The Tennessee Titans have largely been overlooked this offseason for a variety of reasons.
Some of the criticisms and/or skepticism is warranted, while the rest can be exaggerated to varying degrees depending on the topic of conversation.
When it comes to discussing the Titans’ roster, the team is polarizing at best. Some think this team is destined for a losing season, while others argue that Tennessee got rid of a lot of expensive dead weight on a team that was 7-3 before injuries ravaged its season.
Everyone knows about the big names on the team such as Derrick Henry, Jeffery Simmons, Kevin Byard, etc., but the Titans also have a handful of players who get overlooked for a variety of reasons.
This article is going to name five underrated players who will be heavily relied upon in 2023. Let’s not waste any more time and find out which players made the list.
Denico Autry
Truth be told, you could probably make a strong argument that Denico Autry is one of the most underrated and underpaid players in the league (approximately $7.1 million APY).
The Mississippi State product consistently performs at a high level at several different positions.
Autry has recorded seven or more sacks in four of the last five seasons, and the only thing that is felt more than Autry’s impact is his absence.
It’s such a shame that Jeffery Simmons & Denico Autry got hurt in the middle of the season.
Those two were legitimately dominating together before injuries slowed them down.The two of them combined for 66 pressures & 12.5 sacks over their first 8 games of the season.#Titans ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/0UAalMpDpz
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) March 30, 2023
After suffering a knee injury in Week 11, the Titans’ defender missed a handful of games over the back half of the season.
Prior to that, Autry recorded 44 pressures and seven sacks over Tennessee’s first 10 contests, while only producing 10 pressures and one sack the rest of the way.
Despite the injury, Autry still finished with the highest Pro Football Focus grade of his career (82.8), which speaks volumes to just how good he was performing prior to getting hurt.
He may never get the type of national recognition he probably deserves, but Titans fans everywhere understand just how good Autry can be whenever he’s on the field.
Teair Tart
The Titans’ starting nose tackle is someone who seemingly gets better with each passing season.
Tart has significantly improved his overall grade each year, going from 48.7 his rookie season to 59.2 one year later, before finishing the 2022 campaign with a respectable 73.1, per PFF.
I said this in last week's video, but Teair Tart has gone from a nice story to a legitimate breakout player. Nasty bull swim move here vs Quenton Nelson pic.twitter.com/RfyYQwOseL
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) October 26, 2022
The Florida International product is a stout interior presence who can do everything from making plays in the backfield to dropping into coverage.
Tart may not be a household name to the average NFL fan, but if he has another strong season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him getting a sizable payday from some team next offseason when he hits free agency.
Azeez Al-Shaair
One of the Tennessee Titans’ most exciting moves of the initial free agency period was luring linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair away from the San Francisco 49ers.
Al-Shaair is a high-upside defender who was simply stuck behind two talented studs atop the depth chart in Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw.
New general manager Ran Carthon saw first hand just how underutilized the Florida Atlantic product was in San Francisco and he seemingly made it a priority to target Al-Shaair once he hit the open market.
The former 49er is coming off a season in which he produced a total of 25 tackles over 313 defensive snaps on the year.
Despite his limited playing time, Al-Shaair made an impact when he was on the field. According to PFF, the Florida Atlantic native finished the season with an impressive pass-rush grade of 83.0 and a run defense grade of 79.7.
The Titans’ newest linebacker‘s best season came in 2021 when he recorded 102 tackles, nine tackles for loss, and one interception over 13 starts.
96 Tackles
9 TFL
1.5 Sacks
1 INT
5 PBU
1 FF
2 FRAzeez Al- Shaair is having a Pro-Bowl level season. #ProBowlVote @A_train2_ pic.twitter.com/WPZc4dCmu3
— Javier Vega (@JavierVeg_) December 15, 2021
Now that Al-Shaair has his chance to step out of Warner and Greenlaw’s shadows, he should be able to make a name for himself now that he’s the presumed top inside linebacker in Tennessee.
Daniel Brunskill
Daniel Brunskill is a self-made player who ultimately had to work his way up from the AAF to the NFL.
Once he finally got his shot in San Francisco, he ended up carving out a valuable depth role for himself due to his ability to play multiple spots along the offensive line.
Last season alone, the San Diego State product accounted for 354 snaps at right guard, 108 snaps at left guard, 36 snaps at right tackle, and 20 at center.
In total, he tallied a respectable 518 offensive snaps on the year, allowing 11 pressures, zero sacks, and zero quarterback hits, while also not being charged with a single penalty over that span.
New #Titans OL Daniel Brunskill ⚔️
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) March 15, 2023
Brunskill ended his 2022 campaign with an overall grade record of 69.0, while also receiving a 79.6 for his pass-blocking and a 61.5 for his run-blocking, per PFF.
This is another one of the Titans’ recent additions who has tons of short- and long-term upside if everything goes according to plan.
Aaron Brewer
This is probably the most controversial selection I made. There’s no denying that Aaron Brewer was largely a liability in pass protection when he lined up at guard in 2022.
Brewer is a smaller lineman (6-foot-1, 271 pounds) who can occasionally get pushed back into the quarterback’s lap when he’s tasked with anchoring against a physically superior defender.
However, his smaller stature, paired with his rare athleticism along the interior, also gives him a unique advantage in the run game.
Corey Levin/Aaron Brewer pic.twitter.com/nqT46M9Byx
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) December 30, 2022
That’s a large part of the reason why the Titans’ lineman received a second-round tender this offseason to ensure that he was back in the fold at a fair price ($4.3 million).
He isn’t perfect by any means, but Brewer has some truly fantastic reps within Tennessee’s zone-blocking scheme. The Texas State product shines whenever he’s allowed to use his fluid movement skills to his advantage.
His transition to center should help to hide a lot of his physical limitations as well.
Aaron Brewer describes his transition from guard to center on @nflnetwork Inside Minicamps pic.twitter.com/Y4i6jo3INQ
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) June 8, 2023
Brewer will have to prove that he can adequately make the right calls to get his group in the right situations, but as long as he picks that aspect of the position up, I think we could be on the verge of seeing the best version of Brewer in 2023.
