The Tennessee Titans have an exceptional defense, but there is one position group that has provided more questions than answers during the preseason.
Safety was a position where the Tennessee Titans looked thin throughout the offseason. However, moving Elijah Molden to a hybrid safety/cornerback role, a strong camp from Mike Brown, and veteran guys like Josh Thompson and A.J. Moore, have eased those concerns.
Cornerback was always a position that I thought was a sneaky good and everything that has happened in camp has reinforced that belief.
The most dominant position group on defense by a wide margin, has been the defensive front. However you want to classify the defensive linemen and the EDGEs, guys like Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry, Denico Autry, Arden Key, Rashad Weaver, Teair Tart, and Jayden Peevy have all done a great job making their presence felt throughout camp.
The lone group without a clear group of starters, is the off-ball linebackers.
While Azeez Al-Shaair has one of the two spots locked down, the "position battle" next to him has been a letdown.
Monty Rice has all of the physical tools, but he isn't healthy right now and the coaching staff didn't seem to be particularly high on him when he was on the field.
His primary competition has been Mike Vrabel's camp crush for two years, Jack Gibbens. When he has been on the field he has been fine, but he has been essentially non-existent outside of the tackles because he is just so slow to the ball.
Don't get me wrong, he is running his hardest, but that only makes it more difficult to watch a fullback like Khari Blasingame easily outrun him to the edge. If that is the best he can do, then he just can't be on the field.
Neither of these players has flashed consistently enough to earn the starting job for the Tennessee Titans. Do you know who has had a few flashes? Chance Campbell and Ben Niemann.
Restart the Tennessee Titans linebacker battle
Since Al-Shaair has almost certainly earned the right to sit on the bench during preseason games, the Tennessee Titans should forget any ideas that they had coming into the season and let Rice, Gibbens, Campbell, and Niemann battle it out for the open linebacker spot.
To this point, it seems relatively clear that throughout camp the best linebacker out of that group has been Campbell.
#Titans DC Shane Bowen: It was good to see LB Chance Campbell out there flying around vs Bears. He showed up
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) August 14, 2023
Good job by Chance Campbell just now. Vikings tried a slant and swing route combo with that WR and RB. Campbell broke on the swing and shut it down. QB had to go elsewhere and it was an incompletion.
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) August 17, 2023
The good news is that the Tennessee Titans can probably keep at least three of those linebackers during the season. That means the preseason battle is less about which player gets the start and more about which player gets cut.
While nearly every starter and primary backup has been settled, this battle will rage on until the last snap of the preseason so it is worth while for Tennessee Titans fans to keep their eyes on those four defenders over the next 10 days.