you know where both of those guys were drafted? Long was a 6th-round pick and Al-Shaair was an undrafted free agent.
While you can’t just find anyone off the street to come in and play linebacker in the NFL, it is a lot like the defensive version of tight ends. Sure, you might be the lucky team that gets Devin White or Kyle Pitts in the first round, but history says you are much more likely to get a Devin Bush or an O.J. Howard.
Intelligence, intangibles, and scheme fit are so important at the linebacker position, which is why the guys on the roster already like Al-Shaair and Monty Rice are good enough to push linebacker from a position of need to a position of want.
Keep in mind, Mike Vrabel is head over heels for Jack Gibbens, and Chance Campbell got hurt before he could make the roster last season. Throw in a special teams ace like Luke Gifford and you probably have all the linebackers you need to start the 2023 season.
3. Cornerback
This is a big one because it all comes back to one of the biggest issues with the Tennessee Titans, and that is health.
I still have a sinking feeling that Mike Vrabel is going to ship off Kristian Fulton to a team that doesn’t have the worst injury luck/understanding of how to prevent injuries in the NFL, for pennies on the dollar.
When he has been healthy, he has been a very good boundary corner for the Titans and in 2021 when Tennessee had a pass rush, he was exceptional.
On the other side, God bless Roger McCreary for being forced to jump in as a rookie and play more coverage snaps than anyone else on the team. He looked solid inside and outside, but his home should be on the outside. After making it through that trial by fire and with a real pass rush this season, he should take a big step forward.
One of the other forgotten players on the roster was Elijah Molden, who Mike Vrabel praised at the NFL Combine. People forget that he was a very nice slot cornerback as a rookie, though he did struggle with vertical threats in the slot. Still, his tight coverage and physicality makes him an ideal fit to start inside this season.
Finally, Sean Murphy-Bunting is the wildcard of the group. He is the epitome of versatility considering that he has spent 49% of his snaps in the slot and 51% of his snaps on the boundary, which means that he can either be a backup that can come in for anyone if they get hurt or that he could push all three of the younger corners for their starting job.
Injuries are going to happen to every team, but considering that you still have Caleb Farley, Tre Avery, and Chris Jackson as athletic depth pieces, adding any more bodies to this group is definitely an issue of wanting to get better instead of needing a starter.