Seventh-round rookie is having elite preseason for Titans

Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan deliverd a glowing review of Jaylen Harrell a few weeks ago. The seventh-round rookie EDGE from Michigan has been a routine standout in practice. It didn't take long for everyone else to see what Callahan was so excited about once Harrell made his preseason debut.

Harrell had two sacks in the Titans' second preseason game, a win over the Seattle Seahawks. That performance made Harrell one of only five rookie EDGEs to accumulate multiple sacks in the preseason.

That is impressive enough to capture your attention, but that is only half of what makes his preseason form so impressive.

What separates Harrell from the pack is that he isn't just on the field to rush the passer, the Titans are preparing him for an every-down role. This is evident by his duties on the field. In his 38 preseason snaps, he has spent nearly 60% of those snaps defending the run or dropping into coverage, according to Pro Football Focus.

That means Harrell has recorded two sacks in just 16 pass rushing snaps, which is an astounding pass-rush-win-rate, one the Titans are obviously pleased with.

Earlier I mentioned that he was one of five rookie EDGEs to rack up multiple sacks. That was pointed out by The 33rd Team and look at the difference in how many pass rushing snaps the other rookie EDGEs have had:

Another way of looking at this is to look at how many pass rush reps it takes each of these EDGEs to get a sack. That math comes out to:

-Harrell: one sack every eight snaps
-Bo Richter: once every 14 snaps
-Austin Booker: once every 17 snaps
-Xavier Thomas: once every 22 snaps
-Isaac Ukwu: once every 28 snaps

So Harrell is nearly twice as effective as the other players on this short list. For a seventh-round rookie, that is an incredible pace and it is easy to see why he could be one of the rare late Day 3 picks that can step in and make an immediate impact at one of the premium positions.

Harold Landry and Arden Key are Tennessee's starters at the position, but the Titans are considered thin on EDGE depth. Rashad Weaver is one of the veterans, but he hasn't been as effective as Harrell has. It would be a huge blessing for Dennard Wilson's defense if they found a diamond in the rough in Harrell.