For the first half of the Tennessee Titans' season, the only rookies worth mentioning were on the offensive side of the ball. Cam Ward, Elic Ayomanor, and Chimere Dike made immediate impacts.
How could you not be drawn to Ward's flashes of brilliance, Dike's electric productivity with the ball in his hands, Ayomanor's touchdown catches, and Gunnar Helm's focus and consistency?
However, over the last month, the Titans have reminded everyone that they have some rookies on the other side of the ball that deserve your attention.
Titans rookies CB Marcus Harris, S Kevin Winston Jr. are helping shape the team's future
It all starts with safety Kevin Winston, who has quickly established himself as a versatile playmaker in the secondary. Since taking over a starting defensive role four weeks ago, Winston has 29 tackles, four TFLs, four QB hits, and two PBUs. Extrapolating those numbers over the course of a 17-game season, the third-round rookie would be on pace for 123 tackles, 17 TFLs, 17 QB hits, and nine PBUs.
That is incredible production for a safety, but Winston hasn't just been a safety for the Titans. Due to injuries at cornerback, Winston has had to step out of his comfort zone and into the role of a nickel defender. Despite struggling last week, he quickly adapted to his new role and looked strong against the Cleveland Browns in the Titans' second win of the season.
Speaking of cornerbacks, remember how everyone was furious with the front office for trading away Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and Roger McCreary for a bag of peanuts? If you were one of the few who didn't have that reaction, you might be the one with the last laugh because Mike Borgonzi's replacement for one of those positions will be Marcus Harris, and he is really starting to come on.
Like Winston, injuries have forced him to be shuffled around the defensive backfield, but he has done well, and he made his presence felt with a key forced fumble against the Browns on Sunday.
The elephant in the room is the absence of second-round EDGE, Femi Oladejo, who has been on I.R. since early October. Despite being a non-factor in the first month of the season, Oladejo was having his best game when he suffered his injury. If he can get back soon and make the most of the few weeks he has left, the Titans could really have an argument for having one of the best and most balanced classes from the 2025 NFL Draft.
That acknowledgement and hope would go a long way for a team with a crucial offseason coming up.