When the Tennessee Titans open up training camp this year, there are going to be plenty of important positional battles to watch.
In 2019, the most important competition to speak of was at right guard, but that was settled by default after both Nate Davis and Kevin Pamphile came down with injuries before the start of the season.
In 2020, the Titans will have three starting spots up for grabs with the roster as is, and two other positions that will see competitions could end up making or breaking the team’s season.
Let’s take an early look at the five most important positional battles that will take place in training camp.
Right tackle
This one is easily the most important of the bunch, as the Titans have to replace Jack Conklin, who played at a high level in 2019.
When Dennis Kelly was re-signed to a three-year deal, it was thought he’d be a lock to start, but after the Titans drafted Isaiah Wilson in the first round, general manager Jon Robinson made it clear that Wilson and Kelly would compete for the starting job.
The edge definitely goes to Kelly, who has NFL experience and was a solid starter in place of an injured Conklin in 2018. Not to mention, a shortened offseason will be detrimental to the development of rookies like Wilson.
Kicker
The Titans had a revolving door at kicker last season, leading to the team owning the worst field goal unit in the NFL, with a putrid success rate of 44.4 percent.
Greg Joseph finished out the season as Tennessee’s kicker, but he attempted just one field goal in five games with the Titans (including the playoffs) and has just 21 tries in his short career.
The only competition the Titans have for Joseph right now is undrafted free agent kicker Tucker McCann, which isn’t much competition at all. Look for another veteran kicker to be brought in to further challenge the unproven Joseph.
Backup quarterback
Another area the Titans are currently lacking experience in is at backup quarterback. That could be a huge problem if Ryan Tannehill gets injured and is forced to miss any time in 2020.
Logan Woodside has never taken a regular season snap, and his only competition at the moment is seventh-round pick Cole McDonald, who has a superior skill set but might need more time to develop his throwing motion to be effective.
Like kicker, I expect the Titans to bring in a veteran option at some point before camp. There is simply too much riding on this season for Tennessee to take a risk by not having a more experienced backup.
Defensive line
With the departure of Jurrell Casey this offseason, the Titans only have two surefire starters on the defensive line at the moment in Jeffery Simmons, who will slide over into Casey’s spot upfront, and DaQuan Jones.
On top of Isaiah Mack, who was a UDFA last year, the Titans added veteran Jack Crawford in free agency and drafted Larrell Murchison in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
We may not see a clear-cut starter in this group, but rather a rotation consisting of the three players.
Ultimately, it’s going to come down to who can provide the biggest boost in the interior pass-rush, and who can be an effective run-stopped in short-yardage situations.
If we’re picking one player, the edge has to go to Crawford thanks to his experience. If it’s two guys, Crawford and Mack both have an advantage over Murchison.
Slot cornerback
The Titans drafted Kristian Fulton with the thought that he could fill the slot cornerback vacancy left by Logan Ryan, who the team decided not to bring back this offseason.
However, there is no guarantee that any rookie will earn significant snaps, and that’s especially true in 2020 when an abbreviated offseason could stunt the growth of young players.
While Adoree’ Jackson’s name has been floated around as a possible candidate to play some on the inside, it’s doubtful that will happen often, if at all, as Jackson is so important to the Titans on the boundary.
Along with Fulton, guys like seventh-round pick Chris Jackson and 2019 fourth-round pick Amani Hooker will have an opportunity to earn snaps in the slot in 2020.
