Before the season, nearly everyone who was paying attention to the Tennessee Titans would have told you that their best position group was defensive tackle. Despite a rocky start, that group has gotten back on track and is proving everyone right.
Jeffery Simmons has been magnificent this season, and he looks like he is a lock for the Pro Bowl with aspirations of being voted in as an All-Pro. How good has Simmons been?
Despite missing three games, he still leads all defensive tackles with eight sacks. If he had played the whole season, he would be tracking toward a 12.5 sack season with 19 TFLs and nearly 30 quarterback hits.
Jeffery Simmons, T'Vondre Sweat forming elite tandem for Tennessee Titans
Simmons is having a stellar season, one that is getting plenty of attention nationally. Another under-the-radar player who is doing a lot of dirty work for this team is T'Vondre Sweat.
Sweat is currently PFF's sixth-ranked defensive tackle (Simmons is No. 2), and when you watch him on tape, you can see why he is earning national praise. While Sweat isn't doing the flashy things that Simmons is doing, he is constantly drawing extra attention and holding his ground well in those situations.
It doesn't always show up on the stat sheet, but the impact of drawing that attention is the sophomore surge of Cedric Gray, who is on pace for more than 160 tackles this season. Keeping those interior offensive linemen busy makes life much easier for a downhill linebacker like Gray to key, diagnose, and make a tackle.
The Titans' season is going to end in a few weeks, and it is important that the front office and the next head coach know which players they can depend on. This defensive tackle tandem, along with an infusion of underrated defensive talent from the 2025 NFL Draft class, should provide the framework of a good defense.
With the bones of that defense in place, the front office can go after flashier playmakers in the offseason to really give that side of the ball some teeth and to take pressure off of Cam Ward and the offense in the near future. All of that can only happen because the Titans have two impact players in the middle of the defense, which makes life easier for everyone else.