The Tennessee Titans recently made the surprising, but smart, decision to re-sign safety Quandre Diggs. What does this curveball mean for the team's depth chart?
It's too early to tell what role Diggs will have on defense, but this conversation has to start with his health. He was placed on I.R. after he suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury last November, but he has been medically cleared for two weeks, which suggests he should certainly be ready to play in Week 1.
Diggs played some solid football last season, and his skills seemed to mesh well with what Amani Hooker did best. When those two were on the field together, there was an argument to be made that the safety group could give the defensive tackle group a run for their money when it came to the best unit on the defense.
Titans put S Xavier Woods on notice with Quandre Diggs signing
The only thing standing between Diggs and a starting role on this defense is Xavier Woods, which is why Woods needs to have his best stretch of practices this week in Tampa Bay for Thursday's joint session.
The Titans' defensive backs are going to have to go against a talented group of weapons in the passing game, as well as a talented duo at running back. Thursday's joint practice is not the time for Woods to play poorly.
Woods is a roster lock, but he could find himself as the team's third safety with the increased competition in the safety room. Remember, Diggs was here last season, so even though he hasn't been practicing with the team this year, he has much more experience with the defense and a deeper connection with Titans DC Dennard Wilson. So Woods needs to do everything he can over the next week to put himself in a position where Diggs can't pass him on the depth chart.
Safety has suddenly become a fascinating position group to watch during training camp because the team is going to decide how to split reps between Hooker, Woods, Diggs, and rookie Kevin Winston Jr. That is a good problem to have, and Titans fans and coaches can expect to see high-level safety play all year long regardless of who's on the field.