Despite having some deficiencies last season, the Tennessee Titans were able to make the playoffs at 9-7 and put together an improbable run to the AFC Championship Game.
Expectations in 2020 are going to be high — and understandably so, this team was one game away from making it to the Super Bowl.
However, before the Titans can take that next step, they need to clean up some of those aforementioned deficiencies. Here are six factors that could make or break Tennessee’s dream of getting to the Super Bowl in 2020.
Vrabel’s added responsibility
The Titans enter somewhat uncharted waters in 2020, as the team will go into the season without an official defensive coordinator, and we still don’t know who will be calling the plays.
It’s possible that head coach Mike Vrabel will take over those duties, and even if he doesn’t, at the very least he’s going to have a bigger hand in running the defense.
The concern here is that Vrabel might be so wrapped up in running one side of the ball that he is too distracted to successfully pay attention to his other head coaching duties during the game.
After all, we saw Vrabel have some hiccups last season when he wasn’t tasked with a bigger role on defense.
Thankfully, Vrabel has an experienced coach on staff in Jim Haslett, who should be able to help run things with his past head coach experience, whether that be as the play-caller or simply as an extra pair of eyes.
Vrabel’s ability to balance added responsibilities with his normal duties as a head coach could be the difference between the Titans winning and losing some games.
The pass-rush
The Titans’ secondary got exposed during the AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last season, and that was mostly because Tennessee couldn’t get pressure on Patrick Mahomes.
Overall, the Titans did see an improvement in their pass-rush last season compared to 2018, but it wasn’t enough. If Tennessee is going to take that next step and become a Super Bowl contender, the defense needs to generate more pressure on opposing quarterbacks like Mahomes.
The biggest offseason addition to try and help that was the signing of Vic Beasley, who can hopefully be an improvement over Cameron Wake and help take pressure off Harold Landry.
However, Beasley doesn’t come without question marks, as he has been incredibly inconsistent and his effort has been questioned on multiple occasions during his career.
The Titans have also been in pursuit of Jadeveon Clowney, but until he signs on the dotted line, there’s no telling if he’s coming to Nashville or not. If he does, the Titans will have upgraded their pass-rush to a championship level, at least in this writer’s opinion.
The need for more pressure doesn’t just come from the edge, though. The Titans also need to see a vast improvement from the defensive line in that department.
The hope is that Jeffery Simmons can replace Jurrell Casey and will fully develop into the star we all think he can be after a full offseason that isn’t spent rehabbing an injury.
The only question after that is: who provides pressure along the rest of the defensive line?
Pass protection
We already know the Titans are going to run the football with success, but the only way the passing attack can take advantage of that through play-action is for the offensive line to keep Ryan Tannehill upright.
Even though things stabilized upfront in terms of pass protection as the season went along, the Titans still allowed the second-most sacks in 2019. That simply can’t happen again.
Four-fifths of the offensive line will return in 2020, but not without some question marks — particularly coming from the right side — in terms of protecting Tannehill.
Right guard Nate Davis got off to a slow start before improving later on in his rookie season. However, his pass protection still left a lot to be desired and any struggles he sees in that regard this season will only put more pressure on the guys around him.
In order to figure out who will replace Jack Conklin at right tackle, the Titans will have a competition between Dennis Kelly and first-round pick, Isaiah Wilson. For now, Kelly certainly has the edge thanks to his experience.
While Kelly or Wilson will have big shoes to fill in the run game thanks to Conklin being an elite run-blocker, the Titans’ former right tackle wasn’t exactly elite in pass protection, so there’s a chance either of the team’s right tackle candidates could be an improvement there.
At the very least, Kelly or Wilson must match what Conklin did last season and Davis must step his game up in pass protection.
Slot CB
The Titans are going to have a few new faces in the secondary this season after drafting Kristian Fulton and signing Johnathan Joseph in free agency.
Fulton in particular is going to be very important, as he’ll likely assume the role of slot cornerback that Logan Ryan played last season. The idea here is to give the Titans a little more speed at the position in order to better help defend against a team like the Chiefs that has a fast receiving corps.
That’s a pretty big responsibility for a rookie, but Fulton should be up for the challenge. Playing in the SEC, Fulton saw the highest level of competition during his college days, so he’s more pro-ready than most corners.
We already know the Titans are going to be solid on the boundary with Adoree’ Jackson and Malcolm Butler, but coverage over the middle will be key to this secondary taking that next step to being an elite unit in 2020.
Field goal unit
The Titans could have added another win or two to their 2019 total if not for a putrid field goal unit that finished dead-last in the NFL.
Thankfully, the Titans were able to overcome the issue and make the playoffs by scoring touchdowns on a ridiculous and unsustainable percentage of their drives. That’s not something this team can rely on again in 2020.
Barring a veteran addition or him losing a competition to UDFA kicker Tucker McCann, Greg Joseph will be tasked with taking over a unit that has nowhere to go but up.
The only problem is that Joseph only attempted one field goal for the Titans last season and has just 21 attempts over his three-year career. As a result, we still have no idea what we’re getting out of the Florida Atlantic product.
Injuries
This is the most obvious of the bunch. The Titans will never fully realize the team they can be on either side of the ball if key players can’t stay healthy for an entire season.
Tennessee was hit particularly hard with injuries in the secondary last season, as Jackson missed a handful of games and Butler was lost for the season after Week 9.
There’s no question both of those injuries had an adverse impact on the team’s secondary, and one can only wonder if things might have been a bit different in the playoffs if Butler was still around.
Losing Wake was another big blow. Sure, he didn’t tally a lot of sacks when healthy, but he was still getting consistent pressure and opposing offenses has to account for him and couldn’t focus squarely on Landry.
The Titans have a talented roster, but they’re going to need all hands on deck if they want to unseat the Chiefs, or beat whoever is in their way in the playoffs.
