We continue our current (and way-too-early) starter projections after the first wave of free agency by taking a look at the Tennessee Titans’ talented defense.
As things stand now, the defense is undeniably the Titans’ best chance at being a competitive football team in 2023.
Over the last few years, Tennessee has largely had a tremendous defense whenever their actual starting unit is healthy and playing together. Last season alone, the Titans were allowing an average of 15.1 points per game from Weeks 3-10.
The unfortunate part is that was around the time when things started to completely unravel, as key starters started to drop like flies. The ones that remained were often playing through injuries of their own that severely hampered their production.
The #Titans defense continues to dominate.
Since Week 3, they’ve only allowed an average of 15.1 PPG while ranking:• 1st in Success Rate
• 1st in Rush EPA
• 1st in Rushing Success Rate
• 6th in EPA/play
• 6th in Dropback Success Rate*6-1 record over that span* pic.twitter.com/N2QtuiBcoZ
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) November 15, 2022
Tennessee hopes it will have much better luck on the injury front this time around, while also looking to get the most out of some of the promising players they’ve signed in free agency.
Yesterday, we made our starter projections on offense, so now we turn to the defense to see which players we think are likely to see the starting lineup in 2023.
Defensive line
DE: Jeffery Simmons
DE: Denico Autry
DT: Teair Tart
Tennessee’s front line is easily the strength of the entire unit. This particular group has no true weaknesses at the moment.
Teair Tart, who hasn’t been locked down just yet thanks to his status as a restricted free agent, is a valuable interior defender against the run who also possesses sneaky upside as a pass-rusher.
However, you could make a strong argument that the entire defense is truly anchored by Denico Autry and Pro-Bowl defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons.
The two of them are capable of wreaking havoc together whenever they’re both healthy and on the field. Prior to suffering injuries midway through the season, Simmons and Autry legitimately looked like one of the best defensive tandems in the entire league.
#Titans DT Jeffery Simmons this season:
– 21 pressures (2nd among DTs)
– 3.5 sacks (2nd among DTs)
– 15 hurries (t-1st among DTs)
– 90.0 PFF gradeA really good player who deserves more shine. pic.twitter.com/8sSMRGd1xT
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 12, 2022
The two of them combined for 12.5 sacks over the first 9.5 games of the season, with Simmons being responsible for 5.5 of them, while Autry accounted for the other seven.
Unfortunately, the two Mississippi State legends suffered lower body injuries that forced them to miss games and/or severely limited their production for the rest of the year.
The vaunted duo missed a combined seven games in total, only accounting for three sacks over the final nine games of the season, a steep drop off from the 12.5 over they tallied to start the year.
Also, despite all of the injuries, Tennessee still finished with the No. 1 ranked run defense, in large part because of this group as a whole.
If the Titans are going to have any chance of being competitive in 2023, they’re going to need their defensive line to disrupt opposing offenses early and often.
Outside linebacker
OLB: Harold Landry
OLB: Arden Key
This is another position group that is strong at the top of the depth chart, especially with Harold Landry returning from his ACL injury.
The Titans also added arguably their biggest splash signing of the free agency period to this group after they lured Arden Key to Tennessee. Key is set to replace Bud Dupree, who spent a large portion of his Titans tenure on the inactive list.
With that said, the biggest addition to the defense is simply getting one of their own back.
Hey @titans fans, how excited are you for five more years of @HaroldLandry sacks? pic.twitter.com/Em2nBdLWYi
— NFL (@NFL) March 10, 2022
Landry was a Pro Bowler in 2021 after totaling 12.5 sacks, and now he gets to play across from someone that has started to break out over the last two years in Key, who has produced 11.5 sacks since 2021 in limited roles.
On paper, Landry and Key, along with Simmons and Autry, are capable of being one of the most disruptive front-fours in all of football.
Barring any type of injury setbacks, that entire front line has a ton of potential together and it should produce at a high level this in 2023.
Inside linebacker
ILB: Azeez Al-Shaair
ILB: Monty Rice
This group is probably the biggest mystery on the entire defense.
The team’s top linebacker at the moment is someone who was largely a reserve player in San Francisco before signing with Tennessee.
After constantly flashing as a reserve player, Azeez Al-Shaair finally has his chance to be the main guy atop the depth chart.
this is so perfect from Azeez Al-Shaair (51) I could cry pic.twitter.com/By0WGxWlYV
— Derrik Klassen (@QBKlass) January 25, 2023
The former 49er is coming off a season in which he produced a solid overall grade of 79.7 after totaling 25 tackles on the year.
Monty Rice, on the other hand, is being given the benefit of the doubt for now. Rice has shown plenty of promise whenever he’s been on the field. Sadly, that has been half the battle for the former Georgia product.
Tennessee could draft another inside linebacker to join the competition, but at the very least, Rice figures to be in a training camp battle with Jack Gibbens and Chance Campbell for that starting spot.
As of right now, the Titans’ former third-round pick has the slight edge, but that decision will ultimately resolve itself throughout the offseason.
Cornerback
CB: Kristin Fulton
CB: Sean Murphy-Bunting
CB (slot): Roger McCreary
This is a difficult one for me to project for a few reasons.
For starters, I personally feel like Roger McCreary does his best when he plays on the outside, but there are times that his length issues become amplified when he plays on the boundary.
Therefore, I have him playing on the inside but it won’t shock me at all if he ends up being one of the outside corners when it’s all said and done.
Elijah Molden is another option in the slot, but after last year’s disaster, he’s going to have to prove that his groin issues are behind him before I give him the benefit of the doubt.
Lastly, Caleb Farley is the wild card of the group. As of right now, I’m going to assume that recently signed Sean Murphy-Bunting is penciled in as one of the starting cornerbacks.
Get this done, #Titans https://t.co/WM7jWodKlM pic.twitter.com/SLIixFnLoW
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) March 19, 2023
However, similarly to Molden, it wouldn’t shock me at all if a fully-healthy Farley ends up snatching one of these jobs. Farley remains confident and hinted that his most recent surgery cleaned up a lot of his previous issues.
The Virginia Tech product was once considered an elite prospect by many, but since then he has often proven that all of the concerns about his health prior to the draft were more than fair.
If Farley can finally stay healthy and start to unlock his true potential, he could find himself in the starting lineup again sooner rather than later.
Until then, I’m gonna give the starting jobs to the guys who have actually shown that they aren’t a complete liability on the field.
Safety
FS: Kevin Byard
SS: Amani Hooker
When it comes to the safety position, there aren’t many teams that have a better tandem than the Titans.
Kevin Byard is undoubtedly in the conversation for the best at his position, while Amani Hooker is a very talented and productive defensive back whenever he’s healthy.
There have been some recent rumors surrounding Byard’s status with the team, so technically things could change, but as of right now we’re going to assume the Titans won’t mess things up when it comes to one of the greatest safeties and captains in franchise history.
