3 Titans rookies who must play beyond their years vs. Dolphins

The Tennessee Titans are set to start three rookies on the road against the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football. How those three first-year players perform will have a huge impact on the team's most important game of the season (so far).

Out of the three rookie starters, the one that inspires the most confidence is left tackle JC Latham.

JC Latham

It is rare to see a draft class produce so many quality offensive linemen, and over the last two weeks, Latham has looked like a guy who is going to keep developing until he turns into a Pro Bowler.

Latham will predominantly match up against another talented rookie in Chop Robinson. Rookies always struggle to find consistency, but this should be a good matchup of two highly-touted trench players.

It is imperative that Latham hold his own on the left side because the Titans are going to start either Nicholas Petit-Frere or Jaelyn Duncan at the other tackle spot. Whoever plays right tackle will have their hands full against Jaelan Phillips, and the Titans will probably need to leave a tight end to help on obvious passing downs.

Staying in the trenches, T'Vondre Sweat is the second rookie who will be crucial to the Titans' success on Monday evening.

T'Vondre Sweat

All indications are that Jeffery Simmons will miss Monday Night Football with an elbow injury, which means that Sweat is going to have to grow up in a hurry to make sure the Dolphins can't win the game on the ground.

The good news is that he has Ernest Jones IV and Kenneth Murray behind him attacking the line of scrimmage. The even better news is that Aaron Brewer is the starting center for the Dolphins, and it isn't hyperbole to say that Sweat outweighs Brewer by 100 pounds.

Can Sweat step up and allow the defense to get creative with their blitzes? Or will the linebackers have to stay behind him all night to make sure that he doesn't end up losing gap discipline against an offense with a mobile quarterback?

Finally, the most concerning rookie in the spotlight is cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr.

Jarvis Brownlee Jr.

This isn't anything against Brownlee, who looked like a promising young player in training camp and the preseason. It has much more to do with the fact that he is matching up against Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, who might be the best receiver duo in the NFL.

Chidobe Awuzie is on I.R., so this is the first of many starts for Brownlee, but it doesn't help that L'Jarius Sneed regressed on the injury report late last week. Sneed is now questionable with a hamstring injury.

If Sneed and Awuzie are both out, the Titans are going to be forced to protect their cornerbacks with safety help over the top. More safety help means fewer pass rushers on passing downs, and fewer players in the box to stop De'Von Achane.

Even with a backup quarterback, the Dolphins are still one of the NFL's most talented and well-coached offenses in the NFL. No 0-3 team should have confidence that they can go on the road and beat them soundly in primetime, but if the Titans can manage it, it might boost their confidence heading into a much-needed bye week.