The Tennessee Titans are entering this week's mandatory minicamp with major questions at EDGE. Rushing the passer was a consistent issue for the 2024 Titans. Dennard Wilson's unit recorded just 32 sacks, third-fewest in the entire NFL.
New general manager Mike Borgonzi hasn't appeared to address that need with a sense of urgency this offseason. The Titans selected Femi Oladejo in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. How quickly he acclimates to pro football will be key to determining the upside of this position group in 2025. Elsewhere, veterans Dre'Mont Jones and Lorenzo Carter were added via one-year contracts as short-term solutions.
That means three of Tennessee's primary four rushers will be new additions this season. The one returning constant is Arden Key, who's entering the final campaign of a three-year contract. Key finished second on the Titans in sacks last season, totaling 6.5 takedowns.
Wilson's defense needs a big-time effort from Key. The speedy, athletic pass rusher needs to be a near every-down pass-rushing threat if the Titans' EDGE group is to improve in 2025.
Pro Football Focus recently wrote an article outlining the most underrated player on all 32 teams in the NFL. They chose Key for the Titans.
"Key has bounced around the league a bit in his NFL career, playing for his fourth team in seven years now as a member of the Titans for the past two seasons," Jonathon Macri wrote. "He has gone from being more of a role player on previous teams to that of a workhorse edge for Tennessee, playing more than 700 defensive snaps and landing six and 6.5 sacks, respectively, in each season with the team. Over the past four seasons, Key has earned a 77.2 PFF pass-rush grade, which ranks 38th among 169 qualifying edge defenders since 2021."
There's going to be heated competition for snaps at EDGE for the Titans throughout the offseason. Either Key or Jones will likely be Tennessee's primary rusher. Whoever doesn't win that battle could conceivably be relegated to rotational duties if Oladejo progresses during training camp to claim the opposite gig in base defense.
The Titans need the supposed underrated Key to be effective in 2025.