As everyone gears up for preseason football, people are starting to take notice of some of the young talent on the Tennessee Titans' roster.
Titans fans have known for a while that the team landed a trio of high-caliber rookies in their 2024 NFL Draft class. The biggest one (literally) is offensive tackle J.C. Latham, who seems to be progressing like the Titans hoped he would when they drafted him inside the top 10 last year. However, it is the two defenders who recently caught the eye of Ben Solak.
Solak recently wrote an article for ESPN about the top-20 sophomore defenders in the NFL, and defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat and cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. made the list.
Pair of Titans sophomore defenders earn national recognition
Solak is high on the Titans' sophomore defensive tandem. Solak did a great job explaining why Sweat isn't just valuable because he is big, explaining the ripple effect he creates by being impactful despite not racking up impressive sack numbers.
"Sweat is the definition of a useful player -- without him, much of the Titans' early-down two-high defensive playbook would not be available. He fixes the math and gives the defensive coaching staff latitude to coach creatively."
Sweat did that when the Titans were playing with scraps at the linebacker position. Now the team looks shockingly competent at the position with Cody Barton and James Williams, and if you squint, you can see how this front seven could be very good in 2025.
While Sweat's impact requires nuance to understand, Solak did a great job pointing out how good Brownlee was, and he went as far as to call him "Perhaps the most under-appreciated" player on that list. When quantifying Brownlee's impact, he pointed out how outstanding he was when it came to playing physical football when teams tried to get easy yards.
"Teams that excel at getting corners involved with off-tackle runs and screens like the Lions, Dolphins and Colts found their offenses suddenly struggling for easy yardage when they went Brownlee's direction. He was second among all corners (not just rookies) in run stop EPA last season. Nobody had a higher percentage of their tackles generate a stop (negative EPA for the offense) at the position than Brownlee."
Both Sweat and Brownlee were good defenders last year who didn't get the respect they deserved because of the Titans' 3-14 record. While Sweat could do more as a pass rusher, and Brownlee could be more consistent in coverage, both players are already assets to the defense, and fans should be excited to see how they progress with other young talent around them.
Let this be a reminder that more than half of the Titans' defenders who are likely to start by the end of the season, are currently 25 years old or younger: Femi Oladejo, Sweat, Brownlee, Williams, Kevin Winston Jr., and Roger McCreary. That side of the ball has a ton of upside, especially if those two can take a big step forward this year.